Updated: Sep 16, 2020
Time: 3.5 - 4 hours
Yield: One 9.5-in pie
Note: You have to keep everything COLD. I could've kept my top crust colder. You can see the butter was melting out along the edges, which is why there's some morphing.
Hack 1: Keep ice packs out on the counter to cool down the environment while you're rolling out your crust.
Hack 2: Preheat the oven to 500F so your cold pie is shocked when it hits the oven, then immediately reduce temp to 400F. This helps flaky layers develop because the butter melts quicker, releasing steam between the dough, which creates layers.
Hack 3: I prefer blind-baking the bottom crust for maximum flakiness, but if you are pressed for time, you can fill and decorate without blind baking. It won't be a disaster, though you will be sacrificing some flakiness and non-soggy bottom.
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Ingredients:
Crust:
Double basic butter crust
Chicken filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 med chicken breasts, sliced into salad-sized chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
2 med red potatoes, cubed
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
5 toes garlic, minced
2 med carrots, sliced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Black pepper, to taste
1 tsp Paprika
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
Lemongrass, minced (2 tbsp)
Egg wash:
1 egg
Dash of milk or cream
Make pie crust. Split into two even discs, wrap in saran, chill in fridge for at least 1 hr.
Heat olive oil in nonstick pan on medium. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper. Add to pan, cook until outside is white (you don't want to fully cook yet).
Remove chicken breast, but keep juice on pan. Heat to medium-high. Add a bit more olive oil. Add onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes. Cook until onions are translucent.
Add cumin, coriander, black pepper, paprika (you can add more - I aggressively season but kept the measurements conservative here).
Sautee for 3 more min. Add red curry paste. Spread over all veggies. Cook for 2-4 more min.
Add chicken stock and 1 tbsp flour. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low. Add brown sugar and lemongrass.
Cook on medium-low for another 8-10 min, until liquid is thick. Toss in chicken, cook for another 2-3 min. Set aside to cool
Remove ONE pie crust from fridge while filling is cooling. Generously flour your counter. Roll out into a circle, until 14-in" in diameter. Make sure to loosen the bottom from the counter and dust with flour periodically (I loosen my crust with a bench scraper).
Once rolled out, flip over your rolling pin and quickly transfer to 9.5" pie tin, draping crust over the edges. Press down so crust fits snug in tin.
Cover with saran wrap, chill the crust in freezer for 15 min.
Preheat oven to 500F (method from Lisa Donovan). Take other crust out of fridge, roll out to 14-in" circle, and decorate as you choose. I did a lattice, as you can see. Skip to step 14 if you DO NOT blind bake.
***At this point, you can either BLIND BAKE the crust or proceed to step 14. I've done it both ways and recommend it for maximum flakiness and minimum soggy bottom, but you can go either way if you are not a pie snob. I decided to not blind-bake this time, which meant I chilled the crust a lot. That's the compromise.
***If you opt to blind-bake, prick pie crust base with a fork. Cover base with aluminum foil or parchment paper, add pie weights or dry beans or rice, transfer to oven. Bake for 15 min. Remove tin foil and pie weights from crust. Bake for another 7-8 min, until crust turns golden brown. Cool completely before adding filling and top crust.
If you don't blind bake, take crust out of freezer. Add filling. Decorate with top crust and crimp edges with a fork. Chill back in freezer for 10-15 min.
Egg wash. Transfer to oven. Reduce temp to 400F, bake for 20 min.
After 20 min, top with tin foil. Reduce temp to 375F. If you blind baked the crust, bake for another 35-40 min (55-60 min total). If you DID NOT blind-bake the crust, bake for 40-50 min (60-70 min total). You bake for longer because the bottom crust has not been pre-baked and needs to fully cook through.
Remove, chill on cooling rack. Enjoy!