Golden, flaky, buttery. . .
Chicken Pot Pie
This recipe came about after I made some incredible Potato Leek soup (recipe follows) to combat a disgustingly cold day in San Francisco. Long story short: I bought way too many potatoes and parsnips, and had a ton of soup left over, so I roasted the veggies and combined them with the soup and Voila! It worked perfectly! Beautiful, flakey crust and this rich, delicious filling combined to create a pot pie of epic proportions. This is perfect for a low-key evening where comfort is the rule.
For the crust:
Prep time: 15 minutes. Resting time: >1hr.
- 1C AP Flour
- 1/2C (1 stick) cold butter
- 1/4C Ice Water
- 2 tsps Salt.
I was surprised at how similar to my biscuit dough this is. First, whisk salt and flour in large mixing bowl and add the cold butter. Make sure the butter is cold, or it will not cut into the flour properly. Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like course cornmeal; make a well in the center. Add water and draw the flour from the perimeter into the center to combine. Gently knead until the dough becomes combines, work into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
For the filling:
Prep time: 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 400.
Ok, you have some choices to make now. The final product will depend on a few variables, namely: vegetable to binding ratio, vegetable choice, binding medium. For this, I used Potato Leek soup at a roughly 1:1 ratio to roasted root vegetables and diced leeks, allowing them to combine overnight. You could also make a light Béchamel sauce and season it with cayenne and sherry (Thanks, Big 4.) Last note before we start: dice your fillings as evenly as possible to ensure that they cook in the same amount of time.
- 2 chicken breasts, roasted and diced.
- 3 carrots, ½” dice, separated.
- 1 parsnip, ½” dice
- 3 potatoes, ½” dice
- 2 ribs of celery, coarsely chopped.
- 1 leek (white part) , coarsely chopped.
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped.
- A handful of green peas
- 1 egg, for washing.
Toss 2 carrots, the potatoes and the parsnip in a bowl with olive oil, black pepper, and thyme. Dust your chicken with cayenne and white pepper. Arrange chicken breasts and root vegetables on a parchment-lined roasting pan and roast for 20-25 minutes (long enough to roast the vegetables without crisping them severely.) If you overcook, add the vegetables to the sauce and let them marinate.
While they are roasting, heat a sauté pan with a bit of olive oil. Sauté the onion, leek, and celery until softened and set aside. Warm your sauce.
When the pastry dough has set, unwrap it and cleave it into halves. Flour a cutting board (don’t skimp, it’s sticky dough) and roll the dough out to a size about 4” in diameter bigger than your pie plate. Shake off any excess flour and lay the dough into the pan and press the dough into the form, letting the excess hang off. Roll out the other half to just over the diameter of the pie pan and set aside.
Fill the shell with the chicken, roasted vegetables, onion sauté, and fresh carrot and peas. Pour the sauce over the mixture and gently toss, taking care not to damage the bottom crust. I suppose you could do this in the sauce pan as well, just make sure that you don’t beat up the filling. Cover with the second sheet of pastry and pinch the dough together to form the crust (there are many techniques to this, remember that this is a country dish and it should look as pretty as you want it to, you made it.)
Using a very sharp knife, vent the top sheet. You can cut holes in it or stencil a design or whatever you are feeling. The physics of the dish require steam from the vegetable to escape or the crust will get soggy. Wash the entire crust with a beaten egg. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until it smells too good to leave in the oven. The goal is golden, crispy pastry and bubbly filling.
