Every mouthful of this creamy, flaky chicken pot pie puts me in a trance. I am reading a novel by Frances Mayes , who writes dreamily about life in Tuscany. As I am transported to Italy through every word, every bite of this pot pie is reinforcing the tastes and the ambience as I eat and read. Reading Frances’ books is like going on a vacation. I know Chicken Pot Pie is not an Italian dish but the richness of the pastry and the flavors of the herbs I added put me in that gastronomic mindset.
Since the era of working fulltime began (and its fine by the way – I’ve finally adjusted quite nicely), I don’t often get the chance to play in my kitchen anymore. I stopped at the local market (aka Sobey’s) to pick up a few ingredients and went home to bake my first loaf of fermented sourdough bread and make chicken pot pie from the leftover Hutterite chicken I had roasted for our Father’s Day picnic. I detest wasting food. I set up my blue tooth speaker with my favorite playlists and fixed myself a drink (apple juice in a wine glass) and began to peel and chop carrots and potatoes and onions. I steamed peas I purchased from the frozen food section but soon will be able to get from my backyard garden. I sautéed onions in butter. There’s nothing like the smell of onions and butter cooking (or the taste for that matter). I ate a bit too much of this step and had to chop up some more onions. What did you have for supper last night? Fried onions! Yup. I’m good with that.
I picked all the leftover chicken pieces off the carcass and cut up the leftover picnic chicken and threw it all in the bowl with the vegetables. Next, I heavily seasoned it with salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, and savory spice. Then it was time for the rue (cream sauce). One must stand over this sauce with a whisk since crème burns so quickly. So worth it though. After I add it to the chicken and vegetables, I usually have a couple of bites without the crust. It could be eaten out of a bowl and enjoyed.
But that flaky, buttery pastry wrapped around the filling like a cloak is well worth the effort. It was amazingly fortuitous to have received this recipe from a family planning a celebration of life I catered a couple of years ago. I will never use another. I rolled out the pastry that I had previously made and froze. I always love to have some ready made pastry in the freezer in case the pie mood strikes. It speeds up the process so much. I usually make two pies at a time if I am going to the trouble anyway. Not to mention, I usually dirty every dish, pot and pan in the house for this particular entrée so I may as well make two. I had a small piece of pastry left so I rolled it out so I could cut out daisy’s with a cookie cutter to decorate the top of the pie. A quick and thorough egg wash and into the over they both went.
While I was preparing the pot pie I was going through all the rising and preheating steps for my sourdough bread. I have a huge tub of dough sitting in the fridge and just swack off a lump for a small loaf of bread. I will do something more exciting next round. I want to add nuts and raisins or cranberries and seeds and cut interesting designs with scissors. But I kept it simple this time so I could learn the process. Pastry and bread. Does it get any more carb heaven than that?
It took me til 11:00 pm to clean up the mess and complete the baking time. I usually go to bed at 9:30 because there actually is such a thing as ‘beauty sleep’ and I am desperate for it, but it was well worth it as I flopped into bed feeling domestic and earthy for having made something delicious, healthy and not full of preservatives.
That brings me to my lunch at work today. Eating chicken pot pie and reading Frances Mayes. Now that’s the way to escape the routine and get the most out of a hum drum life.
The Red Plaid Apron 