Modern Chicken Potpie Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them on the prepared sheet pan. Rub all over with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until just cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then discard the skin and bones and shred the meat into bite-size pieces.
• While the chicken roasts, begin making the biscuits: In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk until well combined. Add the butter, and working quickly, cut the butter into the flour using your fingers or a pastry cutter, until it forms crumbles about the size of peas. Switch to a fork, and stir constantly while adding the buttermilk in a slow, steady steam. Mix just until a wet, sticky dough forms. (Do not overmix!) Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, pat it into a mound, then wrap and chill it in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
• In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion and rosemary, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds, or until no white clumps of flour are visible. Add the chicken stock, milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat to low and simmer, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until very thick, 7 to 10 minutes; remove from heat. Add the sherry, chives and chicken, and stir until well combined.
• Unwrap the chilled biscuit dough and place it on a well-floured surface. Working quickly (you want the biscuits to be as cold as possible when they go into the oven) lightly press the dough with your hands into a rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Fold the dough in half and press once more to a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Cut out biscuits with a 2 1/2- to 3-inch-round cutter and arrange them on top of the filling. (You should have about 10 biscuits.)
• Brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash. Place the skillet on a sheet pan to catch any drips, and bake, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes, until biscuits are puffed and golden. Cool for 10 minutes to let the filling thicken slightly, then serve.

Steps:

• In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and peas and carrots; remove from heat.
• Heat oven to 425°F. Roll 1 pie crust into 13-inch square. Ease into ungreased 9-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Pour chicken mixture into crust-lined dish.
• Roll remaining pie crust into 11-inch square. Cut out designs with 1-inch cookie cutter. Place square over chicken mixture. Arrange cutouts on top crust. Turn edges of pie crust under; flute edge.
• Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, covered, 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. , In a large skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in flour and seasonings until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken, peas, corn and potato mixture; remove from heat., Unroll a pie crust into each of two 9-in. pie plates; trim even with rims. Add chicken mixture. Unroll remaining crusts; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in tops. , Bake 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked pies. To use, remove from freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Preheat oven to 425°. Place pies on baking sheets; cover edges loosely with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°; bake 70-80 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
• In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
• In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Let rest 15 minutes. In a medium pot over medium heat, combine chicken, stock, wine, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and cook chicken gently until no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate to cool completely. Strain and reserve cooking liquid (you should have about 2 3/4 cups). Once chicken is cool, shred into bite-size pieces.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter.
• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add leeks and shallot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Melt in 4 more tablespoons butter. Stir in 1/2 cup flour and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the strained stock and the cream. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in celery root or carrot, and potato; simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Stir in chicken, peas if using and lemon zest. Scrape mixture into prepared pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, the baking powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cut the remaining 10 tablespoons butter into cubes; using a pastry cutter or two forks, mix into flour until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk. Dollop mixture on top of potpie filling (it's O.K. if there are spaces between biscuits). Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with almonds.
• Transfer casserole to oven; bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or other heavy bottom skillet) over medium heat. Sear chicken, skin-side down, until deeply golden brown and some of the fat has begun to render out, 5 to 8 minutes. Rotate chicken and continue to cook on all sides until evenly browned and cooked through, an additional 8 to 10 minutes. Remove chicken, keeping all the drippings in the skillet, and let cool slightly on a plate.
• To the drippings, add carrots, celery, garlic, onion and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender and just cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat all the vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour has started to turn a light golden brown with no white, floury bits left, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly add the chicken broth or stock ½ cup at a time, using a wooden spoon to blend and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Once all the broth or stock is added, bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
• Remove the bones and skin from the chicken and shred the meat and skin (discard any skin that is too thick or rubbery) into bite-size pieces or, alternatively, cut it with a knife and fork into bite-size pieces. (If you discover at this stage any pieces of chicken that are not completely cooked through, don't worry; they will finish cooking in the oven.) Add the peas, parsley and chicken and season once more with salt and pepper.
• Carefully unfold the puff pastry and working quickly, place it on top of the skillet (do not worry about it being a perfect circle), letting some of the dough hang off the sides (this will keep it from shrinking too much).
• Whisk the egg with 1 teaspoon of water and brush onto the top of the puff pastry. Cut three 2½-inch slits, about 1-inch apart and place the skillet on top of the sheet pan to catch any drips in the oven.
• Bake until puff pastry is golden brown on top and filling is starting to bubble up, 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and continue to cook until puff pastry is baked through all the way and filling has thickened considerably, another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool slightly before eating.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in flour and poultry seasoning until blended; gradually whisk in broth and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken and vegetables., Transfer to a greased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate; place crust over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in crust. Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat and sauté the chicken, in batches, until lightly golden but not cooked through. Set aside.
• In the same, cleaned pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sauté the onions until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove to bowl with the chicken. Repeat with carrots and celery and then mushrooms. In a separate pan, heat stock to boiling.
• Clean Dutch oven again. Melt remaining butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until pale gold, 2 minutes. Whisk in boiling stock, half-and-half, herbs, sherry and salt and pepper and heat to a slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat a spoon. (If too thick, add more stock.) Stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, the chicken and vegetables. Cover with buttered parchment. (Pie can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated until 1 hour before cooking.)
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the pastry into a square just less than 1/2 inch thick and, using a very sharp knife, cut a round the size of the pot. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and invert the round on top. (Sprinkle the scraps with sugar, twist them into corkscrew shapes and bake them as cookies.) If using Dufour, follow package directions.
• Brush pastry with egg wash, without letting any drip down the sides, which will prevent it from rising evenly. Prick all over with a fork. (For a flatter, denser crust, omit the wash, cover pastry with a second sheet of parchment paper and a second sheet pan on top, forming a sandwich. This keeps the puff pastry from rising and provides a crunchy, buttery pastry.)
• Bake pastry until puffed, browned and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
• Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees. Bake chicken mixture until sauce is bubbly around edges and chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Place baking sheet with pastry in oven to reheat the last 10 minutes of cooking.
• To serve: Remove parchment from Dutch oven and taste sauce. Adjust seasoning and stir in remaining lemon juice if needed. Slide pastry onto chicken mixture and display your pie. Back in the kitchen, cut the crust into wedges with a serrated knife. Spoon chicken onto warmed plates, stick a corner of a wedge into each serving and garnish with rosemary.