Serves : 4
Ingredients :
60 ml/4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stick, sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into julienne strips
3 chicken breast fillets, skinned
450g/1 lb St George’s Mushrooms (or other wild mushrooms will also taste excellent) sliced
75g/3 oz/6 cups plain (all purpose) flour
500 ml/17 fl oz/2.5 cups chicken stock, boiling
10 ml/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
30 ml/2 tbsp medium sherry
10 ml/2 tsp wine vinegar
salt and ground black pepper
For the Topping :
275 g/10 oz/2.5 cups self raising flour
pinch of celery salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
115 g/4 oz/0.5 cup firm unsalted butter, diced
50 g/2 oz/0.5 cup cheddar cheese
150 ml/0.25 pint/0.75 cup cold water
beaten egg, to glaze (optional)
Preparation :
- Pre heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan, add the onion, celery and carrot and fry gently without colouring, to soften. Cut the chicken breasts into bitesize pieces, add to the vegetables and cook briefly. Add the mushrooms, fry until the juices run, then stir in the flour
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir gradually so that the flour is completely blended in. Return the pan to the heat, and simmer gently to thicken, stirring constantly. Add the mustard, sherry, vinegar and seasoning. Cover and keep warm
- To make the topping, sift the flour, celery salt and cayenne pepper into a bowl or food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the butter and half of the cheese, then either rub the mixture together with your fingers or process until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and combine without over mixing
- Turn out on to a floured board, form into a round and flatten to about a 1cm/0.5 inch thickness. Cut out as many 5 cm/2 in shapes as you can, using a pastry (cookie) cutter
- Transfer the chicken mixture into a 1.2 litre/2 pint/5 cup pie dish, then overlap the cobbler shapes around the edge. Brush with beaten egg, if using, scatter over the remaining cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the topping is well risen and golden
Notes :
The St. George’s mushroom, so named because it emerges near to St George’s Day, 23rd April, combines well with chicken in this traditional English Cobbler, but other wild mushrooms will also taste excellent
Variations :
A Mixture of bay boletus, saffron milk-caps, parasol mushrooms, yellow russula, oyster or closed field (portabello) mushrooms would work well in this recipe
This recipe can easily be made into a pie by replacing the cobbler topping with a layer of flaky or shortcrust pastry