Yield: 1 Servings
Measure | 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 |
\N \N | Pie Crust; (see recipe) |
1 \N | Egg white; beaten to blend (glaze) |
\N 8 | Servings |
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