The purpose of this lab was to learn the complex process of making a good pie crust, and cooking the chicken pot pie filling.
Safety and Sanitation
For this lab, I made sure to use standard practices like washing my hands, wearing an apron, and wearing a hairnet. When making the pie filling, I made sure to avoid cross-contaminating the chicken by cutting it last, wearing gloves, and washing my hands. In addition, I made sure to not burn my hands on the hot pot or any hot oil.
Tools and Equipment
In this lab, for the crust, I used some metal bowls, a small jug, a rolling pin, a pie plate, and a scale. For the filling, I used a pot, an induction burner, a pot spoon, a measuring cup, a cutting board, a chef’s knife, and a couple metal bowls.
Ingredients
For the pie crust, I used 225g of AP Flour, 225g of cool butter, 15g of sugar, 4g of salt, and 115g or ml of water. For the pie filling, I used 1 chicken breasts, ½ an onion, diced, ½ cup of diced carrot, ½ cup of frozen peas, 1 cup of frozen corn, 50g of cooking oil, 1 cup of 35% cream, ¼ cup of flour, 3 garlic cloves, 1 sprig of thyme, 2 tsp of parsley. Salt, pepper, and a small amount of chili flakes were used as needed to season. Some egg whites were also needed for a final egg wash.
Procedure
To make the pie crust, in a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, and salt and mix together. Then, chop the butter up on a cutting board into inch-sized or 2.5cm cubes. Next, add the cubes to the flour mixture, and make sure all the cubes are separated and coated with flour. Then, squish each butter cube flat with your fingers. After this is done, slowly add water and lightly mix into a loose dough. Don’t overmix, and let the dough be uneven with chunks of butter in it. Just combine until there isn’t much loose in the bowl. To form the pie crust, you first need to cover your counter in a lot of flour. It’s important that the dough never sticks to the work surface. Roll the dough out into the best rectangle you can make. Ensure that the pie crust is evenly rolled, and isn’t too flat. Then, fold the crust up approximately three times each way. Now, cut the rectangle in half, and use the rolling pin and some more flour to roll out the two new rectangles flat again, this time into two circles. Finally, lay one circle into a pie plate. The crust is ready.
To make the filling, first prepare a station with the tools listed above. Use a chef’s knife to dice half an onion, then place the diced onion in a bowl. Mince the garlic, and add to the bowl as well. Add the thyme to the bowl. Next, measure out the rest of the ingredients into separate containers. The carrot can be diced and added to the peas and corn in one container. Finally, cube your chicken breast as the last thing on your cutting board, and place it in a separate bowl. Make sure to clean up your station afterwards, and remove the dirty cutting board.
Now, for cooking, you first want to season your chicken with salt, pepper, and some herbs. Preheat your pot, and add the oil. First, sautee your chicken, and add the thyme. Cook the chicken until it starts to brown, and the outside begins to caramelize. Now, add your onions and garlic. Stir well, and add the carrots, peas, and corn. Season with some salt and pepper. Next, add your flour and mix well. Then, add your cream to the filing, and let it simmer for a minute. Finally, add your parsley, and let the filling cool down. Once properly cooled so as to not melt the pie crust, add the filling to the pie. Cover it with the top crust which was set aside from earlier, and pinch the edges closed. Cut off any excess. Then, apply an egg wash to the crust, and cut some slits or a pattern into the top of the crust to allow gas to escape when the pie bakes. To finish it, bake the pie at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Challenges
I would say that the most challenging part of this lab was shaping and rolling out the pie crust. The final pie crust turned out great, but it wasn’t easy.
Successes and Growth
In this lab, I learned about how butter pastries get their layers, and how they are made. I find it interesting how the layers in the pastry come both from the folding and the butter within the dough.
Advice for Beginners
The folding of the pastry is an important step, and it’s important to not overmix or overflatten the crust.
Final Evaluation
I’d rate the meat pie as a 10/10. I really liked how the chicken was a little bit crisp and caramelized on the outside, which added a great flavour. All the veggies were flavourful, and the filling itself had a tiny bit of spice and a good amount of salt. The crust was golden and flaky, and the filling was light and creamy. Making this pie was a lot of work, but for a special occasion, it would be worth the effort.