I had browned baby carrots, potatoes & onions in olive oil.

Then I added a quartered lemon and some sprigs of rosemary. The butterflied poussin were then spread on top of the veg.

Melted butter and honey were used to glaze the poussin and 2 cups of chicken stock were poured into the pot.

Then I put a cartouche over the poussin and then put the pot lid on.

I put them in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for about 50 minutes. I removed the cartouched and lid and then browned it for a further 10 minutes.

Here’s the finished product ready to serve. It was yum. I strained the leftover liquid and then thickened it with arrowroot powder. I don’t like thickening with flour or cornflour. The gravy turned out flavoursome beyond belief!

I’m a homemade pie lover; yes I must confess I am. I am not however, a fan of commerical pies and very rarely indulge! I grew up on my mum’s homemade steak and kidney pies and steak and veg pies. I was never a fan of her steak & kidney pies, but the steak & veg were awesome. She uses a very traditional pastry that has its origins from the north of England where she was born. My mother’s recipe has been a staple in my own family and has been passed down to my daughters. This pie is made using a Jamie Oliver recipe from his new magazine.

This kick-arse chicken pie doesn’t have a pastry base and the filling is quite dense and easily comes out of the pie tin in cut slices without falling apart.

The gravy is made from the liquid that the chicken is boiled in and the flavour is enhanced with creme fraiche. It’s without doubt the best chicken gravy I have ever tasted. Nigel was in full agreement last night when he ate his dinner!

The process of making this pie is very different from my mothers traditional pies, but make no misake the flavour is worth the effort. Plus if you use a lot of water in the pot when you cook the chicken you will have extra stock to make chicken noodle soup; which is what i will be doing with the extra stock. I am going to add some more veg to the recipe when I next make it, so that it goes a little further. One pie used one whole chicken; a rather expensive dinner! I will next attempt to add other vegetables in the hopes that I can get two pies out of the ingredients. I will par cook the second pie and then freeze it for a busy weeknight dinner.

I would also like to try using sour cream pastry the next time I make this pie. I’ve yet to try making sour cream pasty and I love the flavour so I will have to give it a go! On another note, if you have a spare $10 to spend bi-monthy buy Jamie Magazine; it’s worth every cent and is jam packed with great recipes. This pie came from issue 2. I’ll be subscribing very soon!