Game of Thrones Series {Week 1}

You guys remember when I mentioned in my Chicken Stir-Fry post that I was thinking about doing a series that was centered around the HBO tv show “Game of Thrones”?

Well, I decided to go ahead and do it. I really think this may be one of the best series that I will ever do on the blog. I’m so excited for it and I think you guys will  like the recipes I’ve decided to put out. Ideally, I would have started this 3 weeks ago when the show first returned for its 4th season. However, since things don’t always go according to plan, I’m gonna be a late bloomer and hit the series off today, on the day that the 4th episode premiers. As the show only comes on once a week, I also decided that I would post the recipes once a week, every Sunday. I’m hoping to have a GoT recipe every Sunday until the end of the season. Knock on wood that I can actually pull it off…

For those of you that don’t watch it, Game of Thrones is a medieval/fantasy show that’s centered around a complex, intricate plot of characters that are all involved in schemes, intrigues and webs that involve a fight over an Iron Throne and who will sit on it. It’s based on a series of wildly popular books by George R. R. Martin that still isn’t complete as of yet. I’ve only read the first book, and now that I’m watching the show, I don’t feel the need to read the other books and ‘spoil it’ for myself so far as the plot goes. This is actually one of the rare times when I prefer the cinema experience to the book experience of a story. The show writers and actors have all done a phenomenal job of  bringing Martin’s story to life and I wait every season/week to see what’s coming up next.

Don’t quote me on this (for any book loyalists out there), but I believe  that pigeon pies are mentioned several times in the book series. My inspiration for them however, came from the episode with the Purple Wedding- arguably the best episode of Game of Thrones, like ever. Why? Because Joffrey Baratheon (i.e., the worst character to have ever graced the screen of my television)……

STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT A HUGE SPOILER.

was poisoned at the conclusion of the episode. I have to be honest guys, when I saw him start choking and gasping after drinking the wine and I realized what was actually happening,  I literally stood up and screamed out a resounding “YES!”

Does that make me a bad person? I don’t think so, anyway.

Anyway, back to the food. Just before that “huge” thing happens to Joffrey, an enormous pie filled with live pigeons is brought out at  he and Margery’s wedding that is typically served at festive , royal celebrations. In lieu of that momentous episode, I thought I would make a rendition of ‘piegon pie’ for my first recipe of the GoT series on the blog. Although I’m sure they’re plentiful in King’s Landing, Pigeons are…kinda scarce in the grocery stores of my neck of the USA.  However, we’ve got plenty of chicken. So I decided, hey, I’ll just use chicken breast- it’s all the same so long as it’s still poultry, right?

My original plan was to make this into one big chicken pie, however at the very last moment I decided to try to make them into individual servings. I thought it would look more medieval/rustic, or whatever. Aren’t they cute? I can just imagine them being made in a medieval style Westeros bakery and then being hawked on the street by some portly guy pushing a wooden cart down some  narrow cobblestone street and-

Okay, never mind.

However, I will say though, that doing it my way will require using quite a few pie crusts for the recipe to cut out the dough for the individual muffin tins (around 8 full crusts). If that’s too many for you, then feel free to dump the whole thing into one 11 x 14 dish, or into 2 deep dish pie crusts. That’s perfectly fine.

So let’s talk about taste. I’m totally fine with admitting that I used a Pillsbury pie crust for these. I definitely didn’t feel like making 8 recipes of pie crust. Nope, I didn’t. (If you do, then congratulations: you were Betty Crocker in a past life.) The store bought brand was stills a delicious crust; flaky and buttery and the perfect compliment to the filling.  Ohhh you guys the filling: rich, hearty and thick, bursting with huge chunks of chicken and vegetables in every bite. You could put away two or three of these babies easily…maybe even more (not that I would know about that from experience, though.)

In short, these pies were just as satisfying to eat as it was to watch the episode with the Purple Wedding. If that doesn’t tell you how delicious they are, then I honestly don’t know what will.

Stay tuned for next Sunday, where I’ll be sharing my next Game of Thrones recipe 🙂

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Pigeon {Chicken} Pies

Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION

Ingredients

• 1 rotisserie style chicken
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cups yellow onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 16 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas and green beans)
• 8 pie crusts (4 boxes of pre-made refrigerated crusts, like Pillsbury)
• Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1.  Remove skin from rotisserie chicken and discard. Pull chicken off the bones and discard carcass. Roughly chop chicken into bite sized cubes. You should have about 4 to 6 cups.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent.

3. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add heavy cream, sugar, onion powder, pepper, rosemary, and coriander. Add the cubed chicken, onions and mixed veggies. Mix well.

4. Remove chicken mixture from heat and allow to slightly cool. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 2 12 cup muffins tins thoroughly with cooking spray. Roll out 1 pie crust at a time on a floured, smooth surface

5. Using a 4 1/2 inch round (like from a small bowl), cut out shapes for bottom crust. Line crust in bottoms of muffin tins, making sure that the edges come out over the tops of the tins.

6. Spoon cooled chicken mixture into crust lined tins, about 2 heaping tablespoons per pie. Use a 4-inch round to cut out shapes for the top crusts. Place crust over the tops of tins, crimping the bottom crust edges together with the top ones to seal the pies. Spray pie tops with cooking spray.

7. Bake pies for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before removing from muffin tins (they will be very hot).

Related articles

• When You Play the Game of Thrones, It Turns Out We All Lose
• George R.R. Martin on why Joffrey died THAT way – EXCLUSIVE
• Real-Life Joffrey Smiles About ‘Game of Thrones’ Purple Wedding