Penelope got this recipe from an interesting man at a dinner party, who noticed her because she was the one who had brought the Dark Chocolate Tart with Candied Grapefruit Peel. Was she ever glad she’d gone to the cooking night with her friend, Steve. Frenchified though the tart was, it was also what down home Paula Dean would call, “a real man catcher.” So this person who lived alone (so far so good), liked to cook (better and better) and had traveled the world enough to know how to get from one end of a week to the other (jackpot!) told her that one of the best ways to make a delicious pot pie was with ingredients and seasonings that had been cooked or baked for another meal, and so had already become more complex. Wow, someone who wasn’t afraid of complications. In planning a big holiday dinner, he would choose all the ingredients he’d like for a pot pie: turkey, vegetables, potatoes, even stuffing, rich, dark gravy, and biscuits. Then he’d make enough extra, so instead of just having leftovers, he had all the ingredients for a great new meal. Over his second helping of pie, he asked Penelope what she thought of the idea? “Sounds great,” she said but was really thinking, “Anyone who can plan that far ahead can’t possibly have a commitment problem.”

Chicken Pot Pie

If you have lots of leftovers, combine the turkey (or chicken) with all the vegetables, potatoes, (even the stuffing, but not too much, it’s just for flavor) and gravy. Cut the biscuits in half and place the bottom rounds in a baking dish. Cover with the turkey or chicken mixture. Then put the top biscuits in rows to form a top pie crust. You might want to cover the top with a foil tent so it doesn’t burn. Bake in a 350° oven for about an hour. But if you’re starting from scratch…

Biscuit Pie Crust

  1. 2 cups flour
  2. 1½ tsp baking powder
  3. ½ tsp baking soda
  4. 1 tsp salt
  5. 5 tbs butter
  6. 2 tsp minced fresh sage
  7. 1 egg
  8. ½ cup plus 2 tbs buttermilk
  9. egg wash (1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tbs milk)

Sift the flour and combine with baking powder, baking soda and salt

Work in the butter and sage

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring gently until a shaggy dough forms

Roll it out to ¼ inch thickness, then use a 2½ inch biscuit cutter to cut into rounds

Brush the top with the egg wash

Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden

The Filling

  1. 2½ cups chicken (or turkey, white or dark meat, or whatever was left over)
  2. 2½ cups chicken stock
  3. 3 carrots
  4. 2 medium potatoes
  5. 1 cup herbed stuffing (optional)
  6. 1 stalk celery
  7. 4 tbs salted butter
  8. 12 small cremini mushrooms
  9. 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  10. 5 tbs flour
  11. 1 cup milk
  12. ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  13. 2 tsp salt
  14. fresh black pepper
  15. 2 tsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  16. ¼ cup sweet peas

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil

Add the carrots, potatoes and celery

Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes

Drain the vegetables and reserve the stock

Set both aside separately

In a large saucepan, melt the salted butter and add the onion and cook 6-8 minutes

Add the mushroom and cook 5 minutes more

Add fresh thyme and 5 tbs flour and cook 2 minutes

Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly until combined

Add the stock and cook 8-10 minutes until the mixture thickens; keep stirring

Add nutmeg, 1 tsp salt, pepper, parsley, chicken, vegetables and peas