Two Day Chicken Pot Pie
This chicken pot pie doesn’t have to take two days, but it usually does. I make the pie dough, chop up the veggies and poach the chicken the first day. The second day, I make the gravy and assemble and bake the pie. This Thanksgiving-style of working makes the whole process feel more fun.
I start with the pie crust recipe from Inspired Taste using their food processor method. This is a very standard pie dough recipe, except for the method. Pulse half the flour, salt, and sugar with the cold butter. Once pebbly, add and pulse the remaining flour.
It seems like the drier flour creates more of a barrier around the butter. The protected butter results in a really flaky crust. I have noticed that the dry flour soaks up quite a bit more cold water than the recipe calls for. At first I thought this was user error, but by the third time I decided this is a quirk of the method.
The relatively high moisture content of the dough combined with use of the food processor results in a sturdy (but not tough) crust. This is great for savory pies and unruly fruit fillings. But I probably wouldn’t go using it to replace the crust in any delicate ganache or custard pies. This recipe makes two crusts, so I used one for this meal and froze the other.
The filling of the pie is based on the Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Here are my variations from the original recipe:
Simmer the chicken gently, don’t boil it, until an internal temp of 165f. Only add aromatics to the pot (whatever onions, garlic, ginger, lemon slices, or fresh herbs you have); leave the carrots and celery out of it. Once the desired temperature is reached, remove the chicken and allow to cool. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid. Discard the aromatics. This liquid can now be used in place of the chicken broth in the gravy.
Cut the veggies relatively small, so they will cook in the time that the pie bakes.
Gravy texture is a personal preference. I went a little thinner, replacing some half-and-half with milk.
I always add a little olive oil to the butter when sauteing aromatics. It gives me a little more wiggle room with the cooking temperature. Butter and oil, Seth.
I added some diced, cooked potatoes to the filling and omitted the bottom crust. This is optional.
I bought the green peas, and then forgot about them in the the freezer. Don’t do this. This is not optional.
