Medieval Chicken Pie
(Medieval-inspired. Medieval-probable.)
Use a 9” deep dish pie tin. You also want a meat thermometer.
Pie crust:
¾ cup butter 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or semola flour ½ cup water ¼ tsp salt beaten egg whites
Filling:
2 Tbsp honey ½ cup dried fruits, minced (such as raisins, blueberries, prunes, cherries, figs, dates) 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon 3 egg yolks 2 Tbsp minced nuts 1 cup carrots, finely chopped ¾ cup fennel bulb and stalk, finely chopped 2 cups chicken, cut into about 1” cubes ½ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 1 tsp thyme ½ tsp mace
Set the oven to 350° F and put the chicken in to cook while you make the crust and chop the vegetables.
Crust: Cut the butter into the flour until it is crumbly and there is no more dry powder. Dissolve the salt in the water, and stir into the flour to make a soft dough. Knead it a bit to get it all together. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge to chill until hard.
Stir together all the filling ingredients.
When the crust dough is hard, divide it in half. Place a piece of waxed paper on the counter, and sprinkle with flour. Roll out half the dough to a circle big enough to fit in the pie tin. It should be somewhat thick crust. Place the tin upside-down on the dough, and flip it over with the dough and waxed paper to get the dough inside. Remove the waxed paper and press the dough down into the tin.
Spread the filling into the pie crust.
Roll out the rest of the crust dough in the same way, using the waxed paper to lift it and place it on the top of the pie. Trim the edge of the crust and pinch the top and bottom together.
Brush the beaten egg whites onto the crust. Make a cool design on the top crust with the remaining dough! Make sure there are some cuts in the top crust. Brush the design with egg whites as well.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches or exceeds 165° F.
Variation: Use ½ cup bacon and ½ cup chicken. Use parsnips instead of carrots. Use puff pastry instead of pie crust.
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