French-Inspired Chicken Pot Pie

by Taylor Klingler

Event Team

My mom was gone a lot, so she didn’t do much cooking. As a kid, I lived mostly on frozen meals, sandwiches, that kind of thing. I made a lot of ramen noodles, but that was about the height of my cooking expertise.

When I was dating my husband, I warned him, “Just so you know, I’m not a good cook.” He grew up being comfortable in the kitchen, so he thought everyone could do it. I don’t think he believed me until he saw me try to cook. Then he became a believer.

But after I began working at Culinary Crafts, I started getting interested in cooking for the first time. I would watch how Back of House prepared dishes and made them look and smell amazing. I started stealing little tricks for things to try making at home and ways to make them look good. I also got ideas from Pinterest.

Chicken Pot Pie that Doesn’t Suck

One of the dishes I tried was something my mom used to make: chicken pot pie. I love all the ingredients of chicken pot pie, but when they’re put together the traditional way, they never really did it for me. I think the problem is the crust. The flaky part on top doesn’t have much flavor, and the crust at the bottom just turns into a soggy mess that I scrape off. Basically, the crust just seems like a messy way to hold in the filling.

But this French-Inspired Chicken Pot Pie (which I got from Beverly Weidner in Pinterest) doesn’t have that problem. The crust is all on top, so there’s no soggy flour on the bottom to scrape away. Plus, it’s fun to play with different shapes for the crust and make it look fantastic. I’ve made it 8 or 9 times now, and my husband would swear that, if he didn’t know better, he’d say I’m a real cook!

Confession: the first time I made this was the first time I have ever used tarragon.

French-Inspired Chicken Pot Pie

(serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
½ cup peas, frozen
2 shallots, large
1 tbsp tarragon
1 egg, beaten
2 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp flour
salt and freshly ground pepper, coarse
2 tbsp olive oil, extra-virgin
2 puff pastry sheets, cut into any fancy designs you want
3 tbsp butter
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup dry white wine

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large cast iron skillet, heat the oil over medium high. Add the shallots, carrots, and celery. Sauté about five minutes, until they start to soften and brown. Season with a pinch of course salt. Move the veggies out and cover to keep them warm.
Back in the skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it’s foaming, add the flour and whisk until it’s smooth and becomes a golden brown color, 30 seconds to a minute. Then add the white wine and chopped tarragon. Let it bubble while you whisk another 30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt and gently pour in the chicken stock, whisking as it becomes a smooth sauce. Once all the stock is in, pour in the heavy cream and whisk another 30 seconds.
Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for ten minutes. Taste again to see if it needs more salt.
Add the vegetables, chicken, peas, and parsley. Stir thoroughly. Make sure you don’t overfill the skillet or it will boil over when you cook it.
Arrange the puff pastry shapes on top of the pot pie, overlapping in places. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and bake 30-40 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown and lightly puffed.
Let it rest 10 minutes, then serve family style with another sprig of fresh tarragon on top.