Chicken pot pie! For Autumn!

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The arrival of Fall and the cooler weather always prompts me to fire up the oven and make these delicious 'Chicken Pot Pies". I wouldn't think of baking these during the Summer 90 degree weather, but, as soon as the weather starts to turn, I am thinking mmmmm I want to re-visit and taste this delicious sauce inside a yummy crunchy crust. I can hardly wait to cut out the little chicken that I lay on top the crust....I am smiling.

For me there are some basic rules for making chicken pot pie-

1) The pot pie needs to be individual!! I do not want to get short changed on crust!!

2) No canned soup for sauce! The sauce has to be made from scratch!

3) The crust needs to be homemade and lots of it!!

I don’t think calling this recipe a “hit” even halfway does it justice. This is fantastic and transcendent. Lumped in a toasty category with Braised Short ribs, they are so good that I welcome the rain and cooler weather with a smile and go straight to the kitchen to turn on the oven and start cooking!

Chicken Pot Pie

adapted from Eva Kenly

Sour Cream Pastry

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

12 T unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 c. sour cream

In a food processor, combine flour and salt. Place the cold butter on top of flour and pulse machine a few times, until butter is cut into flour and resembles coarse meal.

Remove mixture to a bowl, add the sour cream and mix together. Dough will be soft. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Form into a ball, sprinkle with a little flour, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1-2 hours. Can be made 2 days ahead and can be frozen.

~Because I love crust, I double this recipe

Chicken Filling

8 c. chicken stock

1 c. chopped carrots

1 c. chopped celery, plus some celery leaves

2 c. chopped onions

salt and pepper

2 1/2 lb. boned chicken breasts

2 T. butter

1 lb. mushrooms, quartered

3 russet potatoes peeled and cooked, diced into 1/2" cubes

4 carrots, cooked but still crunchy, cut in large chunks

6 hard cooked eggs, halved or quartered

Sauce

10 T. butter

10 T flour

3-4 c. reserved chicken stock

2 c. half and half

1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)

salt and pepper

4 T parsley

egg glaze- 1 egg beatened with 1 tsp. water

In a large pot, combine stock, chopped carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a simmer and simmer 20 minutes.

Add chicken to the pot, making sure that chicken is covered with broth; otherwise, add more liquid. Bring to a simmer, cover pan, and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.

Poaching, the potatoes, the sauce and the sauteed mushrooms.

Remove chicken pieces to a large bowl and strain the stock into another pot. Boil down chicken stock to reduce to 3 cups, this will take about 15 minutes. Reserve stock for sauce. 

~ Optional- I add 2 tablespoons of Williams-Sonoma Chicken demi glace

Saute mushrooms in 2 T butter for about 2-3 minutes, just to color lightly. Add mushrooms to the chicken together with carrots and hard boiled eggs.

Make the sauce by melting the  butter, add flour, and cook without browning.

Take pot off heat and add the reduced hot stock, slowly and whisk continuously. Add half and half and optional cream, whisking the entire time. Return to heat and cook until sauce is thick. Season with salt and pepper and parsley.

Assembly

Divide the chicken, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes and eggs amongst the 6-8 individual dishes. Pour the sauce over, dividing amongst the dishes about 1/2" from top. 

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Roll out the pastry to a little less than 1/2" thickness. Brush the rim off the dishes with the egg glaze. Cut the circles slightly bigger than your dishes and place it over the filling, pressing the edges to rim.

Brush top with eggs glaze. Cut out a chicken for decoration, put on top of each pie and brush with egg glaze. Cut two slits and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. This is a soft dough, so keep it cold and put a baking sheet under, just in case some of the crust falls off.

Note: this chicken pot pie has the delicious sauce on top the crust. I want you to see what happens if you put the crust inside the vessel and do not drape over the rim. The crust is still good, but, not crunchy.

 Serve with salad and your favorite wine! Enjoy!

*I made several pot pies! I froze 2 for Wee Bear and I and gave the rest to my daughter and husband to freeze for dinners after Madison was born. My son-in-law is so cute, he and Holly have been sharing one pot pie to make the pies stretch out longer!! They absolutely love them! When he told me this, it just melted my heart. I said, I will make you another batch before we leave to Arizona...........