Try this Chicken Pot Pie recipe
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups cooked chicken
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter diced and very cold
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening chilled
- 1/2 cup very cold water
- 6 slices bacon sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 ribs celery finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup mushrooms
- 1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen thawed)
- 4 tablespoons dry sherry (not cooking sherry or sherry vinegar)
- 2 3/4 - 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- Carbohydrate 64.9117363554038 g
- Cholesterol 179.45863442115 mg
- Fat 53.88561627875 g
- Fiber 2.33705837910076 g
- Protein 34.1974586722274 g
- Saturated Fat 27.1838530114798 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (263g)
- Sodium 1206.47020704882 mg
- Sugar 62.574677976303 g
- Trans Fat 4.12350595804649 g
- Calories 888 calories
Step-by-step
- Place flour, salt, and thyme in food processor and pulse two or three times to blend.
- Add cold butter and cold shortening and pulse five or six times to cut the butter into the flour.
- With the food processor running, pour the water down the food tube.
- As soon as the dough begins to form a ball, stop the machine.
- Spread two sheets of plastic wrap on the counter.
- Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, scraping the bowl and blade with a spatula to get every little bit.
- Separate the dough into halves and place a half on each sheet of plastic wrap.
- Pat each dough half into a ball, wrap tightly and place in refrigerator for at least an hour before using.
- Can freeze the dough for several months.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and place on bottom third rack of oven.
- In a large, deep skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon from skillet and reserve grease.
- Add butter to skillet and melt.
- Add onion, carrot, celery, green beans, and mushrooms to skillet and cook until mushrooms have cooked down and vegetables are tender, 8-10 minutes. Add additional butter if needed.
- Add flour to vegetables in skillet and stir until well mixed.
- Slowly stir in the sherry and two cups broth, mixing with vegetables and flour.
- Add another ¾ cup of broth.
- Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer.
- Add cream and simmer on medium-low about 10 minutes until thickened..
- Add chicken, bacon, parsley, thyme, dried, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Add additional stock if needed.
- Remove pie crusts from refrigerator and roll out the first one to 12-inch diameter.
- Place crust in bottom of 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Allow the excess to hang over the side.
- Pour filling into pie plate.
- Roll out the top pie crust to 12-inch diameter and place over the filling.
- Fold and pinch the edges of the two crusts together to form a seal.
- Whisk 1 egg with a tablespoon milk or cream.
- Brush the top crust with egg wash and using a sharp knife, make a few slits in the crust to allow steam to escape.
- Remove the pre-heated baking sheet and place the pie on the foil.
- Bake on bottom third rack for 35-45 minutes, until crust is a nice, dark golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow pie to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Building the Flaky Pastry Mechanics
Why chill the butter and shortening until rigid before pulsing them into the flour? Fat pieces must remain solid when introduced to the oven heat so they melt and leave behind pockets of steam, resulting in distinct, flaky layers. When adding the very cold water through the food processor tube, stop the machine the exact second the dough begins to clump into a cohesive mass to prevent gluten overdevelopment that yields tough pastry. Keeping the dough wrapped in the refrigerator for at least an hour relaxes those gluten strands and solidifies the fat distribution before rolling.
Thickening and Substitution Consequences
Building a stable sauce requires cooking the raw flour in the rendered bacon fat and butter mixture until the starch granules expand and lose their starchy taste, which typically takes a minute or two of constant stirring. Substituting low-fat milk for heavy cream fundamentally changes the viscosity of the filling, as higher-fat dairy resists curdling when simmered and provides the necessary mouthfeel to coat the vegetables and cooked chicken. Dry sherry contributes an essential hit of acidity and savory depth that regular cooking sherry—which often contains added salt and preservatives—cannot replicate accurately without throwing off the measured salt content.
Baking and Temperature Control
Placing the pie directly onto a preheated baking sheet positioned on the bottom third rack of a 400-degree oven guarantees direct bottom-heat transfer, preventing a soggy bottom crust while the top browns. Brushing the rolled pastry with an egg wash made from a whole egg whisked with a tablespoon of milk promotes the Maillard reaction, turning the exterior a deep, glossy golden brown. Allowing the baked pie to rest undisturbed for twenty minutes lets the boiling-hot sauce cool enough to set properly so the interior slices cleanly instead of running across the plate.
