1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or use 2 teaspoons dried)
2 eggs
4 ounces good quality sliced ham (120 g)
Instructions
1) About the chicken- it's hard to get a chicken
larger than 3 lbs. Buy a nice chubby chicken, and
make up the shortfall with a pack of chicken
pieces. We prefer the brown meat, which is more
flavourful than breasts).
2) Defrost the pastry in the fridge or at room
temperature, but make sure it stays cool. If you
made My Gran's Sour Cream Pastry, keep in plastic
wrap in fridge until needed.
3
Use a large pot, like a soup pot. Add the water,
and then the whole chicken, any extra fat removed.
Add giblets as well, if available.
4
Sprinkle over the stock powder or granules- please
note that you use the stock powder itself, not a
mix made with water!
5) Put on lid. Bring to boil, turn down heat, keep
lid on, and boil chicken gently until almost
tender, about 45 minutes.
6
Then soak the sago granules in a little warm water
-- they swell a little -- and add, stirring it
into the water around the chicken.
7) Simmer with lid on until chicken flesh almost
falls from bones, and the sago has turned into
translucent little pearls.
8) Take chicken out of the sauce and leave in a
dish to cool down. Leave the sauce in the pot, but
give the bottom a good scrape to loosen the bits
that stick. Bits of meat can stay in the sauce,
just lift out any bones with a slotted spoon- the
wing tips often fall off into the sauce.
9) When the chicken and sauce have both cooled
down enough, take all the bones from the chicken,
and cut up the meat. This is a messy job, but be
careful to remove all small bones. Use ALL meat
and skin. Don't cut up meat too finely -- bite-
sized. Rub soft meat and skin off carcass and
wings so you use it all.
10) Then, with a slotted spoon, remove remaining
meaty bits from the sauce in the pot, and add all
edibles to the chicken meat, discarding small
bones. Don't worry about the sauce in the pot- it
will still have bits in it.
11) Add the flour to the sauce, and whisk in
smoothly. A wire whisk usually does the job with
no lumps remaining. Add all the flavourings to the
sauce, and taste the result -- chickens differ,
flavourings differ. Adjust to your taste. Be
especially careful not to oversalt, so taste
before you add the salt. (Some chicken stock
powders are salty, others not).
12) Beat the eggs in a bowl, and add to the sauce.
13) Now add the chopped chicken to the pot again.
Stir through with wooden spoon. Taste again- you
might want more seasoning at this stage, and you
can also add a touch of chilli, if you like.
14) Set oven at 220 deg C (425 deg F).
15) On a floured board, roll pastry out thinner
(if necessary) and to fit the top of your dish.
Beat an extra egg in a small bowl.
16) Using a suitable oven dish, scrape the chicken
with its sauce into the dish.
17) Slice up the ham, and scatter over the top.
This filling should come up to within 1 1/2 inch,
or 3 cm from the top of the dish.
18) Paint the edges of the dish with beaten egg to
help the pastry stick, then cover loosely with the
puff pastry. Do NOT stretch- leave a bit of slack,
as the pastry will shrink as it bakes. Press the
edges neatly with your fingers all around the
dish, then cut off excess pastry with scissors or
a sharp knife.
19) Brush the pastry with the extra beaten egg.
Put into the hot oven. After 15 minutes, turn heat
down to 180 deg C (350 deg F) and bake for about 1
hour or until pastry is puffed up and golden, and
you can see the filling sizzling underneath (if
using a glass dish).
20) Suggested side dishes- South African Yellow
Rice or roast potatoes, steamed green beans, sweet
potatoes, and a tomato salad.
21) Although the recipe sounds long, it's really
worth making and it's a favourite with every age
group.
Originally Submitted
8/5/2013
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