Sometimes, just sometimes (and definitely not all the time) I feel the need to cook. Not Bake. Cook. Sustenance. Comfort. Food.
It’s the soothing prep of chopping and putting everything out in bowls – the “mise en place” (as all the professional chefs call it, and what anyone who’s ever read a book by Anthony Bourdain will know as the “meez”). It’s the need to slice, chop and mince everything and prepare all the ingredients and to have the satisfaction that I made the food. Not someone else. Me. Just me. Nothing processed. No preservatives. Just food. Real food.
The problem was I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make. AJ is taking a photography lighting class this semester and so he gets home around 9:30pm and usually we just order take out/delivery because I don’t feel like cooking alone.
Because when you think about it, it’s much more fun to cook with someone else than it is to cook by yourself. Most of the time.
But I decided on Thursday that I wanted to make dinner on my own. So I decided to go tackle the grocery story afterwork – something I HATE to do. Everyone goes to the grocery story after work and in the end you just have to fight for what you want (if they haven’t already sold out of it). And on the way there, I realize I knew what I was going to make.
Chicken Pot Pie. I usually make it once or twice a year. It’s one of those comfort foods that requires a lot of prep work, making the crust, chopping and mincing the vegetables, cooking the chicken and making the roux all before you can stick in the oven to bake to golden perfection.
Plus I had thought I was going to make it on Sunday for Pie Day, but that didn’t happen. Also, one of the best things about chicken pot pie is you can use up whatever vegetables you have floating around the house, and I had some carrots and celery in the bottom of the fridge that I made AJ buy for stock that I never got around to making.
Side Note 1. That’s right. I make my own stock. I’m badass that way. But also I’m lazy, so that means I haven’t really gotten around to making it. But I have the ingredients for it just in case I want to. Or, what that really means is that I have the ingredients for some other dish that I have to figure out before the stock ingredients go bad (because I don’t have room to freeze them as the freezer is filled up with turkey carcasses that I am saving to make said stock).
Side Note 2. You’ll notice that there are celery pieces on the left side of the dish only in the photo below. That’s because, inexplicably, AJ hates celery. So I put it on one side of the dish only. Because I’m that accommodating a boyfriend.
So the carrots and celery (as well as some aging asparagus) can go in to the pot pie. Yay! Because I may be lazy, but I’m also cheap, and loathe to throw away food. Something about starving people in Africa and the current bad economy I guess…
Note: Whilst baking, I was listening to Noah & the Whale’s The First Days of Spring (which is a great album, but kinda depressing as it’s pretty much a narrative about a breakup), and Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast (which is great, but a little too carefully thought out. I prefer Armchair Apocrypha personally, but I keep on listening to Noble Beast hoping it will somehow break through more).
Cleaning Out the Fridge Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
By Irvin Lin
The ultimate comfort food, this easy and adaptable recipe for chicken pot pie is great for a cold fall or winter evening. If you don’t have asparagus or green beans, add more celery or frozen peas. Add frozen corn or take out the mushrooms. Use red bell peppers or even a frozen vegetable medley. If pie dough scares you, skip it and make your favorite biscuit dough instead and use that over the filling.
loosely adapted from The New Best Recipes, from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated
Ingredients
Savory Pie Dough Crust
1 1/2 cups (210 g) unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (115 g or 1 stick) cold butter
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence, or combination of thyme, basil and rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper
4 tablespoon water
Filling
1 3/4 lbs boneless chicken thighs and breasts
2 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 head of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots peeled and cut into 1/4″ half disks
2 small celery ribs cut into 1/4″ half disks
8 oz white button or brown mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/2″ thick
8 oz asparagus cut into 1″ pieces
6 oz green beans, trimmed of ends, cut into 1″ pieces
3/4 cup frozen peas
5 tablespoon butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme crumbled)
3 tablespoon white wine or dry sherry
1/4 cup fresh chopped italian parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon crumbled Herbes de Provence or combination of thyme, basil and rosemary
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Directions
1. Make the pie crust by first whisking the salt, Herbes de Provence, cracked pepper and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut the vegetable shortening and cold butter into 1/4 inch pieces. Tear the slices of cheddar cheese into 1/4 inch pieces as well. Add both to bowl with flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or fork blend the butter/shortening/cheese into the flour until it starts to look cornmeal like with the fat and cheese in no bigger pieces than small peas. Sprinkle the water over the pie crust and mix in until the dough sticks together. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a 4″ disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough while you make the filling.
2. Adjust the rack in your oven to the lower medium position and preheat the oven to 400˚F. Put the chicken stock/broth and the chicken meat in a dutch oven or stock pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. You may want to turn the chicken over once during the 10 minutes for more even cooking. Once this is done, move the chicken to a large bowl (one big enough to hold the chicken, the cooked vegetables and the sauce) and move the stock to a glass measuring cup.
3. Heat the oil in the empty dutch oven on medium-high and add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until it is fragrant. Add onions and sweat them for 2 minutes. Add carrots, celery, asparagus, green beans and mushrooms to dutch oven and cook until just tender (7 to 10 minutes). Add the frozen peas in the last two minutes of cooking, to defrost them. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. While the vegetables are cooking, chop the chicken into 3/4″ cubes. Pour any juice that have accumulated at the bottom of the bowl into the glass measuring cup with the stock. Return the chopped chicken to the bowl and add the cooked vegetables. In the again empty dutch oven heat the butter and when it stops foaming add the flour. Cook for 1 minute to create a roux and whisk in the reserve chicken broth, the milk, the thyme and the crumbled Herbes de Provence. Cook until thick (about 1 minute) and then salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the white wine or sherry.
5. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetable mixture and stir in the italian parsley. Add more salt, pepper, Herbes de Provence or herbs if you feel it needs more of something. Pour chicken and vegetable mixture into a 13×19 baking pan or eight 12oz oven proof dishes. Take the pie dough out of the refrigerator and roll the dough out on a floured surface to approximately 15″ x 11″ rectangle – about 1/8″ thick. If you are using individual dishes, cut out dough rounds about 1″ larger than dish size.
6. Place the dough over the pot pie filling and tuck the overhanging dough into the side of the dishes. Cut 1″ vent holes decoratively around the dish and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes for large dish and 20-25 minutes for individual dishes.
Makes 1 large pot pie that serves 8.
Rita says
I'm doing this.
Just reading it has made me so happy. Thank you.
Sara W.E. says
Sounds delicious! But please note: You DO NOT want to use "whatever's around" in my fridge. My aging vegetables are currently liquefying and out of guilt and laziness, I just leave them there… taunting me.
Mr. Jackhonky says
@Rita. Or you could just wait until AJ and I come down. We can make it for you.
@Sara. Um. Yeah, I guess that would be true. There is definitely a point of no return for vegetables. That said, rotting vegetables are the reason why I LOVE composting. I can compost them and not feel as guilty that I am throwing food away….
petoke says
Do you use any sort of thingamabob to chop/cut your vegetables, etc? I was wondering that today, since I've started cooking for the first time in my life. I diced some cabbage (I think that's the right word), and it took forever and now I have carpal tunnel.
I love chicken pot pie. I mean, the me of 20 years ago does. Sometimes I would buy a little mini-one from the grocery store and eat it during the day when no one was around.
Also, it seems like in the midwest, "chicken pot pie" was a term you heard all the time. I haven't heard those words here in several years.
Mr. Jackhonky says
@Petoke – I use this thingamabob called a chef's knife. I highly recommend it.
Snarkiness aside, I actually love my chef's knife. I use a Global 7" and has a nice balance. I totally recommend a good knife – one that fits your hand comfortably (if you use a knife who's handle it too big or is wrongly balanced for you, your hand will get tired easily).
Keep it SHARP. Minosharp makes an awesome cheap knife sharpener, and I pretty much try to sharpen every time I do a lot of chopping, mincing and dicing.
And I think because I'm originally from the midwest, chicken pot pie is a total comfort food for me. Maybe you should start eating at Marie Callender's more often. I can probably guarantee that you'll hear the words "chicken pot pie" all the time…
Rita says
Irvin–
Well now that you've offered to make it for me I'm not doing this!!
I may, though, have to stop at Mare Callendar's to tide me over. Though, as I recall, the last time I tried it there was a letdown.
Shoot. I just read your blog entry again. I'm still doing it.
But I want you to make it for me, too!!
Kim says
Omg. Just made this pot pie. The crust is soooo good It reminded me of Thanksgiving. I know it says it serve 8, but 5 of us finished it. What a lovely comfort food. Will definitely make this again!