I think one of my favorite things about making this chicken pot pie is that you end up with about an extra quart of broth after poaching the chicken. I love warming some of it with a few slices of peeled ginger, then adding a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. It's so nice to sip on it while you cook or to drink it as part of the meal.
Serves 4 to 6
For the poached chicken
Ingredients:
2 bone-in chicken breasts
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 sprigs of Thyme, optional
the ends of the 2 large carrots you will use in the filling
the tops of the leek you will use in the filling, cleaned
Place all the ingredients above in a medium pot and cover everything with water. Make sure there is about 1" of water above all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the liquid, let it cool for a few minutes and shred.
Strain the broth and reserve 2 cups for the pot pie.
For the pot pie
Ingredients:
1 large leek
2 medium carrots, diced
1 potato, cubed (waxy ones like red bliss are best)
4 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
4T all purpose Flour
2 cups of broth
2 puff pastry containers
a pie dish or other round baking container (I baked mine in an 8" cake pan)
1 egg, beaten
Clean and slice all the vegetables. Take special care with the leeks , which can be sandy. To clean them slice them in half lengthwise and flip them on both sides, under running water, like you would a flipbook. Slice everything on the smaller side so they cook quickly.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften about 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken. Stir. Add the salt and flour and stir to coat everything. Cook for 1 minute and pour in about 1/3 of the broth, cook for 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Repeat with the next third of the broth, and then add the last third.
Taste for salt, remove from heat, and let everything cool to room temperature
To assemble & Bake
Pre heat your oven to 350º
Imp: do not start this part until the filling has cooled.
Keep the puff pastry in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Work with one at a time.
Sprinkle a little flour on your clean counter top and place the cold dough. Sprinkle the top with flour and roll it out. Move quickly, so the dough doesn't warm up. It does not have to be perfect. What matters most is that the thickness is even but this is not a problem with store bought dough.
Roll the pastry out to 12 inches in diameter. It doesn't have to be exact but you want about 2" extra of dough all around. What I mean by this is if you were to place your pie dish upside down in the center of your dough you would have 2" extra of dough all around. Trim any extra pastry.
Line your pan with the puff pastry. Add the filling. Place in the refrigerator while you roll out the other dough. Place this one on top of your pie and crimp the edges to seal. Brush the the top with a beaten egg.
Bake the pot pie on a baking sheet for about 45 minutes- 1 hour.
It is ready when the crust is golden with a bit of brown.
Let the pie rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving.