Chicken Pot Pie

This is from my Martha Stewart Comfort Foods cookbook. The recipe calls for roasting a chicken and making chicken stock. I always buy rotisserrie chickens and then make stock from those. I just cut up a couple carrots, a few ribs of celery, take a whole head of garlic and cut it in half, a quartered onion, a Tbsp or so of whole pepper corns, and saute them all in some heated up olive oil. (sometimes I will add some fresh herbs like sage leaves or rosemary) then add the what's left of the chicken to the pan and put water in until the it's all covered and let it simmer for a a long time. Then strain it and make sure you separate all the chicken meat from the bones. (This is usually weekend cooking cos it takes so long, but I enjoy it and it makes for tasty soups or use in other recipes such as chicken pot pie).

So much of the time in this recipe involves making and chilling the crust. It is delicious. But, the last couple of times I've made this, I've just followed the instructions for boxed cornbread and dolloped some batter on top for my pot pie instead. It's much easier. If you choose to do this, make sure you don't use all the batter. Last time, I baked the left over batter with some extra mexican cheese and pickled jalapeños for a little snack.

So here's the whole recipe:

1 3-4 lb chicken
4 cups chicken stock
1 large yellow onion, split in half
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
1 cup plus 5 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) plus 7 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
9 oz red potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
12 pearl onions, peeled and cut lengthwise if large
1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds and washed
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
6 oz button mushrooms quartered if large
1 cup milk
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp heavy cream

Enter commentary - use any potatoes you have, i never buy pearl onions, just chop up regular ones. And, i take the list of veggies for the filling as a guide. Last time we had fingerling potatoes, yellow onion, carrots, broccoli and peas in ours. Whatever feels right. I just used some dry parsley and squirted in some lemon juice because I didn't have fresh herbs or an actual lemon, but those ingredients work well if you have them on hand.

1. Combine the chicken, chicken stock, yellow onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, 3 thyme sprigs and celery in a stockpot and add enough water just to cover the chicken. Bring the stock to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.

2. Pick enough thyme leaves to make 3 Tbsp. Combine 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp thyme leaves in the bowl of a food processor, and set remaining 2 Tbsp thyme aside. Add 10 Tbsp chilled butter cut into small pieces and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. While the food processor is running, add 3 Tbsp ice water and 1 egg yolk and process until the dough holds together. Turn dough onto plastic wrap, flatten into circle, and wrap well; refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Drain the chicken and reserve stock. Remove skin from chicken and remove all the chicken from the carcass. Shred the chicken into bite size strips and set aside. Strain the stock and set aside 2 cups. Reserve the remaining stock for another use.

4. Heat oven to 375. Melt remaining 5 Tbsp butter in large saute pan over med-hi heat. Add potatoes and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 -5 minutes until the potatoes begin to turn golden. Add leeks, carrots and mushrooms and cook 4-5 minutes more. Add the remaining 5 Tbsp flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in reserved chicken stock and milk and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly 2-3 minutes. Add reserved chicken pieces, parsley, thyme, lemon zest, remaining 2 tsp salt and ground pepper; transfer to a large casserole dish. set aside.

5. Roll the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick and transfer to a baking sheet. Allow to chill 15 minutes. Make an egg wash: in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining yolk and heavy cream. Working quickly, place the dough over the top of the chicken mixture and tuck extra dough around the edges. Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape. Brush with egg wash and place on baking sheet. bake 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden.