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Bourbon-Sage Chicken Pot Pies

  • Author: Cooking Up Romance
  • Prep Time: 135
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 180
  • Yield: 4

Description

A truly decadent chicken pot pie worthy of an O’Kane.


Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1/4 cup bourbon, cold
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water

For the filling

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • salt & pepper to taste (I used 2 teaspoons salt & 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but I use unsalted homemade chicken stock so you may need more salt)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 small russet potato, peeled and chopped
  • 3 sprigs sage, minced fine

Instructions

For the crust

  1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until crumbs start to collect into clumps, about 15 seconds (there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
  2. Sprinkle bourbon and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.
  3. Divide dough into two balls, one slightly bigger than the other and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

For the filling

  1. Poach the chicken breasts. Put the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover almost to the top with water. Heat to a boil, then partially cover and turn down the heat until simmering. Cook for 12 minutes or until chicken juices run clear when pricked with a fork. Drain and and set chicken aside until cool enough to handle.
  2. In the same pan (no need to clean), melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup flour a bit at a time, whisking constantly. Allow to cook, still whisking, for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Whisk in chicken stock, making sure no lumps form. Whisk in milk. Return to heat and allow to cook until bubbles start to form and slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in bourbon. Chop up chicken and return to pan with sauce.
  3. In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add carrots, parsnip, potato and onion. Cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, until onion is softened. Add sage and cook an additional 30 seconds. Add vegetables to chicken mixture.
  4. Preheat the over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  5. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and, starting with the slightly larger ball, roll out on a floured surface, about 20″ by 20″. Turn one of your pot pie pans face down on the dough. Cutting about 3/4″ of an inch away from the edge of your pot pie pans (I just eyeballed this). Repeat three more times and set aside with wax paper in between each circle.
  6. On a refloured surface, roll out the remaining dough and cut exactly around the edge of a pot pie pan, about 16″ by 16″. Repeat three more times.
  7. Press larger dough circles into pans, letting excess overhang the edge. Fill each pan with 10-12 ounces of the filling (this will somewhat depend on how large your chicken breasts and vegetables were and how much your sauce reduced while cooking–just try to make it pretty even). Top with smaller dough circles and crimp the edges together, rolling the excess in toward the center of the pan to create a good seal. Prick the top of each pie with a fork to let steam escape and place on a cookie sheet.
  8. Bake pot pies for 40-45 minutes until crusts are golden brown. (FYI, I took these out of their pans for photos, but I don’t recommend that. They kinda…collapsed. Just leave them in the pan for serving.)