Family Style Chicken Pot Pie
Source of Recipe
Food 911 on Food Network
List of Ingredients
Pastry:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
3/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed
Chicken Broth:
1 (4 to 5 pound) free range whole chicken
3 carrots, cut in 2-inch pieces
3 celery stalks, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 onion, halved
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
2 turnips, halved
Bouquet garni: 4 fresh thyme sprigs, 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, 1 bay
leaf – all tied together with kitchen string
Pot Pie
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 carrots, cut in 1/2-inch circles
1 cup pearl onions, peeled, about 3/4 pound
1 cup fresh sweet peas, about 1 pound
1 garlic clove, chopped
Leaves from 8 fresh thyme sprigs
Needles from 1 fresh rosemary sprig, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 egg mixed with 3 tablespoons of water, for egg wash
Coarse salt
Recipe
To make the pastry: Combine the flour and salt in a very large mixing
bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until
the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it
in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or
sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice
water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the large ball of dough in plastic
wrap and refrigerate while preparing the rest of the recipe (feel free
to make the dough the night before if you prefer.)
To make the chicken broth: Put the chicken in a large stockpot and
cover with 3 quarts of cool water. Add the vegetables and herbs and bring
it up to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour;
skimming frequently as the oil rises to the surface. What we're doing
here is not only cooking the chicken but also creating the base sauce for
the pot pie. It's the old trick of killing two birds with one stone --
or one pot as the case may be. Remove the chicken to a platter to cool.
When it's cool enough to handle shred the chicken meat, discarding the
skin and bones, and set aside. Using a colander, strain the chicken
broth into another pot and discard the solids; you should have about 2
quarts when you're done.
To make the pot pie filling: Wipe out the stockpot and put it back on
the stovetop over medium-low heat. Melt the butter and just as the foam
subsides, add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or
whisk to prevent lumps. This is a roux, which will act as a thickener.
Cook and stir the roux until it's the color of a California blonde. Now,
gradually pour in the reserved chicken broth, whisking the entire time
to prevent lumps. Whisk and simmer for 10 minutes to cook out the
starchy taste of the flour and thicken the broth; it should look like cream
of chicken soup. Fold in the carrots, pearl onions, peas, garlic,
rosemary, thyme, and lemon juice; stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes to
soften the vegetables a bit; season the mixture with salt and pepper.
Stir in the shredded chicken until incorporated, remove from the heat and
cool to room temperature; it will get quite thick as it cools down.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and set it out on the counter
for 5 minutes to warm up a bit, making it easier to roll out.
Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the
dough out into a big 14 by 20-inch rectangle. Carefully transfer the dough
to a large rectangular pizza stone or standard sheet pan, leaving about
1 foot of the pastry hanging off 1 end. Spoon the cooled chicken
filling on the pastry that is on the pizza stone, leaving a border around the
sides. Lightly beat the egg with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg
wash and brush it on the dough border. Fold the "free" dough over the
filling like a blanket and crimp the ends with a fork to form a tight
seal; it should look like a big pillow. Brush the top of the giant
chicken pie with the remaining egg wash, sprinkle with the coarse salt, and
cut tiny slashes in the top so steam can escape. Place the chicken pie
in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until puffed and golden.
Let the chicken pie rest for 10 minutes before moving it. Run a spatula
underneath the pot pie to loosen it from the pizza stone. Scoop out the
chicken pie with a large serving spoon.
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