indulging in spontaneous comfort…

Our last post waxed philosophically about the upcoming grilling season and foreshadowed upcoming posts about creating with fire.  But then two things happened to take us off path for a short detour.

First, winter will not relent.  Far from ushering out the ice and snow, the beginning of March brought a fresh batch.  Alas, instead of glowing with the embers of a feast-making fire, the grill shivers under another blanket of ice (prompting me to yell a warning to those within range “watch out for the grill, it’s cold”).  And when folks didn’t find it humorous (or even act like they understood), I knew, we need more broth aromatherapy.

Second, at a recent dinner, Daughter-of-Boar announced that she had decided to be more spontaneous (a spontaneous proclamation of deliberate spontaneity).  Her declaration made me ponder the power of spontaneity in a particular moment and the importance of being flexible with plans.

So, the planned posts on grilling will have to wait as we are in need of a spontaneous round of indulgent, comfort food…

Chicken and Roasted Potato Pie

(think chicken pot pie but without all of the vegetables that your kids push aside)

Main Ingredients:

Pie crust (see links below)
Chicken breast meat (cubed)
Potatoes (roasted)
Onion (diced)
Chicken broth

Making the crust:

Any savory (as opposed to sweet) pie crust will work.  I tend to like the ones with lots of butter and buttermilk, like the one found here.

For the broth and chicken, I followed the same plan as I did for the cornbread dressing (for a refresher click “here”).

I peeled the potatoes and sliced them in half, lengthwise. Then I coated them with olive oil and seasoned them with a truffle & salt mixture (but any coarse salt will work). I roasted the potatoes at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes with fresh sprigs of rosemary (preparing each ingredient as though it will be the star of your feast, makes for a very tasty pie).

To make the sauce, sauté the diced onion in butter until soft (about ten to fifteen minutes).  Add flour (I used about three tablespoons) and cook for a few minutes to brown the flour. Ladle broth in gradually, whisking the mixture as you add the broth to keep it smooth. Continue adding broth until the sauce reaches your desired thickness (note that as it cooks it will continue to thicken so you may have to add broth along the way). Cook sauce for at least fifteen minutes.

To prepare the chicken for the pie, chop or shred it into bite-sized pieces. The roasted potatoes need to be diced or sliced into discs (like you would do for scallop potatoes).

Roll out the pie crust for the bottom of your pan. Grease or butter the pan. Fit the bottom crust into the pan.

Add the sliced, roasted potatoes on top of the bottom crust. Pour about half of your sauce over the potatoes. Layer the shredded chicken next and then add the remaining sauce on top.

Roll out the top crust and fit it over the pie, pinching the edges to join the top and bottom crusts. With a sharp knife, make a few slits in the center of the top crust to allow steam to escape.

Brush the top crust with egg white and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until it reaches your desired brownness (note, you can add another glaze of egg white in the last 10 to 15 minutes to enhance the color of the crust).

Indulge in a little spontaneous comfort, my friend.