Chicken Pot Pie Patrol

Many people are chasing the perfect chicken pot pie recipe. I do not think I have found it, but I think I know what some of the elements will be.

It will not have red bell peppers in it, even in the smallest quantities. Bell peppers and cream sauce smell like the airplane food of my childhood.

It will use dark and white meat. Recipes I reviewed which used only chicken breasts seemed to get low scores from other internet foodies. I think a rich dish like this needs the dark meat for its flavor and moisture. The chicken breast parts in these were stringy and dry.

In fact, maybe my primary issue was the chicken. I’m tired of chicken. I can barely finish a chicken breast if it is put before me, and I never willingly subject myself to one. If only it had dawned on me to make turkey pot pies a couple of weeks ago when we were rather long on turkey …

I used the recipe from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather of the Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Fredericksburg. The pastry, however, wouldn’t come together. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong, so I punted and made the Tartine flaky tart dough I know I can make, and it worked just fine.

I found myself wondering, however, if the crust could have more flavor, perhaps some herbs. I think that would help.

I’ll share a recipe once I find a way to tweak it to make it more flavorful. My guests enjoyed it, so I don’t mean to imply it was awful, it just wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be.

The awesome lion’s head bowls totally made it a more enjoyable experience. These bad boys looked awesome at the table.