I Got A Bit Camera-Happy This Time...

Tonight I tried a new recipe, one that is inevitably associated with comfort food, old-fashioned dinners, and Boston Market. Tonight I made chicken potpie.

Eric has mentioned several times that he likes potpies, and in my most recent search for new recipes, I stumbled upon a few variations of this dish. I settled on 2 recipes to try. At first I was pretty intimidated by the idea of the pastry topping, but I decided to make my own topping. After a very messy and complicated blender incident, I was able to assemble my pastry dough for this dish, but keep in mind that store-bought pastry dough is just as good and will most likely be less messy and stressful if you're just beginning to explore this area of cooking.

For this chicken potpie (makes 4) recipe you'll need:

1 tbsp olive oil

½ medium onion, chopped

4 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

salt and pepper

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups chicken stock

2 chicken breasts

3 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk

enough pastry dough to cover 4 6-inch ramekins

flour for the surface

1 egg lightly beaten for egg wash

First heat up your olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until it's softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrots, and celery and cook another 8-10 minutes until soft. Add some more olive oil if you find that the veggies are cooking too quickly. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the flour.

Next, add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until the whole thing has thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and the cream/milk and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, another 5 minutes or so.

Divide the filling among 4 ramekins (you can also use 2 regular oven-safe bowls).

Preheat the oven to 375. Roll out your pastry dough to ¼-inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out 4 circles which are an inch larger than your ramekins (or bowls). Place them on the ramekins and crimp the edges to seal. Brush the dough with egg wash (this will help the crust get golden and flaky, so be generous!) and freeze for 20 minutes.

Bake until the toppings are golden and fillings are bubbling, about 40 minutes.

Brag and enjoy! (It's what I always do...)