“With crispy potato all the way round and gorgeous tender meat in the middle, this is incredible. ”
Mom's Magic Food brings you this simple but tasty dish, hope you guys like this recipe.
Ingredients:
* 1 medium sized piece of chicken with bone(2kg)
* Olive oil
Filling
* 4 red onions
* 4 carrots
* 4 sticks of celery
* 1 medium swede
* A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
* 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
Topping, sides and bottom
* 2.5kg Maris Piper potatoes
* 2 good knobs of unsalted butter
* 100g Cheddar cheese
* 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
* 60g fresh breadcrumbs
Method:
* Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3.
* In a snug-fitting high-sided roasting tray, rub the chicken all over with a little oil and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Add a splash of water to the tray, then roast for 4 hours, or until the meat is tender and will fall away from the bone.
* Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tray, then lift the chicken out onto a board, take all the meat and crispy skin off the bone and roughly chop it, reserving the bones.
* Skim away any fat from the tray and pop it into a clean jam jar. Add a splash of boiling water to the tray and stir around to pick up all the lovely sticky bits from the bottom. Keep it all to one side.
* For the filling, peel and roughly dice the onions, carrots, celery and swede, then put them into your biggest pan on a medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of reserved chicken fat. Strip the rosemary leaves, then fry the veg for 20 minutes, or until lightly caramelized, stirring regularly.
* Stir in the flour, chicken bones and tray juices, then pour in 1.5 liters of water. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on and reduce to a gentle simmer for 40 minutes, or until you’ve got a loose, stew-like consistency, stirring occasionally.
* To guarantee intense gravy and a tender but dense filling, remove and discard the bones, then place a large coarse sieve over a pan and, in batches, spoon the chicken stew into the sieve. Let the gravy drip through, and after a couple of minutes, when you get a dense pile of meat and veg in the sieve, transfer that to a bowl, leaving the gravy in the pan.
* Separately freeze half the cool meat and gravy for another day.
* For the topping, sides, and bottom, peel and roughly chop the potatoes and cook in boiling salted water for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and leave to steam dry, then add the butter, grate in half the cheese, season to perfection with salt and pepper, mash well and cool completely.
* Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Use a little-reserved chicken fat to grease the inside of a large pie dish (25cm x 30cm), then pick and tear over the rosemary leaves and sprinkle with half the breadcrumbs – they’ll stick to the fat and add an incredible crunch.
* A handful at a time, press the cooled mash into the dish, covering the bottom and sides with a 1cm-thick layer. Spoon in the filling and a couple of spoonfuls of gravy, smooth out, then top with the remaining mash, pat it flat, scuff it up with a fork and pinch it at the edges.
* Grate over the rest of the cheese, scatter with the remaining breadcrumbs and drizzle lightly with oil. Importantly, bake on the bottom of the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
* Warm your gravy through (reducing if desired), then serve the pie with loads of seasonal greens or peas and lots of condiments.
Your dish is ready...!!!
