Comforting Chicken Potpie

When you think of cold weather comfort food, chicken potpies come to mind, right? Okay, good, it’s not just us. This past week Mother Nature has been playing tricks on us, blistering hot one day and (for us Californians) "freezing cold" (okay high 60s-low 70s) the next day. With sick people all around, we had two choices for dinner: chicken noodle soup or a comforting chicken potpie for dinner.

For this particular recipe, you can either use a store-bought crust or make your own (our favorite crust recipe will be linked at the bottom) and you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand: we happened to have leeks, assorted mushrooms, carrots, a few chunks of celery and frozen peas.

Comforting Chicken Potpie

• 1 pound skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts or thighs (we like thighs)
• 2 cups chicken stock or both
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 leek, white and pale green parts, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh is preferred but dried will also work)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 pound mixed wild mushrooms
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 whole milk
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions: In a sauce pan, combine the chicken and stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. We tossed in a handful of celery slices, too. Reduced the heat to low and cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. (We let ours simmer for over an hour so the meat was super tender.) Turn off the heat and set aside, covered of course.

Once cooled, remove the chicken from the stock, discard the skin and bones and cut or shred into bite size pieces. Set aside.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the carrot, leek, thyme and a pinch of salt. Sauté until they they barely tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until everything is tender, about 4 minutes. Set aside (or combine with chicken above.)

In the frying pan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk together until smooth and slightly browned. Slowly add the chicken stock, whisking constantly until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the milk. Let simmer until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add the peas and chicken-vegetable mixture, stir to combine.

Here’s where things can get fun: 

Roll out your dough and make your potpie in a traditional pie plate or you can make four individual potpies in 1 cup ramekins. 

Traditional: roll out two sheets of dough (top and bottom), make sure you poke holes in your dough and finish with your egg wash. Bake for 35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let cool for about 10 minutes. 

Individual: Divide filling amongst four 1 cup ramekins, roll our your dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, cut out four rounds about 1/2 wider than your ramekins. Place a dough round on top of each ramekin and press the edges down over the rim to secure. Cut a few vents in each round, then brush each dough round with the egg wash. Bake for about 20 minutes on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let cool about 10 minutes prior to serving. 

Serve with a chilled Chardonnay, such as this tasty treat from Lodi. Take 40% off 1st purchase at WineTasting.com! Use coupon code 40AFF-PP (Offer valid thru 10/31/15)

Tools Used + Recommended