Monday, July 30, 2012

Chicken Pie/ Shortcrust Pastry

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I'm glad I manage to take part in another bake-along which hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of Frozen Wings. This time is chicken pie. I actually bake this pie and serve my family as weekend lunch. As we all know pie taste better while freshly bake out from oven. Therefore I just make four medium pies for four of us.
 
The base is not crispy!
I'm using Zoe pastry recipe as the quantity is just enough for my four foils. As usual my pie base turned out wet and not crispy. I understand for this kind of pie we do not practice 'blind bake' (bake the pastry first before adding filling). Some will brush the base with egg white first before adding filling. I did brush the base but the result still the same...wet :( Anyone have any tips on how to get crispy base? I hope with some tips from you guys I can have my crispy base pies next time :D


Make 4 x 12cm diameter pies
Ingredients:
Adapted from Bake for Happy Kids with some changes
~ Pastry
(A)
150g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
300g plain flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
 
(B)
7ml vinegar
85ml water, chilled
 
~Filling
(A)
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
250g chicken thigh fillets, cut into cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 medium potato, diced
 
(B)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon cooking wine
Some water
Some pepper and salt
 
(C) cornflour mixture
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 tablespoon water
*dissolve and set aside
 
 
Methods:
~Pastry
1. Remove butter from the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before start mixing (butter should be just soft but still very cold).
 
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in cubed butter. Use fingertips to rub butter into flour until fine breadcrumbs.
 
3. Combine the vinegar with the chilled water and pour over the flour mixture. Fold the mixture with a spatula to combine.
 
4. Turn out the floury mix onto working surface and gather the mix together with hand.
 
5. Divide into two even sized portions and shape into two round disc about 2 cm thick. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
 

~Filling
1. Heat up a pan. Add in oil. Put in the diced chicken and cook till pale. Add in diced vegetables and cook for few minutes.
 
2. Add in oyster sauce, soya and wine and stir for few times before adding water. Amount of water about cover the vegetables. Bring to boil. Cover and turn to lower heat, cook till all the vegetables turn soft. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
 
3. Lastly add in the cornflour mixture to thicken the filling. Leave to cool.


~ Making pie
1. Remove pastry from refrigerator few minutes before used. Gently roll the pastry out about 5 mm thick (I roll the pastry between cling wraps. This is a lot easy to roll and transfer without the problem of sticking on board or rolling pin).

 

2. With the guide of aluminium foil cut out the disc with pizza cutter. Transfer them to base of foil. Lightly press to the sides. Proceed with the other three. Prick the base with fork and ready for filling.

3. For the pie lids, roll out the remaining pastry into about 3mm thick (between cling wraps). With the guide of aluminium foil cut out into four discs.

4. Spoon the chicken mixture into the pie, filling them to the brim.

5. Cover with the pastry lid. With a fork gently press the edge in order to make good seal. Make some cuts on the surface to help release steam out during the baking process. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash.

6. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Place the pie on wire rack for few minutes before serving.

I am sharing this recipe at :

Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior's Cookin w/ Luv

JWsMadeWLuvMondays



Muhibbah Malaysia Monday hosted by Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies



Bake-Along # 29 hosted by Bake for Happy Kids, Kitchen Flavours and Frozen Wings

 

28 comments:

  1. I remember that I've seen a cook book on making pie. They bake the pie at 220C for 10min, then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for the remaining time.
    I'm wondering this would be the way to get crispy base coz I never try before.You can try it maybe (I want to know the result too, haha).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip. I will try out when I make pie again.

      Delete
  2. Hi Vivian,
    Your pies are looking good! With all the new submissions that are coming in, I am craving for some again, seriously!
    Try taking out the pie from the aluminium foil when they are done, place the pie on a baking sheet, cover the top with the used aluminium foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the bottom is browned. No idea whether this works, let me know if you decide to try it out! But then shortcrust pastry would not be as crispy as puff pastry!
    Thank you for baking along with us! Happy Baking!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another great tips! Thanks! Will try out the puff pastry once free.

      Delete
  3. Vivian, chicken pie really is a very appertising snack for the family isn't it? Cicken pie is always taste so good at any occasion too. I'm using puff pastry, so I would not have the problem...anyway puff pastry is more flaky and crispy texture. maybe u can try this, but don't know it works. Once you know the chicken pie is ready, you can always turn the oven heat to the bottom instead of having both top and bottom heat. This is work if ur oven can control the rest. Or else, bring the baking tray nearer to the bottom heat. I hope you get what I meant here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too bad I can't set my oven with different temperature for top and bottom. I got what you meant put at the lowest to get maximum heat :) Thanks!

      Delete
  4. Another idea is, try to roll the pastry thinner for the bottom crust. Hehehe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sweet memories lingers on. When I was having my first pregnancy (my first employment, 25 years ago, there was this hainanese tea lady. (A real tea lady, as she was engaged to serve an English boss, a foreign banker). Sometimes, she will get down (as if from heaven)around 11 am, to ask whether we want to order from her any hainanese chicken pie, where she will bake for tea..... and the pie will be delivered by her around 2.30pm..... yummy and nice, but skin, I cannot recalled, only the taste and memories....

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi vivian, i also like this kind of oriental kind of filling. I'm not too sure of that wet base you experienced, next time you can try placing it on the lowest rack in the oven, maybe you can try at a higher temperature and remove the foils immediately after baking, also let the fillings cool down completely before putting in the fillings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for all the great tips. Hope I can make the pie very soon and find out. Thanks again!

      Delete
  7. I also like this kind of old fashioned of chicken pie. I can't give you a solution because i seldom make pie or tarts..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vivian, these pie look delicious (just as Zoe's pies looks wonderful) and I'm so glad you decided to share. I've honestly never used pastry crust on the bottom of a pot pie because it does have a tendency to remain mushy because of all the moisture in the pie itself. I think you would need a hotter oven with a longer bake time in order to crisp the bottom crust (and you would then need to cover the top crust with foil to prevent burning) - that's my best guess. Or just eliminate the bottom crust entirely ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Viv,
    Like your nice and yummy old fashioned chicken pie.
    Try baking your pies on the lower rack of your oven and adjust the temperature a bit higher. Remove from foils once it is cook. i bake mine at 200c for 25 minutes. I hope this works for you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Viv,

    I was little skeptical at first when I saw this recipe that I'm using didn't need to blind bake the crust before filling up the pies. My pie crusts are nice and flaky and cooked through. Maybe it is the filling that you are using make the difference... The sauce might be a little too wet for the crust to handle.

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Vivian, your chicken pie look delicious. Love the filling, yum yum

    Have a nice weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Try the blind bake - I do it every time, and the pies are crispy. (It has been quite a while that you posted this, you probably have found your way to a crispy crust.) Stumbled into your interesting kitchen while searching for tips to smiling baos. Thanks for your step-to-step instruction - the baos smiled very well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Vivian, sometimes when the bottom of my mini pies aren't crispy after I remove them from the oven, Ive crisped them up by removing them from their foil cases and placing them on a non-stick pan over a stove until the bottoms are brown. It works on quiche too. It works for me!

    ReplyDelete
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