Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chicken Pot & Apple Pie (separately)

Oh my goodness. I think I went a little crazy this weekend. It's getting cooler - time for food for cooler weather. Comfort foods, and foods that make me want to curl up with my favorite person and watch Modern Family afterward. I got really, really excited when I found a recipe for chicken pot pie in the October issue of Bon Appetit. It looked so incredible that I just couldn't resist. So I spent all of this afternoon preparing it. It was worth every single minute - I think Mike can attest to that.



Chicken Pot Pie (faithfully prepared, with a few minute changes, from the October 2011 issue of Bon Appetit)

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for surface
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes (Cook's Note: I accidentally only used 1 stick of butter, and in retrospect, I stand by my mistake. I will only use 1 stick for this recipe)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Chicken:
2 cups peeled, coarsely chopped carrots
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 leek, coarsely chopped
1 3-pound whole chicken
4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
6 sprigs thyme
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Filling:
2 tablespoons dried chanterelle or shiitake mushrooms (we used the dried morel we had in the pantry)
1 cup 1/2" slices peeled carrots
1 cup fresh (or frozen, thawed) peas
1 cup pearl onions
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 fresh sage leaves
4 thyme sprigs
2 sprigs rosemary (Oopsy, we forgot to pick the rosemary. But it was still delicious)
1 cup button mushrooms, halved if large
1 cup 1/4" rounds sliced fingerling potatoes
1 egg, beaten to blend
Coarse sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper, optional

For crust:
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a food processor. Add cubed butter and shortening and process until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size lumps. With machine running, add 1/2 cup ice water and process, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry, until dough forms. Form dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 12x9 1/2" rectangle, about 1/4" thick. Place on prepared sheet and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill. DO AHEAD: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Keep chilled.

For chicken:
Preheat oven to 400°. Place carrots, onion, and leek on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a large pot fitted with a lid. Add chicken, breast side down, celery, thyme sprigs, wine, salt, and peppercorns to pot. Add 8 cups water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat, cover, and poach chicken until cooked through, about 35 minutes.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside until cool. Reserve broth. Shred meat; discard skin and bones. Set a large strainer over another pot. Strain broth into clean pot. Stir in tomato paste. Return to medium heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 5 cups, about 40 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cool. Cover chicken and broth separately; keep chilled. Rewarm broth before continuing.

For filling:
Place dried morels in a small bowl and cover with 1 cup hot water. Let steep for 10 minutes; set aside. Reserve soaking liquid. Cook carrots in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl. Add peas to saucepan; cook for 1 minute; transfer to bowl with carrots. Add onions to saucepan and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside; let cool. Peel onions.
In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Whisk in herbs and warm broth from chicken. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chanterelles to saucepan. Pour in soaking liquid, leaving sediment behind. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Set a strainer over another large pot. Strain broth into pot; discard solids. Add chicken, carrots, peas, onions, mushrooms, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cool; cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before continuing.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spoon filling into an 11x8x2" or 2 1/2-quart round baking dish. (Add pie bird, if using.) Top with pastry, pinching edges to seal. If not using pie bird, cut a 1" slit in center of crust for steam to vent. Brush pastry with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, if desired.
Place pot pie on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes.
This was hands-down the best chicken pot pie I have ever had. If you ever want to spend an afternoon in the kitchen, just try it. It is so worth it.
For dessert, I made an apple pie with fresh apples from the farmer's market.
Apple Pie
(loosely adapted from Smitten Kitchen's recipe)
I used the crust recipe from the chicken pot pie above, except I used both sticks of butter that it called for and I added 2 tablespoons of sugar. I also separated the dough into two equal parts, flattened them and refrigerated them for 1 hour.

I did not lattice the pie.

1 1/2 pounds ginger gold apples (about 3 medium) (any green apple will do)
2 pounds Braeburn apples (about 4 large) (any reddish baking apple will do)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
About 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
2 - 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg white, beaten lightly
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat rimmed baking sheet and oven to 500°F. Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable).
2. Roll dough on lightly floured work surface or between two large sheets of plastic wrap to 12-inch disk. Transfer dough to pie plate by rolling dough around rolling pin and unrolling over 9 1/2-inch pie plate or by folding dough in quarters, then placing dough point in center of pie plate and unfolding. Working around circumference of pie plate, ease dough into pan corners by gently lifting dough edges with one hand while pressing around pan bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs lip of plate in place; refrigerate dough-lined pie plate.
3. Peel, core and cut apples in half, and in half again width-wise; cut quarters into 1/4-inch slices and toss with lemon juice. In a medium bowl, sugar, flour, salt and spices. Toss dry ingredients with apples. Turn fruit mixture, including juices, into chilled pie shell and mound slightly in center.
4. Roll out second piece of dough to 12-inch disk and place over filling. Trim top and bottom edges to 1/2-inch beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that folded edge is flush with pan lip. Flute edging or press with fork tines to seal. Cut four slits on dough top. If pie dough is very soft, place in freezer for 10 minutes. Brush egg white onto top of crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
5. Place pie on baking sheet and lower oven temperature to 425°F. Bake until top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate pie and reduce oven temperature to 375°F; continue baking until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes longer.
6. Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.


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