Carrot Soup & Chicken Pie

Last night Keith created a zingy carrot soup and sweet delicious pie. Here's the action plan:

Carrot Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

120g butter
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 potato, peeled and diced
3 garlic clove, chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
3 orange, zest and juice only
600ml double cream

Method

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.
2. Add the carrot and potato and fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the orange zest and juice and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Pour the soup into a food processor and blitz until smooth.
6. Return the soup to the pan and add the cream.
7. Heat the soup for a further minute before removing from the heat. Ladle the soup into a bowl and serve.


Chicken Pie

Ingredients

15ml spoon vegetable oil
2 medium raw chicken breasts
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
25g frozen peas
25g sweetcorn (canned or frozen)
25g margarine
25g plain flour
250ml milk
Parsley
White sauce [see below]
Shortcrust pastry [see below]

Method – White Sauce

1. Melt the margarine in a saucepan.
2. Add the flour and mix to form a paste.
3. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. The sauce will become thick.
4. Reduce the heat, and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Add parsley.

Method – Shortcrust Pastry

1. Sift plain flour into a bowl.
2. Cut the butter/margarine into small pieces and add to the flour.
3. Rub the butter/margarine into the flour, using your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add the cold water and start to mix together.
5. Mix to form a firm, smooth dough.
6. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Method – Chicken Pie

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.
2. Make up the shortcrust pastry. Allow to rest.
3. Dice the onion.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes.
5. Cut the chicken into chunks.
6. Add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes.
7. Add the mushrooms, peas and sweetcorn. Reduce the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Make up the white sauce, with mixed herbs.
9. Stir the sauce with the chicken mixture, remove from the heat.
10. Lightly grease a pie dish.
11. Divide the pastry into 2.
12. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface, large enough to cover the pie dish
13. Carefully place the pastry into the greased dish. Ensure that the pastry sits well in the dish.
14. Trim away the excess pastry around the edges.
15. Prick the base with a fork.
16. Pour the chicken mixture into the dish.
17. Brush the edges of the pastry with milk or water.
18. Roll out the remaining pastry thinly to make the pie top.
19. Carefully place the pastry over the pie.
20. Trim away the excess pastry around the edge.
21. Secure the edges by pressing down with a fork.
22. Knock- back the edges with a palette knife to create a crust.
23. Decorate your pie with pastry trimmings. Secure these with milk.
24. Make an air vent in the centre of the pie lid.
25. Glaze the top of the pie with milk and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.