Chicken Pie with Dates (English Medieval)

This is a kind of meat pie that would have been eaten during the Middle Ages (700-1450) in Europe. Feel free to play around with the spices and substitute things such as cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, etc. Use a Whole wheat crust to be really authentic.

Pastry Dough (English Medieval):
pinch saffron, dissolved in ½ cup water
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 egg, for egg wash

Filling:
1½ lbs chicken
1 egg
3 Tbsp. white wine
⅛ cup dates, pitted and chopped
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
¼ tsp. white pepper, freshly ground
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground mace
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5).

Make the Medieval Pastry:
Dissolve the saffron in the water. Cut and combine the butter into the flour until crumb-size pieces of butter are formed. Add the egg yolks and the saffron water. Mix until everything just sticks together (add more water if needed). Dough can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen indefinitely.

Filling and Assembly:
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a saucepan, boil chicken with chicken broth, over low heat, for about 1 hour or until done. Add water, if necessary, to cover chicken while cooking. Drain and reserve the broth and place cooked chicken in a large bowl.

Add egg, white wine and 1 cup of chicken stock to the cooked chicken. Add dates, ground almonds and cheese, then toss to mix. Add salt, black and white pepper, cloves, ginger, mace and cinnamon. Mix spices in. Don't worry if the filling seems wet, it will thicken as it cooks.

Pour filling into pie shell. Cover with top shell and crimp to seal edges.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.