Eichardt's Private Hotel head chef Gwen Harvie believes autumn is one of the best times of the year for cooking, with a huge variety of produce, which has been ripening all summer in the sun, available.
Ms Harvie, who grew up on a farm where vegetables were sourced from the back yard and old hen was used for meat, said her mother's tasty chicken, leek and mushroom pie was ideal for the whole family, straightforward to cook and a comforting food as the evenings cool.
"In this recipe, older chickens are actually ideal to use because they have a more intense flavour, which withstands the powerful flavour of the leek."
The pie features on the new Eichardt's autumn menu along with Bluff oysters and other Eichardt favourites.
Eichardt's chicken, leek and mushroom pie
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken
1 onion (1cm dice)
1 stick of celery (1cm dice)
Garlic (finely chopped)
1 small bunch of thyme
1 leek (1cm dice)
250g button mushrooms
120g oyster mushrooms
White wine
Flaky pastry
Chicken sauce
400ml chicken stock
200ml milk
30g butter
30g flour
Method
1. Rinse chicken inside and out then pat dry. Season with salt and pepper, and stuff the cavity with some garlic and thyme. Roast the chicken in a 200degC oven for 15 minutes per 500g, plus 15 minutes - i.e. for a 1.5kg chicken, cook for 1hr 15min.
2. While the chicken is roasting, sauté onion, celery and garlic until golden brown then add a decent splash of white wine.
3. In a separate pan, sauté mushrooms until golden brown and add a decent splash of white wine.
4. Blanch leeks in salted boiling water.
5. Once chicken is roasted, remove from the oven when cool enough to handle. Take all meat off the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces.
6. Combine the vegetables, mushrooms, chicken and sauce (see below).
7. Place in a 20cm pie dish and cover with pastry. Cook in a hot oven at 220degC until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling (about 20 minutes).
Chicken sauce
1. Warm chicken stock, milk and a few sprigs of thyme together.
2. Melt butter in a pot. Once melted stir in flour, cook a little, then allow to cool slightly.
3. Return butter/flour to heat and add a third of the chicken liquid and bring to the boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Then add another third and repeat the process. Use the final third to eventually create a smooth roux.
