When I hear chicken pot pie I’m taken back to my childhood and very mediocre Swanson’s chicken pot pies. Thankfully I’ve been able to replace those memories with a better one. Now I find myself thinking about chicken pot pies and looking forward to my next one. 

This recipe comes from Anthony Bourdain’s last cookbook, Appetites: A Cookbook. In the introduction to this recipe he writes about going to a Horn & Hardart’s Automat in Paramas, NJ for dinner with his family when he was growing up. While he loved their chicken pot pie he felt that there wasn’t enough chicken in it. He made sure to remedy that in this recipe. 

I was only vaguely familiar with the concept of automats where food was served behind glass door dispensers – essentially a vending machine but with people on the other side filling the dispensers with hot and cold food. Ed recalls his mother talking about going to Horn & Hardarts in New York City. I asked my parents if they remembered Horn & Hardart (it first opened in Philadelphia in the late 1800s). Dad recalls getting rice pudding – still one of his favorites. Peggy T said that she must have seen ads as a child as she “thought dropping a coin in a slot to unlock a door with a piece of lemon meringue pie would be magic!” I do love that image.

This recipe takes time to prepare – it is after all a pie from scratch. It makes two 8 x 8-inch pies which means that we had one to eat and one to freeze. You can also make one large version in a 9 x 13-inch dish.  If you’re making it all at one time set aside 2-1/2 to 3 hours (this doesn’t include time to bake the pie(s). You can also prepare it over two days – the dough and chicken the day prior to baking. I found this pastry dough to be the most forgiving dough with which I’ve worked. Easy to roll out, measure and transfer to the baking dish, and tasty. I used non-GMO all-purpose flour from Deer Creek Malthouse – procured at the Growing Roots Farmers Market in Malvern, PA.

I was recently at Worrell’s, our local butcher shop, and they were baking chicken pot pies in the back of the store. The whole store smelled so good. I was happy I had one at home in the freezer.

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Chicken Pot Pie
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Recipe type: Main Dish
Author:
Serves: 8 (4 servings per pie)
Ingredients
Savory Pastry Dough
  • 12 ounces (~2-2/3 cups) all-purpose flour (see Notes)
  • ½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • Pinch of Kosher salt
  • ½ cup ice water
Filling
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 3 pounds chicken thighs (~ 8), with skin and bones, visible fat trimmed
  • 1 pound russet (or baking) potatoes (~ 2 medium potatoes)
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick), unsalted butter (divided)
  • 10 pearl onions, pealed, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 medium celery ribs, diced
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
  • ½ teaspoon celery salt
  • ½ cup frozen petite sweet peas
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 or 2 eggs, beaten (see Notes)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Make Pastry Dough:
  1. Place flour, butter and salt in the bowl of a large food processor. Process (not pulse) until ingredients form a cohesive whole.
  2. While the machine is running, add water all at once and process until dough binds and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
  3. Divide dough into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap.
  4. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Dough can be prepared a day in advance.
Make Filling:
  1. In a medium heavy saucepot (at least 4-1/2 quarts), bring chicken stock to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add chicken in one layer. Chicken should be covered by stock – if it isn’t add a bit more stock. Poach chicken in stock for about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover and let stand for 25 to 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
  2. Remove chicken from stock to a plate. Reserve stock (do not discard it as you will need it later).
  3. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard bones, and shred or coarsely chop chicken. You want chunks, not small shreds, of chicken for this dish. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Chicken can be prepared a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate chicken and stock (separately) if not using immediately.
  4. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray two 8 x 8-inch glass baking dishes with oil. (See Notes for 9 x 13-inch version.)
  5. Add potatoes to stock and bring to a high simmer (just below a boil). Cook potatoes in stock for 5 to 8 minutes or until they are somewhat tender but not cooked through (they will continue to cook while in the oven and you don’t want them to be mushy). Remove potatoes from stock with a slotted spoon and add to chicken. Measure 2 cups of stock and discard the remainder.
  6. In a 12-inch heavy sauté pan or skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat until it foams and subsides. Add onions, carrots, celery, thyme, sage and celery salt. Reduce to medium heat and cook until vegetables are somewhat tender but not completely cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, add frozen peas, and season with salt and pepper. Add to chicken and potatoes.
  7. Make sure you have both a whisk and a wooden spoon nearby as you will be switching back and forth between them as you first make a roux and then build on that to make a béchamel. This isn’t a difficult process but it does take focus. Make sure you have all of your ingredients ready before you begin.
  8. In a clean medium heavy sauce pan (at least 4-1/2 quarts) – I used the same one I used for chicken – heat remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat until it foams and subsides. Reduce to medium heat and stir in flour with wooden spoon and continue to stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until flour is slightly fragrant and just beginning to brown. Whisk in milk and 1 cup of reserved chicken stock, whisking constantly to break up flour and butter paste (roux) and quickly incorporate it into the milk and stock. Switch to stirring with wooden spoon reaching all corners of the bottom of the pan to keep flour from sticking and scorching. Béchamel is done when it is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Stir in chicken, potatoes and cooked vegetables (including frozen peas). Add a splash (say ~ ¼ cup) of reserved stock to ensure that the filling is loose (but not too soupy).
  9. Divide chicken filling between the two prepared baking pans. If you are baking pies immediately, place dough onto warm filling. If you are not baking them immediately or are freezing them, wait until the filling has cooled. You can refrigerate pies for a few hours before baking. (See Notes for freezing pies.)
  10. Roll out each dough ball to approximately 10 x 10 inches (slightly less is fine) and about ¼-inch thick using a rolling pin and dusting liberally with flour. Roll dough onto rolling pin and carefully roll it out over the chicken filling in the baking dish. Fold over edges and flute or crimp edges with a fork. Cut four 1-inch slits in the top of the dough’s center with a paring knife.
  11. Place baking dish (or dishes) on a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and brush dough with beaten egg. Return to oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until dough is golden brown, filling is liquid and has begun to bubble and steam through the slits. Internal temperature should be about 160°F.
  12. Serve hot from the oven.
Notes
* I highly recommend using a scale to measure the flour. If you don’t have a scale, then measure in cups.
* If you are baking both pies at the same time, you’ll only need 1 egg. If you are freezing one pie, you’ll need 2 eggs.
* Instead of making two pies, you can make one large pie in a 9 x 13 pan. Follow directions for preparing pie and baking as above, but roll out one piece of dough - approximately 11 x 15 inches (slightly less is fine).
* For freezing: Wrap fully prepared pie in two layers of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. You do not need to thaw the pie before baking. Preheat oven to 400°F. Before baking, remove one layer of aluminum foil. Place baking dish (or dishes) on a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, discard aluminum foil and brush dough with beaten egg. Return to oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until dough is golden brown, filling is liquid and has begun to bubble and steam through the slits.
* Timing: You can prepare both the dough and/or chicken a day in advance. If you are preparing this recipe in one sitting, prepare dough first and refrigerate it. Then start the chicken. While the chicken is cooking, you can prep the potatoes, vegetables and herbs. You’ll start cooking the potatoes once the chicken is done. You can cook the other vegetables while the potatoes are cooking. Do not start on the roux and béchamel until the chicken, potatoes and vegetables are completely done. Roll out the dough while the chicken filling is cooling in the prepared pans. It took me about 2-1/2 to 3 hours to prepare these pies in one sitting. (Not including baking time.)
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Source:  Adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Appetites: A Cookbook (2016)