"CHRISTMAS’ EVE DINNER"

…it’s our little tradition. Ever since I’ve been with E, he works every Christmas’ Eve. This is because he’s a chef, and everyone wants to eat out on Christmas’ Eve for some reason so he’s always, always working. So to pass time while I waited for him to get home, I started making Christmas’ Eve Dinner. Every year, I come up with a new menu. This year, I’m recycling one of my favorite recipes. Pot Pie. With the rain and the crisp, cold weather, it’s a perfect comfort food. And I’ve been craving pot pies lately. I adapted this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Turkey and Sweet Leek Pot Pie recipe. I totally heart Jamie! His food is so simple and rustic. And if you have Cooking Channel, you’ll know that they have been airing this recipe on repeat for the past 3 weeks so I just have to try it.

Here are what you need for the Roast Chicken and Sweet Leek Pot Pie:

Bone-in Chicken Breast

Chicken Stock

All Purpose Flour

Unsalted Butter

Olive Oil

Leeks

Green Peas

Lemon

Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

Egg

Thyme and Sage

Pre-made Puff Pastry

Here’s how to make the pie filling:

Clean chicken breast.

Rub some olive oil on generously.

Season with salt and pepper.

Roast at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes until cooked.

The internal temp should be about 165 F for a fully cook chicken breast, but I let it stop at 155 F and turned off the heat. It continued to cook a bit more. As you can see in the picture, it cooked perfectly, and the meat is juicy. Let cool. Debone and cube the meat.

Prep the leeks. Oops, forgot to take a photo of the leeks before I chopped them up. If you have never seen leeks, here’s how they look like…

They basically look like giant scallions. I chopped the leeks up and washed them really well because they hold dirt in between the layers.

In a hot, big cast iron pot, add chopped bacon along with olive oil and a nub of butter. Add about a tablespoon of thyme. Let them cook together until the bacon starts to brown. At this point, you should start pre-heating the oven to about 375 or 400 F depending on the directions of the puff pastry brand you bought.

Add the leeks and stir for a few minutes to coat the leeks.

Cover the pan with its lid and let the mixture cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes. The moisture in the leeks will help cook them down. Be sure to stir occasionally. After 30 minutes, the leeks should be really soft and almost melt in your mouth.

Add the cubed chicken meat and stir. Add a heaping spoon of all purpose flour and stir it in to thicken the mixture. Add the chicken stock. I know the picture doesn’t look too savory, but trust me, it smells amazing and tastes great.

Then add a tablespoon of creme fraiche. I used sour cream because I didn’t have creme fraiche, which was totally fine.

Bring everything back up to a boil. Strain the mixture over another pot to separate the gravy and dry out the mixture a bit.

While the mixture is draining, I chopped up a few pieces of sage leaves and sprinkled them on the puff pastry. I then rolled out the puff pastry. This step is not necessary, but the sage added a nice aroma to the plain puff pastry.

Put the filling into individual bowls or in a big casserole dish.

Put of the puff pastry over the serving dish. Brush with egg wash (1 beaten egg and a bit of water). Sprinkled cracked pepper and kosher salt on top. Cut a little on top to let air out when baking.

Bake until the puff pastry turn golden brown.

As you can see, my puff pastry shrank a bit on the little individual bowl 😦 Next time I will have to use more pastry to cover the entire top of the bowl.

I served it with a little bit of green peas. I sauteed them really quick in a bit of butter, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper. I added a squeeze of lemon after I turned of the heat.

And remember the gravy that I drained earlier? I just pour a bit over the pot pie when served…and there you have it. Roast Chicken and Sweet Leek Pot Pie.

And since I have so much filling left over, I also made home-made hot pockets the next day…

I rolled out the puff pastry. Sprinkled a bit of sage leaves over it. Brush the side with egg wash. Put a bit of the filling in the middle.

I also added the leftover green peas to the filling.

Fold the puff pastry and seal the edges.

Spray a bit of cooking spray on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking. I used foil to avoid having to wash the cookie sheet then I sprayed the cooking spray over it.