Sunday at the Stembers: Chicken Pot Pie
Now that it’s getting cold outside and all I want to do is hibernate, I tend to spend the better part of the weekend indoors cooking. So when one of my besties, Marina, came down from NYC to visit, I thought I’d tackle one of her favorite dishes - Chicken Pot Pie.
I’ve never ordered pot pie at a restaurant. The idea of potentially mushy vegetables in a thick, heavy white sauce just does not appeal to me. But I figured if I was making this at home, I could try and avoid these two issues. So for this recipe, I went straight to the expert of rich but delicious food. Not Paula Deen!! Barefoot Contessa of course!!! So how was it???
DELICIOUS!!! Rich but not too heavy. I loved it! Be aware though this recipe is extremely labor intensive!!! Marina helped me and while one of us was cutting, the other was washing the million bowls and pans we used.
First we roasted the chicken. This recipe calls for 6 spilt breasts, which is way too much. I say to be on the safe side all you need is 4.
Then we started chopping (and blanching)…
and chopping…
and chopping!
Then we created the base using chicken stock, butter, heavy cream and flour before adding everything together.
I used a 10 x 13 baking dish, even though the recipe calls for 4 individual bowls, and I still had enough filling and pastry dough for an extra 8 x 8 (which I froze to be cooked up and reported on at a later date). So perhaps next time I will cut down on everything, but I think the recipe is right on step wise (totally necessary to blanch the carrots!) When reading through the recipe on the link, please note the prep time and have nice laugh - there is no way it’s 30 mins.
I made the pastry top from scratch, which I highly recommend. Flaky and light. I’ll address that in my next post because this one is getting kind of lengthy.
A special shout out to Marina for helping out with this recipe and for getting my butt in gear to actually start writing this blog!!!
CHICKEN POT PIE
From Food Network
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 for 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 saute 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.
