Chicken and Mushroom Pie

St George’s mushrooms work particularly well with white meats. Personally I prefer to use a fresh wild rabbit rather than chicken, harnessing two of the best wild foods to be found in spring, but most people probably find chicken more acceptable and certainly easier to come by.

1 Onion
3 cloves Garlic
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
250g St George’s
500g Diced chicken (or rabbit)
1 tbsn Plain flour
150g Single cream
250g Puff pastry

Lightly sauté the onion and garlic. When translucent, add the meat and seal, then add the mushrooms and cook gently for five minutes. Stir in the mustard and flour, then the cream. Season to taste with black pepper and salt. Roll out the pastry and line a suitable dish, reserving a third for the top. Fill with the chicken and mushroom mix, then cover with the remaining pastry. Brush the surface with milk or beaten egg to produce a glaze. Bake in a hot oven (Reg. 5/160C) for 30 minutes until the surface begins to brown lightly.

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Our ancestors relied on wild food from the fields and woods, great great grandfathers were transported for helping themselves, while Mabey, Mears and Fearnley-Whittingstall have introduced a new generation to its charms. So what free delicacies are available now?

Alexanders
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St Georges (April 2010)
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Recipes

Just as we Britons have lost any mushroom lore we might once have possessed, so most of us are at a loss when we finally venture into the kitchen with our haul. In reality, however, mushrooms are one of the easiest things to work with. They have such fantastic flavours, the general rule is to not to mask these with complicated recipes. Most should be cooked, particularly the first time, because they can be indigestible, but otherwise, simple is usually best . . .

Baked eggs and rocket with chilli and yoghurt (June 2010)
Blewit Pate
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Chanterelles a la forestiere
Chicken and Mushroom Pie
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Elderflower Cordial
Grilled Cepes
Jew's Ear on Pasta
Morel Fondue
Morel Stroganoff (March 2010)
Mushroom Parcels
Parasol Tempura
Pearl Barley and Wild Mushroom Risotto
Porcini, kale and pasta
Saffron Milk Caps with Beans
Shaggy Ink Cap Soup
Smoked Chilli Oil
Spiced Stuffed Mushrooms
St Georges Vol-au-Vents
Thai Mushroom Soup
Venison and Blewit Casserole
Wild Mushroom and Nut Pate
Wild mushroom soup

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Chicken and Mushroom Pie

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