A Pie for Lovebirds, and Lovers of the Bird
Chicken au Poivre Pie: a peppery pan sauce in pastry
Hello! This week I have a pie recipe for you that I’m very proud of. I have eaten an inordinate amount of butter in pursuit of bringing it to you. This recipe has been a joint effort with my partner Charles, and we wager it’s a worthy rival for my Buffalo Chicken Pie. Could it take the newsletter’s coveted Top Pie Spot? Cluck around and find out! With Valentine’s Day this Friday, I think it’s a fitting choice for a romantic meal…
Who mistook the steak for chicken? I did! This recipe came about by accident. I got back from the butcher and thought I had frozen some chicken breasts and refrigerated a steak. Alas, the next day, we found I had refrigerated the chicken and frozen the steak. We had planned to make Friday night Steak au Poivre (not something we do regularly) but not being chickens ourselves, we went ahead and made Chicken au Poivre with chips anyway. Happily, it blew us away!! The pan sauce was rich with flavour from the chicken skin and brined green peppercorns, and the sweetness of alcohol lifted the dish brilliantly.
After we'd eaten it we thought we had to have it again soon, but this time inside pastry. Fast forward to 6 weeks later and Charles and I have tested this pie recipe 4 times to get it perfect. The result is as saucy as you like, bright with the pepper and the meat is tender and tastes as much like roast chicken as it feasibly could. The browning of the meat is the most important step, so don’t rush it. I know it’s not the done thing to keep chicken skin on in a pie, but it seems to me bonkers to omit the best bit.
I've used 2 thighs and 2 breasts here – if you're going to the butcher it’s more economical to order a whole chicken butchered, because you can then also make stock with the carcass and keep the wings and drumsticks for another dinner (we had them in a Thai Red Curry which was very pleasing). Making stock this way will also give you schmaltz (chicken fat) to play with which is a brilliant addition to the pie filling, too. I hope you enjoy this one, lovebirds.
Chicken au Poivre Pie