One of my BFF's, Cathy, and her hubby John, made me a birthday feast for my last birthday. Last week it was Cathy's birthday, so it was my turn to feed them. John is a chef (lookit him on the t.v.!!), so I had a tough act to follow. One of Cathy's favorite places to go is The Scottish Arms, and I have seen her on more than one occasion order the Cock-a-Leekie pie. In fact, local food publication Sauce Magazine had published the Arms' recipe for this amusingly-named pie a couple of years ago, an I remembered cutting it out to give to her. That's how I knew I could find the recipe for an awesome birthday dinner!
This pie took a few steps, but it was not difficult. A good special Sunday cookin' kind of a meal. Special also in that it contains 9 cups of heavy cream. NINE CUPS. It makes 10 pies (well, my pies were kinda big... I made 8 pies in 16 oz. chili bowls). And, no surprise, these are GOOD pies. So rich and comforting. Mmmmmm... a crowd pleaser to be sure.
Cock-A-Leekie Pie
Courtesy of The Scottish Arms’ Carl Hazel
Published by Sauce Magazine
10 servings
2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups white wine
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, divided
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
1 cup flour
2 1/4 quarts (9 cups) heavy cream
1 box frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
• In a large stock pot, combine the chicken stock and white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken breasts and poach for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through.
• Remove the chicken from the poaching liquid; reserve the liquid. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken.
• In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the leeks and sweat until just tender.
• In a large sauté pan, make a thick roux by melting 8 tablespoons butter, then adding the flour and stirring constantly until lightly golden.
• Add the cream to the poaching liquid and bring to a boil. Whisk in the roux and reduce to low heat.
• Add the leeks and shredded chicken and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to the called-for temperature on the box of puff pastry.
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
• Fill soup bowls to within ½ inch from the rim with hot Leekie.
• Top each bowl with a square of puff pastry and brush each with melted butter.
• Bake per the instructions on the puff pastry box or until the pastry is golden brown.
• Serve hot.
I made a trio of bruschettas for appetizers... my roasted garlic ricotta spread (from my own Sauce mag article), a simple roasted tomato, and, my new favorite, artichoke bacon, which was simply a can of artichoke hearts (drained), cooked bacon and raw garlic thrown into the food processor!
Speaking of BFF's, I'm very excited to go with most of the Food Blog Mafia to see Anthony Bourdain speak live tomorrow night!! Here are some past posts in which I swoon over Tony... (these are extremely old-skool... don't laugh too hard).
Nasty Bits
Vietnamese food
Mushroom Soup
Coq Au Vin