Free Range Chicken, Leek & Mustard Pie
Free Range Chicken, Leek & Mustard Pie (Serves 4-6)
Created by Executive Sous Chef, Nick Keen
Ingredients:
- 1kg Free Range Chicken Thigh, Skinless & Boneless
- 2 medium (200g) Leeks
- 2 medium (200g) Onions
- 100g Unsalted Butter
- 3/4 cup (100g) Plain Flour
- 4 cups (1 litre) Milk
- 1 tbsp Black Mustard Seeds
- 1 tbsp Yellow Mustard Seeds
- 1.5 tbsp (30g) Dijon Mustard
- 1.5 tbsp (30g) Wholegrain Mustard
- Salt & Pepper
- Oil
- Flaky/Puff Pastry
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 180°c
- Leave chicken thighs whole. In a large bowl drizzle chicken with oil and then season with salt and pepper – lay out flat on an oven tray ready for roasting.
- Finely dice onion. Trim the top of the leek but leave some of the green part, cut length ways then finely slice.
- In a large pot or saucepan, gently heat milk careful not to bring it to the boil.
- In a separate large pot or saucepan gently heat the butter, add the mustard seeds and leave these until they start to “pop”, at this stage you can add your onion and leek to the pot.
- Gently sauté the onion & leek.
- Add flour into the saucepan to make a roux, mix well.
- Slowly add the hot milk into the roux a little at time mixing thoroughly between each stage; this will ensure it stays nice and smooth.
- At this stage you can put the chicken in the oven to roast, cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of above 75°c.
- Keep adding the milk until you reach the desired consistency, you should use all the milk but always make a judgment call as you don’t want your pie mix to be too runny.
- Once all the milk is added, give the mix a light season with salt and pepper and then taste the mix. We want to keep cooking on a low heat until you lose that “floury” taste from the roux.
- Once the chicken is cooked, leave to cool slightly so you can handle but do not let this fully cool down.
- Finely slice/chop the chicken then fold this into the pie mix.
- Add the Dijon and wholegrain mustard, then mix well.
- At this stage its all about tasting and seasoning. Add a little salt and pepper as needed. And if you like an extra hit of mustard, you can add as much as you like to suit your taste.
- Remove the mix from heat, place in a shallow tray or bowl to cool down completely in the refrigerator.
At Te Pae Christchurch we use this pie filling to make savouries for our morning and afternoon tea breaks. However, you how have the creativity to do whatever style of pie you’d like. You can make savouries like us, one big family pie or a nice easy option would be to leave a roasting or baking dish and top with mashed potato & cheese for a delicious winter dinner.
This mix also freezers really well, so can always make in bulk and freeze for those winter nights when you want something quick and easy for dinner.
