Serves 4-6)

1 small chicken, about 1.4kg, or 550g cooked chicken meat (in which case you'll need
500ml gravy and to start at step 2, missing out step 5, or 500ml stock, starting at step 2)
1 large carrot, washed and quartered but not peeled
1 onion, quartered but not peeled
2 sticks of celery, quartered
1 bay leaf
A few black peppercorns
Bunch of tarragon
Slug of madeira or sweetish sherry
40g butter
100g bacon chunks or lardons, chopped into cubes
2 leeks, roughly chopped
200ml single cream
Zest of 1 lemon
For the pastry (or use 500g puff pastry)
225g plain flour
225g very cold butter
100ml iced water
1 egg, beaten with a little milk or water
1. Put the chicken, if poaching, in a large pan with the carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf,
peppercorns and a few sprigs of tarragon. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil,
then skim any scum off the surface. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for about
45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, start the pastry. Sift the flour and a generous pinch of salt on to a cold
surface. Cut the butter into 1cm cubes and stir it in, then gently squidge the two
together, so the flour combines with the lumps of butter – the aim is not to mix it
completely, so it turns into crumbs, but to have small lumps of butter coated with
flour. Like the name, it should look quite rough, even unfinished.
3. Sprinkle a little of the water over the top and stir it in. Add enough water to bring
it into a dough (unless your kitchen is very dry, you probably won't need it all),
without overworking the mixture, then cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 20
minutes.
4. Lightly flour a work surface and shape the dough into a rectangle. Roll it out until
three times its original length. Fold the top third back into the centre, then bring the
bottom third up to meet it, so your dough has three layers. Give the dough a quarter
turn and roll out again until three times the length, fold again as before, and chill it
for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the bird from the pan and set aside. Turn the heat up and reduce the stock
by about three quarters to about 500ml – this should take about 20 minutes. Add a
good slug of madeira or sherry, and season to taste. Once the chicken is cool enough,
strip off the meat.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark four. Melt the butter in a large frying
pan over a medium heat and add the lardons. Cook until golden, then scoop out of
the pan and set aside. Add the leeks to the pan and fry for about seven minutes until
silky, then turn the heat up and, once the pan is hot, add the stock to the pan; it
should sizzle. Allow to bubble for a minute or so, then stir in the cream, lemon zest
and the leaves of the remaining tarragon, roughly chopped, plus the bacon. Season to
taste, then stir in the chicken.
7. Pour the chicken and sauce into a large pie dish and allow to cool. Roll out the
pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Brush the rim of the pie dish
with egg wash, then place the pastry on top, pressing down to seal. Crimp the edges if
you like, then cut a small hole in the top and brush the whole lot with egg wash.
8. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden, and allow to
cool slightly before serving.