WEDNESDAY
Chicken Pot Pie
“Maybe that’s the best part of going away for a vacation - coming home again.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle, Meet the Austins
We have been home for a couple of days, arriving in the first few hours of Monday morning, but that overwhelming sense of relief and comfort which washes over you as you cross the threshold of home after a long journey is still very much with me. Spending last week at the horse show, while hardly a vacation, was a wonderful adventure for the girls and I…a week spent at a beautiful venue in Southern California with good friends & great horses. Madison, competing at the CCI 2** level, nailed an accurate and controlled dressage test on Friday but King’s {her thoroughbred} energy and “enthusiasm” proved to be too much for this team early on the cross country course Saturday afternoon. Enjoying a highly spirited gallop and not paying much attention to the bit in his mouth {or the hands holding the attached reins}, King hit {and broke} a piece of the log at fence 7B and, while waiting for the fence to be repaired, Maddie decided to call it a day, safely, rather than risk a serious injury later in the course. As for Mallory, she and her pony put in a solid dressage test landing them in the 8th spot in her division of twenty-two riders. A brilliant show-jumping round followed by a flawless cross country run {both penalty-free} secured a fourth place finish for this Novice-level team. So proud of both my girls!!
Long days, hard work, the stress and “thrills” of competition, combined with a week of breakfast burritos, hamburgers & sushi, left me yearning for home. Driving home through the night on Sunday, I found myself fixated on the chicken dinner we would be having on Monday…the smell of the roasting birds, fresh vegetables, the warmth of the kitchen. That dinner on Monday did not disappoint and, despite the absence of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, it represented a true Thanksgiving meal. As we sat down to eat, we gave thanks for healthy children and horses, a safe journey home and for each other…together.
Roasting an extra chicken on Monday made light work for dinner preparations this evening…
Store-bought rotisserie chicken is an easy and time-saving substitution, especially for a weeknight dinner, for home-roasted birds. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts {poached and then shredded} can also be used but I find they lack the depth of flavor found in roasted meat. Once you have cooked chicken meat in hand, the rest of the dish comes together with ingredients you most likely have on hand…
Onion, celery, carrots and peas are the traditional vegetables found in classic pot pies but tonight I also added Brussels sprouts and some cooked bacon which I had in the refrigerator. We all love these little sprouts which pair well with salty bacon…
A heaping tablespoon of fresh thyme brings together all of the flavors of the pie…
A simple sautĂ© of vegetables becomes a rich pie filling with the addition of flour, chicken stock and whole milk…
The filling is then poured into a prepared baking dish and covered with a store-bought puff pastry crust finished with an egg wash…
Forty-five minutes to an hour later this beautiful pot pie emerges from the oven…
And our very simple, but extremely satisfying dinner plate this evening…
- 4 tablespoons {1/2 stick} unsalted butter + 1 tablespoon for greasing baking dish
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks of celery, trimmed and chopped
- 5 medium-sized Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and pushed through a garlic press
- 1 {heaping} tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 3 whole cloves {ground using a mortar & pestle}
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 5 cups cooked chicken meat, shredded or diced
- 1 1/2 cups peas {fresh or frozen}
- 3/4 cup cooked and chopped bacon
- Prepared puff pastry sheets{s}
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Salt & freshly ground pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat 1/2 stick of butter in a large pot set over medium heat and add onion, carrot, celery and Brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften {about 8 minutes}.
- Add garlic, thyme and ground cloves and cook until fragrant {about a minute}.
- Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by 1/2. Lower the heat and add flour, stirring until all of the vegetables are coated. Add chicken stock and milk. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened {about 5 minutes}.
- Remove pot from the heat and fold in chicken, peas and bacon.
- Prepare a baking dish by coating it with 1 tablespoon of butter. Pour the pot pie filling into the prepared dish and cover with 1-2 sheets of the prepared puff pastry {depending on the size of your dish...make sure the pastry "lid" is larger than your dish as the crust will shrink during cooking}.
- Using a sharp knife, make a few slits in the pastry lid in order to allow steam to escape during the cooking process. Brush the pastry crust with the beaten egg.
- Place the pot pie onto a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the pastry crust is golden and flaky. Serve immediately.
- If a bottom crust is desired for the pot pie, simply place a sheet or two {depending on the size of your baking dish} of prepared puff pastry into the prepared baking dish before adding the chicken filling. After placing the top crust over the pie filling, press the edges of the bottom and top crusts together with your fingers.
