International Recipes
Russian Chicken Pie (Kurnik)
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1/4 cup firm butter
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
Filling
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked regular rice
- 2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 cup Half-and-Half
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 4 hardboiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced dill weed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Prepare Pastry; wrap in plastic wrap. Heat water, rice and bouillon to boiling, stirring once or twice; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 14 minutes without lifting cover or stirring.
- Remove from heat. Fluff rice lightly with fork; cover and let steam 5 to 10 minutes.
- Cook and stir onions and mushrooms in butter in skillet over medium heat until onions are light brown.
- Mix Half-and-Half and cornstarch; stir into onion mixture.
- Stir in chicken broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken, parsley, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg and pepper.
- Mix chopped eggs and dill weed.
- Spread one-third of the rice mixture in bottom of ungreased 12 x 7-inch baking dish.
- Layer with half of the chicken mixture and half of the egg mixture.
- Repeat the layers; top with remaining rice mixture.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Unwrap Pastry; place on well-floured cloth-covered board. Roll into a 13 x 8-inch rectangle with floured stockinet-covered rolling pin. Cut a 1-inch circle in center of pastry.
- Place Pastry over top of dish; turn edges under and flute.
- Mix egg yolk and water; brush over pastry.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Pastry: Cut butter and shortening into flour and salt until particles are the size of small peas.
- Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl.
- Gather pastry into ball; shape into flattened rectangle.