Chicken Pot Pie

By lindsayvk

Chicken potpie, a relative of the English meat pies and French pates en croute, is to me one of those iconic American dishes. I grew up eating Swanson's frozen potpies-that kind of food is how a big family with a working mom survived during the week in the 1960s and '70s. While it may have reached icon status due to the ingenious convenience food industry, it's origins as a wonderful dish are why I value it now. I wanted to include it here because of its powerful association with home meals, and to show how good it can be when made at home.

Ingredients

• Filling:
• Basic pie crust
• 1 cup 1/2-inch pieces red-skinned potatoes
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2-inch pieces carrots (cut on the diagonal)
• 12 white pearl onions
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 24 black peppercorns
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2-inch pieces celery (cut on the diagonal)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• Bechamel:
• 3 Tbsp (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or to taste
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped thyme
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1 egg, beaten

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

1. Roll out the dough, place one piece in a 9- or 10-inch pie plate and the second on a baking sheet, and refrigerate as directed on page 338.
2. Put the potatoes, carrots, and onions in separate small saucepans with water to cover and add 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig, and 8 peppercorns to each pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and simmer until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Drain the vegetables, discard the bay, thyme, and peppercorns, and spread on a baking sheet. Cut the onions in half.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Blanch the celery until just crisp-tender, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Drain, transfer to the ice bath, and chill just until cold. Drain and add to the baking sheet with the other vegetables.
5. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes; adjust the heat as needed so that the mixture does not brown. Whisk in the milk, lower the heat to keep the bechamel at a gentle simmer (use a diffuser, such as a Flame Tamer, if necessary), and cook, whisking often, until the sauce has thickened and reduced to about 2 cups, 30 to 40 minutes; move the whisk over the bottom and into the corners of the pan to be sure the bechamel doesn't burn.
6. Position the oven racks in the lower third and center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Strain the bechamel through a fine-mesh conical strainer into a spouted measuring cup. Season with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, and cayenne.
8. Remove both doughs from the refrigerator.
9. Scatter the vegetables and chicken into the pie shell. Pour the bechamel over them. At this point, if the top crust is too hard to shape, let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes. Moisten the rim of pie shell with some of the beaten egg. Cover the filling with the top crust and press the edges of the dough together to seal. Trim away the excess dough that overhangs the rim. Brush the top crust with the egg. Cut a small vent in the center of the dough with a small cutter or the tip of a paring knife to allow steam to escape.
10. Bake on the lower oven rack until the crust is a rich golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. If necessary, move the pie to the center rack during the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the crust. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut the potpie into 6 wedges and serve warm.