Penelope's Recipe Box

Penelope’s best pie pal, Ellen, had people coming for an early (5:30!) dinner (Even kids don’t eat that early), so she needed something simple.* With no time to spare after food shopping, cleaning, installing her new printer, and doing the laundry so she could wear her skinny jeans; clearly, a one-dish meal was the answer, even for an over-achiever like Ellen. Chicken Pot Pie in Puff Pastry! But seriously, don’t make the puff pastry from scratch. Penelope always pleads with Ellen to buy frozen puff pastry, especially Dufour’s brand, available at the local Whole Foods. If Whole Foods isn’t so local for you, Pepperidge Farms puff pastry works just fine. Before you attack, or shop for the filling, read Helpful Hint #14

The Filling

1. 1 3-lb chicken or individual chicken parts (much better idea)
2. 8 slices pancetta, rind removed
3. ¼ cup unsalted butter
4. 1 hard boiled egg, coarsely chopped
5. 12 button mushrooms, quartered
6. 1 onion, finely chopped
7. ½ cup white wine
8. 1 cup chicken stock
9. 1 egg beaten
10. large pinch of chopped fresh herbs, like parsley, tarragon or chervil

If you’re working with a whole chicken (not recommended), cut it into 8 pieces and remove the bones and skin. If not, (and think seriously in this direction) you’ll save yourself at least an hour of prep time and unnecessary intimate knowledge of a chicken’s bone structure.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper

Wrap each piece of chicken with a slice of pancetta, and secure with wooden cocktail picks or string**

Heat 2 tbs butter in a skillet over medium heat and brown the chicken, turning regularly to brown all sides

Remove the chicken and drain on crumpled paper towels

Discard the cocktail picks or string (rearranging the pancetta to hide cocktail pick marks, as needed)

Put the chicken in a 6 cup pie plate with the hard-boiled egg***

Pour the excess fat out of the pan, add the remaining butter, and cook the mushrooms and onions for 5 minutes over low heat

Add the white wine to the pan and simmer until only a little liquid is left

Pour over the chicken

Add enough stock to almost cover the chicken pieces****

Roll out the pastry so that it is a little bigger than the top of the pie plate, trim the excess

Brush the rim of the plate with the beaten egg and line with 1/2 inch of the excess pastry, pressing onto the plate firmly and brushing with beaten egg

Carefully cover the pie plate with the pastry, pressing the edges together to seal

Make a few steam vents, and brush the top (but not the edges) with beaten egg

Chill the pie for 30 minutes before baking

Preheat the oven to 375°

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry has risen and is golden

Reduce the oven to 250°, cover the pie with aluminum, and bake for 45 minutes

Break the crust in the center, or loosen and lift off from the side, and add the chopped fresh herbs*****

*Note from Ellen: this recipe isn’t it.

**2nd Note from Ellen: DO NOT use colored cocktail picks. The color leeches out into the chicken, much like multi-colored chicken pox. She once did and had to cover up the spots with pancetta. Ellen thinks it’s probably not poisonous, just unappetizing.

***More Notes from Ellen: If your chicken is more than 3 lbs., don’t even think about using just one pie plate. All the ingredients won’t fit. Ellen used 2 pie plates, which of course meant defrosting a second sheet of puff pastry at the last minute. But then, Ellen is a player. You might want to reserve the remaining ingredients and make a second pie some other time.

****Another Ellen Note: for 2 pies you’ll only need about half the stock.

*****Final Note from Ellen: You can skip this part if you’re squeamish about open crust surgery.