Chicken Pot Pie
From Cooks Illustrated – The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition

Serves 6

1 I totally cheat and use Trader Joe’s Pre-made Pie Dough – short on time…my mom would never have done this, but it works! Real pie crust is the bomb, this is a good runner up
1 Rotisserie Chicken (Costco for me – again, short on time)
2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 1/2 Tbl Vegetable Oil
1 Medium – Large Onion
3 Medium Carrots, peeled and cut cross wise 1/4 inch thick
Salt & Ground Pepper
4 Tbl Unsalted butter
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
3 Tbl Dry Sherry
3/4 Cup Frozen Peas – Optional
3 Tbl Minced Fresh Parsley Leaves

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until just tender, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  While vegetables are sauteing, shred the meat into bit size pieces.  Transfer cooked veggies to a bowl with the chicken and set aside.

2. Heat the butter over medium heat in the now empty pan.  When foaming subsides, add the flour, cook about 1 minute.  Whisk in the chicken stock, the milk and the thyme. Bring to a simmer until the sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute.  Season with salt & pepper to taste and stir in the Sherry.

3. Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture and stir to combine.  Stir in the peas and parsley.  Adjust seasonings.  (The mixture can be covered and refrigerated overnight; reheat before topping with pastry.) Pour mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan or shallow baking dish of similar size. (or 6,  1 oven proof ramekins.)  Top with desired pastry.  Bake until pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 30 minutes for the large pot pie, 20-25 for the smaller pies.  Serve hot.

** Note – I like to bake this in individual ramekins for casual dinner parties, but the bowls are too hot for kids – better to make one big on and serve separately.