Chicken Pot Pie

At Cookbook Of The Day i received a recommendation from "home before dark" to try the cookbook Earth to Table. Well it doesn't take much to get me to search out a new cookbook. I commented on the cover having many of my favorite things, including a pot pie. After writing that, I realized it had been a while since I made a pot pie, so I set out to resolve that issue.

My biggest problem with living in West Virginia is not having a 7-11 at hand to pick up -- well anything! I knew I had some chicken thighs in the refrigerator and I even had a store-bought pie crust. (Now, I tend to frown on store-bought pie crusts because in the time it takes you to open the package you can just about make a pate brisee in a food processor. Recently, Cooks Illustrated did a review of packaged pie crusts. On a scale of 1 to 5 the very best crust came in at a lousy 2.5. When the San Francisco Chronicle asked pastry chefs to compare packaged crusts, the very best crust received a 52 out of 100 and the second choice clocked in at a mere 43! That being said, I always keep one in the fridge in case of emergency which is what making my pot pie turned out to be.)

I found dried mushrooms in the larder, which I immediately began to rehydrate, and there was an onion and four potatoes

In the "crisper" and I use that term lightly, I found a stalk of celery, and two slightly limp carrots.

In the freezer was half a bag of green peas.

I always have eggs, so it looked like a chicken pot pie was doable.

I turned the oven to 450F, salted the chicken thighs and stuck them in the oven.

I chopped the onions, carrots and celery and sautéed them in a nob of butter.

I peeled and chopped the potato and added it to the sauté pan.

I drained the mushrooms, retaining the liquid, and chopped them and tossed them into the sauté pan.

When the chicken was done, after about 20 minutes, I pulled it off the bone, saving the juices.

In the chicken pan, I made a roux of flour and a bit of milk, thinning it with some of the mushroom juice and made a gravy which I poured over the vegetables and chicken and then I added the frozen peas.

I put my crust in a deep baking bowl, added the creamed chicken mixture, and topped the pie with the second crust.

I crimped, cut a hole for the steam and washed it in a beaten egg.

The dish went back into the 450F oven for about 25 minutes and I had...

Chicken Pot Pie

Wish you had been there!