Sunday leftovers

In my quest to waste reduction and positive frugality, I decided to use my leftover chicken from Sunday. What else to go for that is filling for all the family, and not only nut riots but delicious too. I chose to go for the typical chicke pie which I dressed up slightly different from the norm and added a few twists. Of course I was hoping to have a second leftover in the form of pie so I can my working lunch from it (no such luck). Everything was gone, from the side vegetables, to the pie Ann the way to the baby potatoes clean plates all over.

I made my puff pastry (as I always do) and this time I seasoned the pastry with a little salt and pepper then decided to add some fresh thyme leaves (from my window sill) and the result was marvellous. The first comment I received was "this pie is really yummy and the leaves inside makes a lot of difference". Eureka, original recipe from my micro kitchen. What's more I cheated on the pie prep time by 1/2an hour (there I was thinking there is no shortcut to pastry making as the professionals always tell us). The pastry was beautiful, buttery, flaky with all the puff layers visible (8 layers to be precise). Am I that sad that I actually count the lines?

Puff pastry being rolled out (you can see the fresh thyme leaves that are scattered and embedded within)

Chicken pie (reconstructed leftovers, yummy)

For the puff pastry

225g plain flour
30g dripping or lard (I don't eat pork so I substitute lard with dripping)
150g unsalted butter at room temp
Handful fresh thyme leaves (optional)
1/4tsp salt
150ml ice cold water

How

Mix together flour, salt and cubed dripping and roughly mix using your fingertips till the mixture starts to stick together but make sure you leave the dripping bird still visible.
Add the cold water and quickly work the flour mixture to a rough dough
Gather dough together and wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes (crucial part)

Remove dough from fridge and roll out to 12 by 25 cm
Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on work surface
Loosely wrap butter block in cling film and gently flatten almost just short of pastry measurements.
Fold into an envelope and allow to rest for 10minutes in the fridge
If like me you are pushed for time and your pastry is still workable, roll it out in one direction to 25by 50cm
Fold dough into 3/3 with top and bottom parts meeting in the middle. Turn dough to 180 degrees and fold into a book.
Gently press the edges and press one end of the dough with your finger (as a reminder that this your first fold).
Chill for 30minutes (in my case 20)
Repeat process two more times and after third time pastry is ready for use.

For my chicken I added celery sticks, chicken stock, medium sized leek, 100mls Madeira and 150mls of double cream to thicken the sauce towards the end.

TRY IT.