Chicken and tarragon pie

Cut the chicken into strips. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan and fry the chicken and onions until tender, but not browned. Sprinkle over the flour and cool for one minute.

Stir in the wine and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes until the chicken is tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the tarragon and cream. Allow to cool while making the pastry.

To make the pastry place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Cut 50g of the butter into small cubes and add to the flour with the salt, work them together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing the flour into the centre with the other hand.

Add the water and mix to a soft elastic dough. Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth.

Heat the oven to 220°C, (fan 200°C, gas mark 7). Roll out the dough into an oblong 3 times as long as it is wide. Dice the remaining butter and put one quarter of it over the top two thirds of the dough. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down and turn around so that the folds are now at the sides. Seal the edges by pressing with a rolling pin.

Place the chicken filing in a suitable pie dish so that it just fills it. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin. Cut a strip of pastry and place around the edge of the pie dish, dampen with a little water then lay the pastry over the pie and trim the edge. Make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape. Top with pastry leaves if liked. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30-40 mins, covering with foil if the pastry gets a little too brown.