Living up to my promise of a pie a month from my earlier post Cake Idol (this one counts for January because I made it in January but just didn’t post it until Feb…).  I actually made two pies!  The first was a dinner pie and a total experiment that turned out great!

Chicken Cor Don Blue Pie

Words of caution, this is not a thirty minute meal and you will use EVERY pan/pot/dish in your kitchen but SSSSSSOOOOO tasty and worth it!

You Will Need

1 pound chicken cubed, breaded and fried

• chicken
• two eggs
• two table spoons of milk
• about 2 cups of breadcrumbs
• about 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 of oil (vegetable, canola, olive)

1 one recipe of double pie crust

• 1/2 a cup of butter or shortening or mixture of both (I like using a little of both)
• 1  1/2 cut of flour
• pinch of salt
• 3-5 table spoons of ice cold water

1 recipe of Bearnaise sauce

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
• 4 white peppercorns, crushed
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne

1/2 a pound of ham

1/2 a pound of swiss cheese

Step One – cube,bread, and fry the chicken

1. Cube the chicken.
2. dip in a bowl of beaten egg and milk
3. immediately dip in a bowl of breadcrumbs and coat completely
4. roll coated chicken on a plate of flour
5. place chicken in frying pan on medium/high heat and generously coat with oil of your choice (I like to use canola or olive oil) or place in a deep fryer if you have one
6. When fully browned place on a plate that is covered with a paper towel.  Because they are small pieces they will not take long to cook.
7. set aside

*I used chicken tenderloins and they worked perfectly!

Step Two- The Sauce

I won’t tell anyone if you just buy a package of Bearnaise sauce and save yourself some time and dishes!  I made the sauce from scratch and I had never done that before.  It turned out perfect!  Here’s the recipe I followed with a few small alterations:

This classic French sauce is made from a reduction of butter, vinegar, and wine mixed with tarragon and thickened with egg yolks. It is served with meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
• 4 white peppercorns, crushed
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne

Preparation:

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat just to melt. Boil shallots, tarragon, and peppercorns in vinegar and wine in a nonreactive medium-size saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Strain into the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the egg yolks. Place the top over the bottom of the double boiler containing simmering water. Make sure that the top of the water is below the bottom of the upper part of the double boiler. Whisk constantly. The second that the yolk mixture begins to thicken slightly, remove the top of the double boiler from above the hot water and continue whisking. Turn off the heat. Add four ice cubes to the bottom of the double boiler to cool the hot water a little. Put the pan of yolks back above the hot water. Whisk in the melted butter, drizzling it in very slowly. If at any time the sauce looks as if it is about to break, remove the top and continue whisking to cool it down or whisk in 1 teaspoon cold water. With constant whisking, whisk in the salt and cayenne. When all the butter is incorporated, taste and add more salt or cayenne as needed.

Yield: 1-1/2 cups

Set the sauce aside until ready to use

My alterations!

So I only had one shallot…so I used one shallot and two medium onions.  I’m sure it is a big french no no but it tasted great! Plus you don’t actually have chunks of shallots or onions the sauce, you’re just reducing them for their essence.  I also used about a half a cup of wine and had a few swigs while cook

Step Three- The Crust

I love love love making pastry crust.  A lot of people are intimidated and I was at first too, but the pay out is worth it.  It doesn’t take as long as you would think but does take some quick thinking.  I start out with this basic recipe and add a little more of each ingredient until I have the consistence I want.

• 1/2 a cup of butter or shortening or mixture of both (I like using a little of both)
• 1  1/2 cut of flour
• pinch of salt
• 3-5 table spoons of ice cold water

First cream the butter/shortening then add the flour and salt with the pastry attachment on your mixer.

Start to slowly add water until it forms a dough.  If it gets to moist add more flour.  If it is too dry and small amounts of shortening and water until it is what you want.  It should be a bit denser than a sugar cookie dough but still roll out very easily.  Once I have the dough where I want it I sometimes flavor it.  For this recipe I added a table spoon of crushed rosemary and a teaspoon of onion powder.  It is very subtle and not over powering at all in the final product.

Step Four – Put it all together!

The hard parts are over now you just have to put it all together.  I made my pie in a 9 inch spring form pan.  If you have small souffle dishes it is nice to make them in individual dishes for each guest but one big pie taste just as good.

1. pre-heat the oven to 350
2. grease your pan of choice
3. roll out the pie crust for the bottom layer (about 2/3 of the dough)
4. press into greased pan and up along the sides
5. next place a layer of swiss cheese in the pie crust
6. then layer the chicken in the pie
7. followed by a layer of thin sliced ham
8. top it off with another layer of swiss cheese
9. pour the  Bearnaise sauce over the pie evenly so it sinks down through out the whole pie.
10. Finally roll out the remaining pie crust to cover the top.  I use a small cookie cutter to make shapes for the pie to vent.  Simple knife marks will achieve the same thing.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and peaks of the crust are dark brown.  ( for the last two minutes I put the oven on broil)
12. Let cool and serve!  ENJOY!  I served with scalloped potatoes and steamed broccoli.
13. Don’t forget to clean up

I also made a berry pie that was divine and I will post that recpie tomorrow, so stay tuned!

If you make my Chicken Cor Don Blue Pie please write me and tell me how it turned out

sweetiecakesandpies@gmail.com