Simply put, I love a good chicken pot pie. My mother used to make it for us as kids. I liked it so much I often requested it as my birthday meal growing up (much to the chagrin of my youngest sister who's never been a big fan). Anyway, this is one of those meals I never tire of eating -- or trying out new recipes for.
Last week, as the summer air started cooling down, the taste of pot pie was on my tongue. I wanted to try something new, so I turned to Cooks Illustrated for a recipe. I just recently got an online subscription and I'm really enjoying it! With the exception of making a homemade pie crust, which is certainly worth the effort if you've got the time (and space, which I do not -- one of these days I need to post a picture of my tiny kitchen!), I followed the recipe pretty closely.
Recipe: Simple Chicken Pot Pie, published May 1, 1996
According to Cooks Illustrated, this recipe serves 6 to 8, which feels a little generous to me. I served to three people (including myself) and we nearly polished the entire thing off; I'd say it serves 4 - 6 max.
Ingredients:
1 Pre-made pie crust (I picked up a Pillsbury since I was in the regular-old grocery store)
For the guts of the pie:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless thighs (I prefer white meat)
1 can low-sodium chicken broth, with water added to equal 2 cups (or use two cups homemade chicken broth)*
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil**
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 small ribs celery, cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick***
2 - 3 cloves of garlic (depending on how big), minced****
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of milk*****
1/2 tsp. dried thyme******
3 tbsp. dry sherry
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed*******
3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Notes on the ingredients:
*Since I use chicken broth a lot in my cooking, I like to purchase the boxes of broth, which are usually equivalent to 4 cups; I just refrigerate what I don't use.
**I used olive oil and a little pat of butter.
***I actually bisected each rib lengthwise first and then cut crosswise (no difference other than the pieces are slightly smaller)
****The recipe did not actually call for garlic; I like it in my pot pies, so I added.
*****The recipe didn't specify what kind of milk to use, so I went with a combo of whole milk and heavy cream b/c that's what I had. If I had had enough whole milk, I would have just gone with that. Half and half would work, too.
******I chopped up a heaping tsp. of fresh thyme since I had it.
*******Because my package of chicken breasts was slightly less than a 1 1/2 lbs., I threw in 3/4 cup of frozen green beans (thawed), too.
Instructions:
Adjust your oven rack to low-center position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Set one pre-made pie crust out. Bring to room temperature while preparing the pie filling. (I know this seems counter intuitive with dough, but for whatever reason, these crusts are easier to work with when they're not pulled right from the fridge.)
On the stove, place chicken and broth in a small Dutch oven or soup kettle over medium heat. Cover, bring to a simmer; simmer until chicken is just done, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer meat to large bowl, reserving broth in a measuring cup.*
Increase the heat to medium-high; heat oil in now-empty pan. Add onions, carrots, and celery; saute until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute and additional minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While vegetables are sauteing, shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Transfer cooked veggies to bowl with chicken; set aside.
Heat butter over medium heat in again-empty skillet. When foaming subsides, add flour; cook about 1 minute.** Whisk in chicken broth, milk any accumulated chicken juices, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer until sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute.*** Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in sherry.
Pour sauce over chicken mixture; stir to combine. Stir in peas (and green beans) and parsley. Adjust seasonings. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight at this point; reheat before topping with pastry.)
Pour chicken mixture into 13x9 inch pan or any shallow baking dish of similar size.**** Roll out dough and lay over pot pie filling, trimming dough to 1/2 inch of pan lip (I didn't find that I needed to do this -- you might with a homemade crust). Tuck overhanging dough back under itself so folded edge is flush with lip. Flute edges all around. Or, don't trim dough and simply tuck overhanging dough into the pan side. (I did a variation of the latter. I simply pressed the hanging dough around the pie dish itself; I was concerned about the dough pulling away from the sides of my dish if I just tucked inside.) Cut at least four 1-inch vent holes in pie top. Optional: Lightly beat an egg with a little water and brush over top of the pie with a pastry brush. This will the give the crust a nice golden brown top once baked.
Bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes for large pies and 20 - 25 for smaller pies.***** Serve hot!
Notes on Instructions:
*I misread this and actually cut up my chicken ahead of time, so I just poached the pieces. It turned out fine and saved me from having to shred up the meat later, which is what they recommend you do. Next time I'll try it the way they said.
**I could have done this wrong, but when I added my flour, it clumped up very quickly. It almost felt like I needed a little less flour (like maybe only a 1/3 cup) or an extra tbsp. of butter. Whatever you do, keep stirring constantly, so your mixture doesn't burn!
***It could have been my stove (which is a tired, old electric guy), but it took longer than a minute for my sauce to thicken. I continued to stir until all the clumps had broken up and I had a nice, smooth creamy texture.
****I used my new 2-quart oval gratin dish!
*****My oven is retarded and always takes longer to bake things, so my pie was in closer to an hour. The egg wash proved useful because when the top had finally turned a nice golden color, I knew it was ready!
I paired my chicken pot pie with mixed greens, tomato, and goat cheese salad, and white wine (Pinot Grigio). Just writing about this makes me want to make it again...
Last week, as the summer air started cooling down, the taste of pot pie was on my tongue. I wanted to try something new, so I turned to Cooks Illustrated for a recipe. I just recently got an online subscription and I'm really enjoying it! With the exception of making a homemade pie crust, which is certainly worth the effort if you've got the time (and space, which I do not -- one of these days I need to post a picture of my tiny kitchen!), I followed the recipe pretty closely.
Recipe: Simple Chicken Pot Pie, published May 1, 1996
According to Cooks Illustrated, this recipe serves 6 to 8, which feels a little generous to me. I served to three people (including myself) and we nearly polished the entire thing off; I'd say it serves 4 - 6 max.
Ingredients:
1 Pre-made pie crust (I picked up a Pillsbury since I was in the regular-old grocery store)
For the guts of the pie:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless thighs (I prefer white meat)
1 can low-sodium chicken broth, with water added to equal 2 cups (or use two cups homemade chicken broth)*
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil**
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 small ribs celery, cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick***
2 - 3 cloves of garlic (depending on how big), minced****
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of milk*****
1/2 tsp. dried thyme******
3 tbsp. dry sherry
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed*******
3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Notes on the ingredients:
*Since I use chicken broth a lot in my cooking, I like to purchase the boxes of broth, which are usually equivalent to 4 cups; I just refrigerate what I don't use.
**I used olive oil and a little pat of butter.
***I actually bisected each rib lengthwise first and then cut crosswise (no difference other than the pieces are slightly smaller)
****The recipe did not actually call for garlic; I like it in my pot pies, so I added.
*****The recipe didn't specify what kind of milk to use, so I went with a combo of whole milk and heavy cream b/c that's what I had. If I had had enough whole milk, I would have just gone with that. Half and half would work, too.
******I chopped up a heaping tsp. of fresh thyme since I had it.
*******Because my package of chicken breasts was slightly less than a 1 1/2 lbs., I threw in 3/4 cup of frozen green beans (thawed), too.
Instructions:
Adjust your oven rack to low-center position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Set one pre-made pie crust out. Bring to room temperature while preparing the pie filling. (I know this seems counter intuitive with dough, but for whatever reason, these crusts are easier to work with when they're not pulled right from the fridge.)
On the stove, place chicken and broth in a small Dutch oven or soup kettle over medium heat. Cover, bring to a simmer; simmer until chicken is just done, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer meat to large bowl, reserving broth in a measuring cup.*
Increase the heat to medium-high; heat oil in now-empty pan. Add onions, carrots, and celery; saute until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute and additional minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While vegetables are sauteing, shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Transfer cooked veggies to bowl with chicken; set aside.
Heat butter over medium heat in again-empty skillet. When foaming subsides, add flour; cook about 1 minute.** Whisk in chicken broth, milk any accumulated chicken juices, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer until sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute.*** Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in sherry.
Pour sauce over chicken mixture; stir to combine. Stir in peas (and green beans) and parsley. Adjust seasonings. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight at this point; reheat before topping with pastry.)
Pour chicken mixture into 13x9 inch pan or any shallow baking dish of similar size.**** Roll out dough and lay over pot pie filling, trimming dough to 1/2 inch of pan lip (I didn't find that I needed to do this -- you might with a homemade crust). Tuck overhanging dough back under itself so folded edge is flush with lip. Flute edges all around. Or, don't trim dough and simply tuck overhanging dough into the pan side. (I did a variation of the latter. I simply pressed the hanging dough around the pie dish itself; I was concerned about the dough pulling away from the sides of my dish if I just tucked inside.) Cut at least four 1-inch vent holes in pie top. Optional: Lightly beat an egg with a little water and brush over top of the pie with a pastry brush. This will the give the crust a nice golden brown top once baked.
Bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes for large pies and 20 - 25 for smaller pies.***** Serve hot!
Notes on Instructions:
*I misread this and actually cut up my chicken ahead of time, so I just poached the pieces. It turned out fine and saved me from having to shred up the meat later, which is what they recommend you do. Next time I'll try it the way they said.
**I could have done this wrong, but when I added my flour, it clumped up very quickly. It almost felt like I needed a little less flour (like maybe only a 1/3 cup) or an extra tbsp. of butter. Whatever you do, keep stirring constantly, so your mixture doesn't burn!
***It could have been my stove (which is a tired, old electric guy), but it took longer than a minute for my sauce to thicken. I continued to stir until all the clumps had broken up and I had a nice, smooth creamy texture.
****I used my new 2-quart oval gratin dish!
*****My oven is retarded and always takes longer to bake things, so my pie was in closer to an hour. The egg wash proved useful because when the top had finally turned a nice golden color, I knew it was ready!
I paired my chicken pot pie with mixed greens, tomato, and goat cheese salad, and white wine (Pinot Grigio). Just writing about this makes me want to make it again...
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