Chicken Pot Pie

It probably started 6 maybe 7 years ago with the wife telling me she wanted chicken pot pie. I said "No! I can't stand that that crap." Of course I was talking about the frozen variety you buy out of the store. You know the the kind I'm talking about, the crust resembles anything but a real crust and tastes closer to dried cardboard than good crust. I couldn't help but think about frozen pot pies everytime she brought the subject up. Imagine her surprise this week when she asked what was for Sunday dinner and I answered Chicken Pot Pie.

"But you don't like chicken pot pie" she exclaimed.

"Well I don't like the frozen ones and I don't think I have ever had a real homemade one before so I am willing to try. Besides I am making it more for you because you have been bugging me about making it for a few years now." At least that was my angle I was taking for an excuse to give chicken pot pie a try.

My thought as I was trying to find a good recipe to try was let's go to a master at comfort food cooking. I know there are a couple of good cooks on Food Network that make good comfort food but after looking at recipes I chose Ina Garten's recipe, besides Ina is one of those cooks that makes everything look better when she gets done.

It's time to roll and here is this weeks cast of characters.....



A fine looking cast this week.

First we must roast the chicken breast so we spray them with a little olive oil and cover them with salt and pepper. Don't be afraid to be generous here because you will be throwing the chicken skin out anyway.



Let's take a look at the chicken after an hour of roasting in the oven.



At this point I am thinking "Who needs chicken pot pie when I can eat the chicken breast straight from the oven." As tempting as that may be I need to stay on point and make the chicken pot pie.

Next we need a cooking vessel or vessels. A quick trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond, well not a quick trip since the first Bed, Bath and Beyond didn't have any. The nice clerk in the store looked up on the computer to see if they had any ramicans and they didn't but she checked the other stores in the area and found some in Gaithersburg, only about 10 miles from home. One of the great things about living here is we have three Bed, Bath and Beyonds' within 10 miles of our place and that's no exaggeration.



I thought I would throw in a black and white photo, I don't get a chance to do that very often.

This is the part of the show where I cheat a little bit, instead of making my own pastry (just in case any of you don't know I don't bake) I used store bought. In the original recipe below Ina makes her own pastry and if you really want to go ahead, like I said the recipe is down below.



Another character that deserves a photo all its own is the frozen pearl onions. When I was reading reviews many of the reviewers omitted the little frozen wonders and all I could ask was "Why?" These little pearls are one of my favorite items for comfort food. Next time you make beef stew add these to the pot and you will be hooked, I promise.



Let's get back to why we are all here today, chicken pot pie.

Chunk up the chicken.......



.........make a roux, after all this is the base for our pot pie.......



......add the remaining cast of characters.



That went fairly quick, next top with puff pastry. Start by folding the pastry out of the cutting board........



.......and find something to cut a nice round circle about an inch larger than the ramican. In this case a cereal bowl worked just fine.



Fill the ramicans up with delicious chicken pot pie and top with puff pastry.



A little egg wash, salt and pepper and we are ready for the oven.



Cook until golden, brown and delicious or as Alton Brown would say GBD.



Time to open one up and see what we got...........



.....and a little bit more............



I'll confess not bad, not bad at all. These were nothing like their distant cousins from the frozen food section of the grocery store. The tops were nice a flaky and the and inside had plenty of chicken flavor and good vegetables including those sweet little pearl onions we talked about earlier. I will give it a 4 out of 5 forks because after all it is still chicken pot pie.

The good news is there was leftovers so starting this week will be the series premiere of Wednesday Night Leftovers.

Stay tuned.

Chicken Pot Pie
2005, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

Serves: 4 individual pot pies
Ingredients
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched or 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

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 sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. 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 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Thu Oct 2, 2009
© 2009 Scripps Networks, LLC.
All Rights Reserved