Chicken, ham and fennel pot pies

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
5 cups Canned low-salt chicken broth
2 smalls Fennel bulbs; trimmed, halved lengthwise, triangular core discarded, thinly sliced
1¾ pounds Skinless boneless chicken breast halves; cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup Diced carrot
5 tablespoons Unsalted butter
5 tablespoons All purpose flour
2½ cup Milk; (do not use nonfat or low-fat)
3 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Fennel seeds; crushed
½ teaspoon Salt; (or more)
¼ pounds Thinly sliced country ham; cut into matchstick-size strips
Pie Crust; (see recipe)
1 Egg white; beaten to blend (glaze)
8 Servings

Directions

Bring broth to boil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add fennel; cook 7 minutes. Add chicken and carrot; simmer until fennel, chicken and carrot are tender, about 10 minutes. Pour into strainer set over bowl; reserve broth for another use.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 2 minutes. Gradually add milk and whisk until sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice, fennel seeds and ½ teaspoon salt. Add chicken mixture and ham. Season with salt and pepper. Divide filling among eight 1¼-cup soufflé dishes or glass custard cups. Cool completely.

Roll out pie crust on flour surface to ⅛-inch thickness. Cut out 8 rounds, each measuring ½ to 1 inch larger in diameter than soufflé dishes, gathering dough and rerolling as necessary. Cut out leaf decorations from dough scraps, if desired. Lay 1 dough overhang firmly to adhere to sides and top rim of dish. If using, brush bottom side of cutouts with water and place on dough; cut slits in dough for steam to escape. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover each with plastic; chill.) Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pies on large baking sheet. Brush crusts with glaze. Bake until pies heated through and crusts are golden, about 40 minutes.

PIE CRUST

Makes 8 small cups

3 cups sifted all purpose flour ¾ teaspoon salt ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces 4 ½ tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening, cut into pieces 6 tablespoons (about) ice water Combine flour and salt in processor and blend. Add butter and shortening and process, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons water; blend in. Add enough additional water by tablespoonfuls to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Bon Appétit February 1995

Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by shade <liveoak@...> on Apr 5, 1998

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