More from the $17 Chicken: Pot Pie & Pho

my favorite pie plate, from artist Miranda Thomas, who also made our dinnerware

It's snowing here. 7am. I'm getting ready to head to NYC to meet good friends for a long weekend. I have a list of 50 restaurants I'd like to visit. I won't get to all of them, but I'm willing to try.

Before I leave, I wanted to get the pot pie recipe out. After all, if you've roasted that chicken, you're now looking at leftovers. First, let's talk about my theory of pot pie. I'm a huge pot pie fan. (My sister in law practically turns green and gags when you mention it, but for me, it's the ultimate comfort food.)

While pot pies that are all meat, a little creamy gravy, and a flaky crust are delicious, I'm thinking healthy now. I picture a dinner plate - 30% animal protein and 70% veggies - and build a pie with the same ratios. And I omit the cream. Sad, but true.

Pot pie can be made with meat or poultry, or even all vegetables. One of Dennis' favorites is a pot pie with mushrooms, barley and chickpeas and a biscuit crust. (Typing that has made me want to make it NOW.)

After Thanksgiving, I made this Turkey Pot Pie with Cheddar Biscuits. It was fantastic.

So, when I started to think about how far I could stretch the $17 chicken, pot pie was a given. At the end of Dinner #1, I had made 8 cups of stock and I had two cups of cubed and shredded chicken meat to work with. To make the stock, I added to the $17 chicken, two onions, 3 carrots and celery tops. Let's call that another $3. So we're up to $20 for dinner for two.

Adding 4 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1/3 of a bag of frozen pearl onions, a handful of frozen peas, some herbs and a pie crust (for me, that means homemade, but I won't tell if you choose a store-bought one) is another $10. or so. And I still had 6 cups of stock and 1/2 cup of chicken left over.
Dennis loved the pie. We had it for dinner, lunch the next day, and then he had the last piece for lunch the day after that. So far, the $17 chicken had provided several meals.

Add another $7 for kale and cellophane noodles, and I will make Pho from this stunning Food52 recipe from Dr. Winnie. (I'll admit, I froze the last of the stock and the meat, as we'd just had enough chicken at that point.)

That's three meals for two, plus a couple of leftover lunches. And that's the end of my poultry tales.

Off to New York today to meet friends, I am going without computer (!!!) but I'll be back next week. Have a wonderful weekend.

that is one cute dog in the corner

Chicken Pot Pie

Pie crust
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, cubed and cold
1-1/3 c flour
1/4 c ice water

Cut the butter into the flour (or pulse in the food processor). Stream in water and stir/pulse just until the dough comes together. Form into a disk and chill for at least an hour.

Pot pie

2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls olive oil
12 peeled, frozen pearl onions
pinch sugar
4 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
3 Tbls flour
3 Tbls unsalted butter
2 c chicken stock
1-1/2 c cubed and/or shredded chicken
1/2 c frozen petite peas
Salt & Pepper to taste

Add butter and olive oil to a saute pan and heat to shimmering. Add pearl onions and sugar and cook, stirring, until the onions are well caramelized.
Add the carrots, celery and Herbes and cook until just softened.
Into a pretty pie plate, layer the chicken, veggies and peas (don't cook the peas ahead.)

In the same pan, heat butter and flour, stirring over medium heat until it darkens a little, making a nice roux. Add the stock, heat to a boil, taste and correct for seasoning, and pour this nice mixture over the chicken and vegetables.
Roll out the pie crust and put in on the yummy filling, decoratively pinching the edges and cutting a vent (or a hole) for steam to escape.
Pop into a 425 oven for 15 min. and finish at 375 for 45 minutes more.

Note: Sometimes, I make individual pies for the freezer. Such a treat to find on that day you just do not want to cook.