Chicken Pot Pie

A very good chicken pot pie indeed, and very nearly excellent.

I love chicken pot pie, and have made various variations on the theme. My previous favourite was Mark Bittman's from How to Cook Everything. This one, save for a little seasoning, edges it out, and in fact is a different sort of beast altogether.

As I'm finding with this book, what Thomas Keller has done is taken some familiar dishes and raised them up a level using some of the techniques of a high-end restaurant, but yet not making them so complex as to be out of the range of a competent home cook.

There are two things that raise this pie up - first, the vegetables are cooked separately, with peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme, to subtly flavour them. This step, fiddly though it may be, ensures that each vegetable is cooked properly and that the texture and flavour of each vegetable is preserved rather than blending into a sort of stew like in most pot pies. Secondly, the bechamel is reduced over 40 minutes or so to make a sauce that is rich but subtle.

It does take a while - dinner was a bit late the first time I made this as I had to make pastry, cook the veggies, reduce the sauce, put it all together and then bake it. Subsequent times I have taken a few shortcuts which haven't hurt the recipe.

Now I cook all the vegetables in one pot except the celery (which I blanch) since they all have the same cooking times and it doesn't seem to muddy their flavours. I also increase the seasoning, adding some dried sage and a good shaking of cayenne for a little heat.

I recommend baking it low (I baked it on a baking stone) to crisp the lower crust. This is a double-crusted chicken pot pie that holds together, which doesn't happen very often!