Chicken Pot Pie: The Topic

[janeer]

Haven't made chicken pot pie in a while but I do love a good one. I make the chicken fresh, with poached breast. Following the lead of the great Four Seasons Restaurant in NYC (famous chicken pie, see their cookbook for their methods),I cook the vegetables all separately--I like to add glazed small white onions and glazed carrots to mine--and make a veloute with homemade stock and a little cognac and nutmeg. Best lard crust. It's actually a ton of work for such a "homey" dish. But it is very good.

[nomnivorous]

Hah I love it, I've been craving chicken pot pie lately too. Must be the New York weather.

I've seen a few recipes, on Smitten Kitchen and Simply Recipes, but nothing that I can depend upon.

Buuut, the roommate just made a totally unseasoned roasted chicken (*headdesk*) so if I test anything out, I'll report back.

[FoodMuse]

I always roast the veggies rather than boiling/simmering them. But then, I do that for stews, too.

Searching the 'net to see if anybody else uses roasted veggies in their pot pies, I found this:

http://poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/2009/02/roasted-root-vegetable-pot-pie.html

Edited to add that I do add chicken!

Great idea for roasting I might just do that!

nomnivorous

Yay! So glad to see you over here. This is a great forum.

Unseasoned???? What was she thinking? Just a mistake?

Anna N

Keller. Good idea. Will check it out.

Lilija

Something is in the fall air. I hear everyone talking pot pies.

I'm planning on using premade puff pastry dough. I saw Rachel Ray(yes I occasionally watch her) measure out the dough to fit on top of her pot pie and cook the dough on a cookie sheet. All those pastry layers crisp up and them she puts it on top of the pie. No gummy underbelly to the crust. It looked genius to me.

Janeer

make a veloute with homemade stock and a little cognac and nutmeg.

That sounds great. A little sherry might be good too.

Making stock from the hens for the pie.

Here are the necks roasted to go into the pot. Odd that although both hens were 2 lb that the necks are completely diff sizes.

Cornish hen necks for the stock by gpiper, on Flickr

Here's the stock pot.

Making stock for chicken pot pie by gpiper, on Flickr

[suzilightning]

the other night it was use up a poached chicken breast and, since it is cool here, i minced it up, added it to some sauteed onion and shallots. flour and chicken stock with some carrots, peas and potatoes. into a pan and some short pastry on top for homemade pot pie.

[FoodMuse]

the other night it was use up a poached chicken breast and, since it is cool here, i minced it up, added it to some sauteed onion and shallots. flour and chicken stock with some carrots, peas and potatoes. into a pan and some short pastry on top for homemade pot pie.

Hi Suzi

That sounds good and simple. I think I'll do the same and saute my onions.

I'd like to make pot pie a few times and figure out what we(boy and I) like best in a pie so that it becomes a recipe I can make on autopilot. I seem to crave it once a month or so in the winter, so would love to incorporate it into the repertoire.

Grace

[ruthcooks]

I like the idea of a mushroom broth, thickened however you like it, add mushrooms, onions, peas, your garlic, etc.

Also: I used to order a wonderful pie which had the crust baked separately, vegetables cooked ditto, combined at the last minute for heating. Everything retained its flavors. For fast crust, frozen puff pastry?

[nomnivorous]

Unseasoned???? What was she thinking? Just a mistake?

Er... The best I can tell you is that she has been sick all week. So probably just wanted to get it made (before it spoiled) and have a bit of sustenance. Even though I would have totally roasted it that night. She loves beer can chicken, but made... tin can chicken. Put water in the can with some bare salt and pepper on skin, if that. Then again, she loves white meat chicken and will eat it straight up. /tangent

I actually really like that Rachel Ray idea [shocker].

[maggiethecat]

I like a chicken pot pie, but I'm not the CPP fanatic my husband is. Great ideas from all of you. I make my own puff, but storebought is fine. I'm a fan of a tender lard pastry as well.

What I don't like is using leftover chix bits for CPP. I love the dark meat but it doesn't chop well, and tends to have gnarly bits and bones. I'm all about the poached chicken breast.I think the addition of lots of vegetables thin out the flavor, and the texture of the sauce, but carrots and potatoes are a must.

If you're romantic, you can spell out the initials of your beloved on the crust in peas.

[plum tart]

I was craving Chicken Pot Pie a few months ago and scoured my cookbooks for a recipe that matched my craving (because I think we all have different taste memories of what makes the perfect CPP.) The one that matched my taste memory perfectly was in Jasper White's The Cooking of New England...and when I made it I was delighted with it. I made a lard crust from some very special pork lard that I had shipped from ChefShop. The pie included pearl onions, some diced carrots and peas. I think I added some mushrooms. I made a lovely veloute out of rich chicken broth. It was perfect. When I have another Chicken Pot Pie craving, I will make Jasper's recipe again.

[CaliPoutine]

The last pot-pie I made was great. It was a Cook's Illustrated recipe that included such odd ingredients as crimini mushrooms, tomato paste and Lea and Perrins. The topping included parmesean cheese and was made in the manner of a crumble and applied to the filling after it was pre-baked. The entire pot pie doesnt spend that much time in the oven. I froze some of the filling in a separate container and packed up the topping in a ziplock bag( froze that too). I gave it to my sister who raved about it.

[onrushpam]

I make a quick pot pie type dish that we like a lot. The original recipe,from the Hallcrest Inn, in North Carolina, calls for cream-of soup. I do use that, when I'm in a hurry and am out of frozen gravy. (When I make turkey or chicken gravy, I usually make a bunch extra and freeze, specifically for making pot pies or chicken/biscuits. Pouring a liquid batter over the top of the filling may sound strange. But, it works... turning into a biscuit-like topping.

I've made it with leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, poached chicken breasts, etc. And, I always add some mixed veg (sometimes frozen, sometimes whatever I have on hand).

Mix cooked cubed, cooked chicken breast with 1 C chicken stock and 1 can cream of celery (or other) soup, or 2 cups left over gravy. Add a cup or so of frozen mixed veg or fresh veg that's been lightly cooked. Pour into a 9" deep dish pie pan.

Mix 1C self-rising flour, 1/4C melted butter, 1C buttermilk.

Pour batter over filling (it's best if the filling is warm).

Bake @ 350 ~ 1 hour

[amccomb]

What we've been mulling over is how to do this so everyone gets more crust, with the pie crust versions. My chicken pot pie is a sloppy affair, to eat it, it's a bowl of chicken veggie stew with a little hat of crust on top. Hubs suggested making little pies in big muffin tins, with a bottom crust as well, and he might be on to something. I don't have any nice individual casseroles, so that's right out. I also considered making foldover pies with puff pastry. Or, we thought about laying a bottom crust in the casserole, blind baking it, and proceeding as usual.

Why not, you know, a pie plate? Brush the bottom crust with egg white to seal it so it won't get soggy, maybe?

Buuut, the roommate just made a totally unseasoned roasted chicken (*headdesk*) so if I test anything out, I'll report back.

I do this when I am in a hurry and only plan to tear off the meat for other dishes and then make stock...

I'm planning on using premade puff pastry dough. I saw Rachel Ray(yes I occasionally watch her) measure out the dough to fit on top of her pot pie and cook the dough on a cookie sheet. All those pastry layers crisp up and them she puts it on top of the pie. No gummy underbelly to the crust. It looked genius to me.

A little sherry might be good too.

I second the puff pastry and the sherry!

I really prefer the pie crust, but I never have time anymore. I have a new pie crust technique, though, so I may make a few batches and freeze it.

Edited November 11, 2010 by amccomb (log)

[Lilija]

Pieplate?! That wouldn't make nearly enough Two pies might...might work. But, you do have a good idea. Two pies worth. It's just that my filling is very soupy, and trying to slice a pie would be a comedy of errors...although there's no law saying we can't just dig it out of the pie plate with a serving spoon... Definitely got me thinking there.

[FoodMuse]

Oh darn, just checked my freezer. I thought I had the puff pastry I could gently lay on top and bake. Nope, I have puff pastry layers.

I do have pie dough, so may go that route. Baking it tomorrow.

Lilja

Any reason you wouldn't want to thicken up your filling with a little roux?

[Lilija]

I do use a bit of blonde roux, but I don't like the filling gluey. It's a fine line.

[FoodMuse]

Made it last night. Delicious!!!

Ready! by gpiper, on Flickr

I did find puff pastry in the back of my freezer, but had some troubles opening up the layers as you can see below. I cut it up with a pair of kitchen sheers.

Puff pastry fail by gpiper, on Flickr

It didn't really matter since I baked it separately on a cookie sheet. 400 degrees for about 10 min. That worked out perfectly.

Baked Chicken Pot Pie Pastry seperately. No more soggy bottoms. by gpiper, on Flickr

I'm really happy with the filling. When I have a moment I'll post my recipe.

I used both dry sherry and Worcestershire sauce. It may sound odd, but they added a depth of flavor the pie filling was lacking.

It was loosely based on this Cooking for Engineers recipe. Great site if you're nerdy. I love it.

[kayb]

Chicken pot pie was one of those dishes on which I raised my kids -- that version made with cream of chicken soup, frozen mixed veg, and refrigerator case pie crusts (the Pillsbury rolled-up kind). I still do that sometimes, though I will also occasionally make a cream sauce, starting with a blonde roux and adding chicken broth....but to be quite honest, I can't tell a whole lot of difference.

The secret ingredient -- grated sharp cheddar cheese, about a cup of it, stirred into the filling -- cream sauce, diced or shredded chicken, frozen veg thawed under running water and let drain. Pour it in to the pie shell, pop the other crust on top, 350 degrees until the pastry is nice and golden. Despite it being in a pie plate, we dip it out, as it's generally too soft to slice.

But Lord have mercy, it's good.

[robirdstx]

Chicken pot pie was one of those dishes on which I raised my kids -- that version made with cream of chicken soup, frozen mixed veg, and refrigerator case pie crusts (the Pillsbury rolled-up kind)... diced or shredded chicken, frozen veg thawed under running water and let drain. Pour it in to the pie shell, pop the other crust on top, 350 degrees until the pastry is nice and golden. Despite it being in a pie plate, we dip it out, as it's generally too soft to slice.

But Lord have mercy, it's good.

Sounds very like what I did! I used cream of potato soup, sauteed onion and celery and a can of vegall (drained) and diced cooked chicken. Heated through and into the pie plate, then topped with the pie crust. Baked for 10 - 12 minutes until the crust was golden and crisp. Mine was too soft to slice as well.

[HungryC]

I make "clean the fridge" pot pie...whatever leftover cooked veg lurk in the fridge, plus fresh carrots, plus shredded leftover cooked chicken. Spicing varies according to how the chicken was cooked--things can take a classically french turn (tarragon, mushrooms, tiny peas, a little white wine) or maybe go down the Tex-Mex route (whole kernel corn, chipotle, a bit of diced tomato, roasted poblanos or other green chiles). Pureed vegetables are a nice alternative for thickening (I don't like the gloopy, thick fillings on most PPs).

But I don't want it topped with puff pastry: give me a short crust, like you'd use for a savory tart. And flavor the crust a bit, too (smoked paprika, or maybe a little grated parmesan or cheddar or black pepper).

[FoodMuse]

I make "clean the fridge" pot pie...whatever leftover cooked veg lurk in the fridge, plus fresh carrots, plus shredded leftover cooked chicken. Spicing varies according to how the chicken was cooked--things can take a classically french turn (tarragon, mushrooms, tiny peas, a little white wine) or maybe go down the Tex-Mex route (whole kernel corn, chipotle, a bit of diced tomato, roasted poblanos or other green chiles). Pureed vegetables are a nice alternative for thickening (I don't like the gloopy, thick fillings on most PPs).

But I don't want it topped with puff pastry: give me a short crust, like you'd use for a savory tart. And flavor the crust a bit, too (smoked paprika, or maybe a little grated parmesan or cheddar or black pepper).

Tex Mex pot pie. That sounds good!

[DanM]

Costco right now has chanterelle mushrooms for a very nice price, they are not the freshest, finest mushrooms you will ever see, but will be perfect for a pot pie.

I use blitz dough for the crust and add a good handful of hinely chopped random fresh herbs to the mix.

Dan

Edited November 15, 2010 by DanM (log)

[Paul Bacino]

So I went with the " cooking for engineers " recipe!!

I prepped all the veggie ahead of time, trying to infuse flavor as I went, the mushrooms and pearl onions were cooked in butter and finished with Worcester sauce , carrots were slightly sweetened, chicken thighs were sous vide with thyme, bay, garlic, peppercorns.. shredded. Home-made turkey stock ( its what I had ).

So I put it all together, and topped with the puff pastry!! I was missing a roasted caramelized flavor thou?

[SobaAddict70]

This thread is timely since as some of you know, I had roast chicken for dinner last week and there's still a substantial bird sitting in the fridge. Vegetables are: potatoes, carrots, turnips, cippolini onions; frozen peas from the supermarket. Homemade chicken stock is always on hand in this kitchen, along with French butter.

Right now I'm thinking of going the puff pastry route because the idea of making pie crust seems too daunting, said this baking newbie. Or perhaps biscuits is the way to go, with individual portions spooned into ramekins, or via the normal method.

Well, we'll see whatever I decide...

[Charcuterer]

At my house we do the biscuit topping and individual ramekins. My wife and I usually make four and only half bake two. I cover the "leftovers" in plastic wrap and refrigerate them. When you finish cooking the chilled ones they are just as good the first batch!

[Paul Bacino]

So I went back and revisited my pot pie mixture. I found out that, this mixture improves with a couple days set/rest ( rather than serve day of ).

I also think you need to let the bread soak up some of the sauce.

I reheated my pot pie mixture, cooked my puff pastry, put both together and baked slightly !! Much better

I think I like the idea of making the PP mixture ahead a day or two and then assemble to make.

Paul