Chicken Pot Pie | Basics with Babish

(upbeat music) (calm music) - So the idea with this meatloaf episode is that we want to get the most out of a whole

chicken

. We're going to make the broth, we're going to make a big old cast iron pie and individual frozen pies. First, let's break down the

chicken

into its elemental parts. We will start by removing the spine, placing a small cut at the base of the breastbone and flattening it. Then we will remove the wings. We will make a radial cut at the base of the joints, we will look for the two bones, we will pass our knife between them and separate.

And of course repeat with the other side. Then we have to separate the chicken legs. There is barely any bone or cartilage between the breast and thigh, so it should be very easy to cut them in the middle. Then we're going to start very graphically skinning everyone, but don't rule it out. It has a lot of collagen to add to our stock. Then we are going to remove all the white meat from the breastbone. Simply find the breastbone and begin making shallow cuts along it until you have removed the breast. Repeat with the other side and you have a chicken carcass, another essential component of a good broth.

So the thigh and thigh get the same kind of gross skinless treatment, ugh. To find the junction between these, we'll look for this strip of fat, make a cut right in the center of it, and it will reveal the junction that you can run your knife between and separate the two. Then, to remove the meat from the thigh, we'll simply scrape the bone away, again, a pretty gross process. Be glad I don't record audio. The thigh is a very similar story. There is a single bone that we must cut underneath, separating the meat and reserving all the bones for our broth.

Once you've freed the meat from its bony captors, it's time to start cutting it. I just cut everything into small pieces and keep the breast meat, legs and thighs separate because the breast meat will be better for our pie of the day and the dark meat will be better for the frozen pies. Go ahead and refrigerate them until we're ready to use them, for now it's time to make broth. We'll want to cut the loin and carcass into more manageable pieces, put them all together in a big, bloody pile, and toss them with a little neutral-flavored oil, like vegetable or canola.

We then spread them evenly on a generously greased rack set on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour or until nicely browned while we prepare our vegetables. Vegetables are where you can start to get really creative with your broth. The absolutely essential elements are carrots, celery and onion, but feel free to put your own spin on it with things like parsnips, which will add a bit of earthy sweetness. Turnips are a harmless root vegetable that will help complement carrots. Maybe even a little woodsy spice. Leeks provide a very mild onion flavor but a little more complex, a little sweeter in the white parts and a little more herbaceous in the green parts.

Fresh lemongrass brings a lemon and mint flavor to the party. You should definitely add a whole head of garlic cut in half widthwise, and then perhaps the most optional ingredient, some fennel fronds, which will give it a touch of root and anise. Lastly, a tablespoon of whole peppercorns, a few sprigs of fresh parsley and a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and a bay leaf or two if that's what you like. And of course, our freshly roasted chicken parts, each bursting with chicken flavor, none of which will go to waste when used in a broth. Of course, you can cover these guys with water and simmer for anywhere from four to 24 hours, but you can get a very close approximation with 60 minutes in a pressure cooker, which cooks their contents at a much higher temperature and extracts their beautiful flavors. in a fraction of the time.

Now we have to release the pressure and deplete our stock, but first we have to do everything we can to try to scare our cameraman. I think it's working. Drain this liquid gold and that's it. Homemade broth is one of the essential parts of an amazing chicken pot pie. What is the most important part? That's right, buttery, flaky puff pastry. We'll start by measuring 150 grams of all-purpose flour, with a small whisk, along with a teaspoon of kosher salt and a stick or about 113 grams of cold butter in the refrigerator. The goal here is to cut the butter into pea-sized pieces.

You can do this with a couple of knives, but it's a bit of a pain to do, so if you have a dough cutter at home, it will quickly turn our butter into little puff pastry globules. The next goal here is to add enough ice water to make the dough come together. I found that 50 grams is a good point to start adding a tablespoon or two at a time as needed. We'll start by bringing things together with a rubber spatula and eventually use our hands to massage things into a barely cohesive ball of dough. Be careful not to over-knead.

This is how you get a hard pie crust. Once it holds its shape when pressed, we will wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, press it into a disk, and refrigerate it for at least an hour. This will allow the gluten to relax and prevent the butter from melting prematurely. If you were lucky enough to get a food processor for your birthday last year, this is the easiest way to make cake batter. Simply combine the same amount of flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor, attach the grinding disc, and run a stick of frozen butter through the feed tube.

This will crush the butter into perfect, uniform little pieces that will translate beautifully into nice flaky layers on the pie crust. Pour the flour and butter mixture into a large bowl, add the ice water as before and form into a cohesive disk of dough. Now that our pie crust is in the refrigerator and ready to use, it's time to set up our filling. We'll start by melting two tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Once they are sizzling and foamy, we will add our chicken breasts, sautéing them for two or three minutes until they turn a nice color.

Then we'll take them out, set them aside, and add another two tablespoons of butter to the pan. It may seem like a lot of butter, but we'll need it to formulate our sauce. Half a chopped onion goes into the butter, which we are going to fry for two or three minutes before adding some aromatic vegetables. My personal preference is chopped carrots, celery and parsnips. We will sauté them over medium heat for about five minutes until they soften and begin to take on a little color. Then we add a tablespoon of freshly chopped thyme, sauté for another 30 seconds or until fragrant, and then it's time to start thickening.

To the pan we will add four tablespoons of all-purpose flour, which we will sauté together for one or two minutes. This along with all the butter will form a kind of improvised roux. Then, optionally, we're going to deglaze with a quarter cup of white wine or dry sherry. Cook it for about a minute until the alcohol smell disappears, and then it will be time to start slowly adding our broth. At first, a little at a time, mixing until a thick paste forms. Eventually we want to add about two cups of our homemade broth, which will come together forming a thick, velvety, flavorful sauce to which we will add our previously sautéed chicken and any of its accumulated juices.

Bring to a simmer and cook for about five minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Then it's time to start the finishing process. A few generous pinches of kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Remember, you can always move forward, you can never go back. It's time to turn off the heat and add a few tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley, half a cup of frozen peas, and a quarter cup of heavy cream. This way the flavor of the peas and parsley will stay nice and fresh and the heavy cream won't split in the simmering pan.

Give it one last mix, taste it for seasoning and then set it aside and keep it covered while we prepare our pie crust. First, we'll take our very cold dough out of the refrigerator and generously sprinkle it along with our work surface with all-purpose flour and begin pounding it with a rolling pin, pounding repeatedly until it's about double its original size. Then we'll start rolling until it's about an eighth of an inch thick, which we'll cut into a round that we'll place on top of our cast iron skillet pie. Now, this comes with some complications. First, contraction.

George Costanza was right: shrinkage is very real and must be taken into account. If you simply take the pie dough and dump it on top of the filling, cut a few holes, brush the whole thing with egg wash, and throw it in the oven, one of two things will happen. If you have a very moist and spicy filling, the crust will fall apart. He will shrink and fall beneath the waves like so many sailors of old. If you try to overcompensate and make a less spicy filling, you'll end up with a very dry, perfect cake that will look great on Instagram but very bad on your resume when you're forced to take a job. interview in the form of a dinner, which I am sure has happened at least once in the history of humanity.

On the other hand, you can borrow this awesome hack from the folks at America's Test Kitchen. Its idea is to pre-cut and prevent bark. They don't say to use heart shapes, but I'm my own man. Then, place the crust in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes after forming to help the gluten relax and not shrink as much. Brush everything with a beaten egg. Maybe place the heart cutouts back on top decoratively. Sprinkle with final flake salt and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool completely for 10 to 15 minutes on a rack and then gently fold over the entire pie filling and bake for 10 more minutes at 400 until bubbly, golden, crispy and absolutely beautiful.

Now there's a cake that's as fantastic as it is photogenic. All that's left to do is grab a big ol' spoon and eat. You'll find that unlike most pies, this crust is tremendously crispy and beautifully placed on top of its tangy, flavorful filling. It is simply the best chicken pot pie experience you will ever experience. But you ask, what about dark meat? Well, I think that responds better to being frozen. So we'll cut it into the same bite-sized pieces and prepare it the same way as the white meat filling, this time using just a little oil instead of all that butter, sautéing until they have a little color, adding our aromatics and then our broth, and letting everything simmer for about 20 minutes.

This will give the dark meat a chance to cook and break down. Then, to thicken, instead of flour we use two or three tablespoons of cornstarch, which we will mix with approximately half a cup of cold broth. Otherwise, the cornstarch will be lumpy. Mix until completely smooth and then slowly pour into the filling while mixing constantly so that no lumps form. We will cook it for about three more minutes until we achieve the desired consistency, season to taste, add a little parsley and then let it cool. If you are making these frozen pies, you can double your pie dough recipe or use leftovers from the original recipe to cut out the little rounds.

We want them to be a little larger than the intended serving containers. I'm going with molds. And then we'll just divide our filling and cover with the crusts, wrap it in plastic wrap, and freeze it for up to three months. When it's time to reheat them, we'll bake them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes wrapped in foil, then unwrap them, brush them with a beaten egg, and bake them for another 20 minutes until golden and bubbly. There you have it folks, chicken pot pie that uses all the chicken and you can taste it in every bite, whatever that means.

I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you try it yourselves. And now I have a special announcement from the BCU. What's up guys? I'm (mumbles) I'm not Sohla El-Waylly. What's up guys? I'm Andrew Ray. - And I am Sohla El-Waylly. - Thanksgiving may be a little different this year, so on November 19, Sohla and I will be live on the BCU channel to teach you how to prepare a special dinner. - How special, you ask? Try a unique one. We used the bright flavors of Blue Moon to inspire a variety of unique and easy dishes that will liven up any Thanksgiving dinner. (laughs) - Great. - We use the bright flavors of Blue Moon to inspire a variety of unique and easy dishes that will liven up any Thanksgiving dinner. - And we want you to cook withus. - Tune in, it will be fun. - Who knows, maybe you'll learn a thing or two. (quiet music)