CHICKEN POT PIE

For the Chicken Stock

Start by breaking down chicken by removing the spine and placing a snip at the base of the breast bone before flattening it out. Remove the wings by placing a radial cut along the base of the joint. Remove the legs by cutting between the breast and the thigh. Next, remove the skin from each piece and saving. Finally, remove the white meat from the breast bone by finding the breast bone and making shallow cuts alongside until the breast is removed. Repeat on the other side.

Remove the skin from the thigh and drumstick. Place a cut along with the fat between the thigh and drumstick. Then, run a knife along the drumstick to scrape off all of the meat. For the thigh, there is a single bone that needs to be cut under to separate the meat. Reserve all the bones and skin.

Cut all the meat into bite-size pieces and separate the white meat (day of pie) from the dark meat (freezer pie). Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cut the chicken spine and carcass into manageable pieces. Gather into a pile and toss in a neutral-flavored oil like vegetable or canola oil. Space out evenly on a generously greased rack set in aluminum lined rimmed baking sheet and roast at 400°F for 1 hour or until deeply brown.

Into a large stockpot (or instant pot), fill with roughly peeled and chopped carrots, celery, onion, parsnips, turnips, leeks, lemongrass, a whole head of garlic chopped in half, fennel fronds (optional), peppercorns, few sprigs of fresh parsley, few sprigs of thyme, bay leaves, and the roasted chicken parts.

Fill with water and let simmer slowly for 4-24 hours, or 60 minutes in a pressure cooker.

If using a pressure cooker, remove the pressure from the pot and drain through a fine-mesh strainer. Set aside until ready to use.

For the Pie Crust

Start by combining all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and refrigerator-cold butter. Using 2 knives or a pastry cutter, mash the butter into pea-size pieces.

Slowly add 1-2 tablespoons of flour mixture into ice-cold water as necessary.

Using a rubber spatula, begin bringing everything together and eventually use your hands to massage everything into one cohesive ball of dough. Make sure not to over-knead leading to a tough pie crust. Once it holds its shape, wrap in plastic wrap tightly pressing into a disc and refrigerating for at least 1 hour.

If using a food processor, combine all-purpose flour, kosher salt, fix the shredder disc, and feed a frozen stick of butter through the feeding tube. Repeat steps 2-3.

Remove the dough from the fridge and place onto a generously floured work surface along with flouring the dough and beginning to bang out the dough with a rolling pin repeatedly until the dough is double its size.

Begin rolling the dough out until it is about ⅛ of an inch thick. Using a plate, cut the dough into the desired shape, and optionally cut heart shape pieces out.

Place onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Brush the crust down with a beaten egg, place the heart cut-outs back on top, and sprinkle with flaky salt.

Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Chicken Pot Pie

Start by melting butter in a 10” cast iron skillet. Once sizzling and foamy, add in the chicken breast (white meat) and sautée for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Add in more butter, once melted add in ½ a chopped onion and sautée for 2-3 minutes before adding chopped aromatic vegetables like celery, carrots, and parsnips. Sautée over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Once is has softened and the color has developed, add in chopped thyme and sautée for 30 seconds.

To thicken, add all-purpose flour and sautée together for 1-2 minutes before optionally deglazing with white wine or dry sherry. Cook for 1 minute or until the alcohol smell is gone.

Slowly add in chicken stock by pouring small splashes at a time mixing until a thick paste is formed before adding more stock.

Add the chicken back to the skillet and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes before adding a few pinches of kosher salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.

Kill the heat and add in freshly chopped parsley, frozen peas, and heavy cream. Mix until thoroughly combined. Taste for seasoning then set aside covered while making the pie crust.

Gently shuffle the cooled pie crust onto the top of the filling and bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Let cool before slicing and serving.

For the Frozen Dark Meat Chicken Pot Pie

Start by cutting the dark meat into bite-size pieces.

Place into a pan and sautée in a little oil until the chicken has developed a little color.

Add in the aromatics and then the stock and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes.

To thicken, mix together cornstarch and cold chicken stock until completely homogenous.

Slowly stream in the cornstarch and chicken stock while mixing the filling and cook for 3 minutes. Season to taste and add in chopped parsley then set aside to cool.

**For the frozen pies, use the scrapes of the dough from earlier or double up the pie crust recipe and cut little rounds out of the dough. Make sure the rounds are a little larger than the intended serving vessels. Use ramekins for this method.

Fill each ramekin with an even amount of filling before topping off with the crust.

Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, remove plastic wrap and cover with aluminum foil, baking at 400°F for about 30 minutes. Make 3 small cuts into the crust, and brush with a beaten egg before baking for additional 20 minutes until golden brown.