Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Yes, yes, I know. Another night, yet another pie. But I checked the Met Office before I did the weekly shop and it said wind, rain and cold so I thought, well, the answer to that, as with most things, is pie. Also, we were expecting our friend to come over from Sheffield. On his bike. (He’s into that sort of stuff, you can read his blog here). So I figured he would need a hearty meal after 60 miles of cycling hell. Unfortunately, calamity struck at Doncaster and he had to limp back home on the train, relatively unharmed and apparently very lucky. We still had another extra mouth to feed, however, in the guise of another pal. He gamely offered to eat extra portions to compensate for the missing guest although we may never know if chicken pie is restorative enough to the saddle sore to be immediately placed on Team GB’s diet sheets.

Facing the prospect of three men at the table (before our cyclist dropped out), I thought vegetables alone would not do as a side so served the pie up with potatoes roasted in Yorkshire Gold from the Wold Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapseed Oil, available locally here. I picked up a large bottle (750ml) from the Christmas festival in Beverley and still have about a quarter left. It is delicious and has loads of uses but is at its best on potatoes, producing a far richer flavour than even the best olive oil or fat.

The pie itself was a complete doddle. Using ready cooked chicken makes it very quick to prepare, even if carving a ready roasted bird is a bit of a messy job. I used Jus-Rol pastry too, another great time saver. The key with frozen pastry is in the defrosting – too long and it will dry out – but today’s three hours out on the side seemed to do the trick perfectly.

A great meal and a new favourite but surely one of the last times it will appear on our table as the weather ‘hots up’ for summer? 

Let’s hope so, but tonight was so chilly we lit the fire for the first time in ages.