Mary Berry, the queen of home cooking, has dished out countless recipes over her illustrious career - spanning from scrumptious sweets to hearty savouries. The culinary icon shared her chicken and bacon pie recipe from her show ' Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking' with BBC Good Food, promising a mouth-watering meal ready in less than two hours. She said: "This chicken and bacon pie would make a wonderful centrepiece for a family meal.
" Adding a personal touch, she added: "My granddaughters Abby and Grace helped me to make it for the TV programme." Perfect for a family gathering, the pie serves six and is best prepared in a wide-based ovenproof dish, about 25cm across. Ingredients: Six skinless chicken legs Four celery sticks, diced Four bay leaves, roughly slices 200ml dry white wine 300ml chicken stock 250g smoked back bacon, cut into small pieces One large onion, roughly chopped 50g butter 60g plain flour Two tbsp full-fat crème fraîche One tbsp grainy mustard Two x 375g ready-rolled, all-butter puff pastry One egg, beaten Salt and pepper Method: 1.
Start by preheating the oven to 160C/140C Fan and then put the chicken legs, celery and bay leaves into a large saucepan, pour over the wine and stock before seasoning with salt and pepper. 2. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the chicken legs are cooked and tender.
3. Once cool, remove the meat from the chicken bones. Mary recommended reserving the bones to use for a stock.
Break the meat into small pieces before transferring it to a bowl. Strain the stock, reserving the celery and discarding the bay leaves. Measure the liquid, making sure you have 750ml.
4. Heat a large frying pan and fry the bacon pieces on a medium-high heat for three minutes. Add the onion, cover with a lid and fry for a further 10 minutes until the onion is softened.
Add the butter, stir until melted, and then sprinkle the flour in to form a roux. Pour the reserved liquid into the roux a little at a time, whisking while you add, until it has reached a smooth consistency. 5.
Add some salt and pepper, the reserved celery, crème fraîche and mustard before adding the chicken pieces in. Spoon the filling into a dish and leave to cool, then put in the fridge for 30 minutes. 6.
Meanwhile, roll out each of the pastry sheets to around three millimetres thick. Cut each piece into long, thick ribbons, making sure there is enough to cover the entire top of the pie. 7.
Weave the ribbons together on a piece of baking paper and then chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up before brushing the edges with a beaten egg. Mary then advised to carefully slide the pastry lattice onto the chilled filling, trimming any excess. 8.
Instead the oven temperature to 200C/180C Fan and bake until 30 minutes, checking the chicken is bubbling. The recipe tips said: “If chilled and covered, this dish can be made up to two days ahead. If kept in a freezer-proof container, this pie freezes well uncooked.
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