Chicken Pot Pie

There’s nothing like cooking a good stew. There’s something about the process that seems to fit my particular sensibilities perfectly. You build them in one pot, add each layer of ingredients one at a time, taste it as you go, pushing it one way, pulling it back, until you have the perfect balance of flavors and consistency. I love being able to discern the moment when it actually comes together – when all of the ingredients no longer retain their individual identities but seem to suddenly unite and form a single, continuous idea within the pot. I actually see a lot of similarities between some certain stews and some of my favorite pasta dishes – the stews may be thicker, in the end, but the methods of constructing them are the same. And since all stews demand some sort of hearty carbohydrate to soak into, the pasta itself serves the same purpose as crusty bread, the potato crust to shepherd’s pie, or the pie crust for this dish.

A puff pastry crust may be used in place of the pie crust – it’s a different experience, but I’ve got no problem with it and I believe it should be tried from time to time. With puff pastry, it more closely resembles a Vol-au-vent – if you don’t know about Vol-au-vent, stop reading this collection right now, go on the internet and find a recipe, and make it immediately. But ultimately I prefer pie crust for a chicken pot pie. The easiest way to work with it is to roll out your own pie dough, so you can shape it to any size baking dish you have. If you get pre-made pie doughs like I do, it’s good to have a circular container. Otherwise, cut the pie dough into strips and shape it that way – you may use a criss cross pattern, or just lay down big strips and fill in the holes. It depends on the presentation you want. You can also fill this in individual ramekins, which may also then be frozen.

This goes without saying, and it’s getting tedious to keep having to put it in as a reminder: You can make this with store bought chicken stock, but since you’re going to be reducing it and you want its consistency to have the highest quality body and sheen that you can attain, homemade chicken stock is preferable.

One final note about the chicken breasts: these tend to dry out and get tough when you cook them, and fall apart completely if they’re boiled too long. In general, stews are clever and delicious ways to cook heartier, tougher cuts of meat – slowly and for a long time – which are therefore much more forgiving with cooking time. The chicken breast will toughen up at first, but then it will relax and become quite tender. You want it ultimately to have a bit of firmness to the bite, but to be completely tender, which means that you can’t cook this endlessly or leave it unmonitored. You should be tasting as you go, and not over-cooking it.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into ½” cubes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, brunoised
• 8 oz frozen peas
• 4 TBS Wondra
• 2 TBS butter
• 12 oz chicken stock
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 TBS dried
• 2 sprigs fresh oregano, minced, or 2 TBS dried
• 1 TBS red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper
• 1 package frozen pie crusts

Directions:

The easiest way to dice the chicken into perfect cubes is to freeze it about half way, then dice it. But with such small cubes, I don’t think this is necessary. Here is the best way to dice it into half-inch cubes: place your non-knife hand on lengthwise on top of the chicken breast to hold it firmly in place. Then, starting at the thick end of the breast, move your knife parallel to the cutting board and slice all the way through, so you have two thin cutlets (they should each be roughly ½ inch tall). Then, keeping the two cutlets stacked in place, make slices that are ½ inch thick crosswise – these are technically called batonnets. Finally, complete the dice by lining up the batonnets and cutting into ½ inch cubes.

Start by adding the onion, garlic, and carrot to the olive oil in a large, high-walled skillet or sauce pan. Add salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat without browning for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. While they’re cooking you can dice your chicken. When the vegetables are soft but not browned, add the chicken, a little more salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. You don’t want to put any sear on the chicken, since this would create a crust on that would not soften, so keep it moving and watch your heat. When the chicken is cooked or just about cooked, add the Wondra and stir thoroughly to combine for about 1 minute.

Add the chicken stock (this has now become a velouté), then the herbs, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook at a simmer for about 30 minutes, tasting frequently, until it has become thick but still is stew-like and has a beautiful sheen. When it has come together, add the butter and the peas, stir to combine, then shut off the heat. If it is too thin, you have no choice but to reduce it down further, if it is too thick, there could be two possible reasons: if it is paste-like, you have added too much flour and should add less next time, of if it’s dry and paste-like, you have reduced it too far.

While the chicken is cooking, you should be doing two things aside from tasting frequently: 1) preheat the oven to 400, and 2) prepare the pie crust topping. This means simply cutting it to size. You want it to be exactly the size of the inside of whatever dish you’re using, so if it’s in one piece, drape it over and cut along the inside of the top of the container. If you’re doing multiple pieces, measure and cut, depending on whether you will interlace them, drape them over, etc. If you’re good with doughs, which I’m not, I’m sure you can figure this out in a more beautiful and creative way than I can. I generally do a lattice of thick strips in a rectangular casserole dish, but this in completely up to you.

When the filling is done, pour it into the casserole dish and cover with the pie crust. Bake in the oven until the pie crust is golden and flaky, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes, then serve and enjoy.