Friday, April 6, 2012

Dinner and a Miniseries: Pride and Prejudice

Chicken and Parsley Pie is the perfect accompaniment to the five-hour extravaganza that is Pride and Prejudice. Both are scrumptious and oh-so-English. I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog about what is one of my absolute favorite movies ever, even though it's really a miniseries. In fact, I think it's better than the book. (Sorry, Jane!) I first discovered Pride and Prejudice a couple of years after it aired. I was in middle school, I didn't have many friends anyway, so seclusion and five hours of Britishness seemed like a good plan for the weekend. I've watched it at least once a year since then and I've owned it on VHS (six of them!) and DVD (only two). That means I've seen Pride and Prejudice at least a dozen times and it never gets old.




Chicken and Parsley Pie

Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold, cubed salted butter
2 tablespoons lard

Gravy
1 teaspoon butter
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon flour
2/3 cup chicken stock

Filling
Shredded meat from a roasted or boiled chicken thigh and drumstick
Minced leaves from 20 parsley stalks
2 cooked rashers of bacon, sliced into lardons
salt and pepper
nutmeg
1/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the pastry, work the butter and lard into the flour until the mixture is like lumpy sand. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture comes together in a dough. Cover and refrigerate.

Start the gravy by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When bubbling, add the shallot and cook until translucent, turning down the heat if shallot starts to brown. When shallot is cooked, stir in the teaspoon of flour and cook about a minute, then stir in the chicken stock. Turn heat up and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Boil for about a minute then remove from the heat.

Place the shredded chicken, parsley and bacon in a 1-quart capacity baking dish and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour gravy over the top and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to about 1/8" thickness. Cut a hole out of the middle and place on the baking dish. Trim and use trimmings to make a rose to place over the hole. Place baking dish on a baking sheet and bake for about half an hour, or until pastry is lightly browned.

Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan then lift the pastry rose off the pie and pour the cream into the pie. Replace the rose.

Serves 2

Adapted from "Chicken and Parsley Pie" in Laura Mason, The National Trust Farmhouse Cookbook (London: National Trust Books, 2009), 110-111.


Print


Darcy and Elizabeth / Bennet Sisters

P.S. I found out this morning that google turned my word verification back on! So aggravating! Please please please let me know if you ever see word verification on this blog so I can turn it off immediately. I loathe it.

10 comments:

  1. Yum, this looks delicious! :) Gosh, it's been way too long since I've seen the miniseries... will have to rent it!

    Best,
    Danielle

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  2. Such a great cast for this P&P--love it. Andy watched it with me a year or so ago. He's normally an action or comedy movie guy, with a short attention span, but he seemed to enjoy it. I know he'll like this pie...I'm counting on it, anyway. I think he should make it for us for Sunday dinner!

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  3. Oooh, this looks so good and oh so British! I might have to try this. I love P&P....although I'm partial to the Keira Knightly version. I think I just love the look of it so much, and I enjoy when you can see the grime and wrinkles in a period drama. Some shows just seem too clean and well pressed ;)
    Too bad we werent in the same corner of OK when we were in school, we would have been fast friends :)

    Also, if you're ever in Tulsa (not sure if you have family up this way) there is a pub called The White Lion that is fabulous. Its in a little Tudor style house and run by a British woman and her sons and they serve traditional British fare, most of it meat pies. Its amazing! Oh, and it all comes with mushy peas ;)

    Now I want to get out some Pride and Prejudice....
    ~H

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  4. Easter greetings, Lauren!

    I wonder how the series compares with the 2005 movie version starring Keira Knightley. I have not seen either, your post has pushed me to watch it/them.

    I agree, word verification is the most annoying thing!

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  5. I LOVE this series, Lauren. Thanks for reminding me that I haven't seen it in several months. Time for a re-watch!

    I hope you and your family will have a wonderful Easter Sunday, m'dear.

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  6. I adore the Pride and Prejudice mini- series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. I never get tired of it either. This is a fab looking pot pie. Happy Easter!

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  7. One of my best jobs as a freelance film archivist was researching costumes in film & TV adaptations of Austen novels for the Costume Museum in Bath. What an absolute JOY having to watch them all for WORK. The resulting exhibition was just fabulous. Your pie looks great - yum yum. JX

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  8. This is the best! The Pride & Prejudice mini-series is my very favorite! I watch it every year (although I need to get it on DVD now since we got rid of our VCR and I only have it on VHS). My husband and sons enjoy it with me, too - a nice balance to all the action movies I watch with them! Love your pie!

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  9. Perfect marriage of a dish and a mini series!

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  10. No, it never gets old - I find myself quoting "Pride and Prejudice" all the time. Love it! Also love your sweet little rose on top of your chicken pie. Are you channeling your daddy?

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