Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (29 page)

I dove fork-first into a delicious chicken pot pi e. Austin, Texas, Casserole Queens Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock really know how to dress up this creamy classic comfort food and turn pot pies into a party.

Friends Crystal and Sandy have an online business specializing in delivering home-cooked meals to your door. They operate with a fun and retro style—and it’s not only the old-time favorites they serve.

Crystal and Sandy know that very few families sit down to dinner these days as they used to, and to reinforce that nostalgia, they even dress up in 1950s-style clothes, complete with funky frilly aprons, to deliver their casseroles. Sandy, a graduate of my alma mater, the French Culinary Institute, convinced her good friend Crystal to abandon corporate America and join her in this endeavor back in 2006. They’ve been happily and successfully bringing their brand of ’50s homemaker cuisine to the citizens of Austin ever since.

The Casserole Queens make more than twenty different types of one-pan wonders, but the one they are most proud of is their chicken pot pie. Underneath its buttery puff pastry crust is a filling of chicken, shallots, carrots, potatoes, and red bell peppers with a wine-enriched cream sauce. These local media darlings thought that they were going to be featured in a Food Network special called “Home Cooked,” while I planned to get things cooking with a chicken pot pie Throwdown. My mission was to get hip on everything there was to know about this American classic.

I have been making pot pies basically since I began cooking, and I’ve been serving a variation of a chicken pot pie at my restaurant Bar Americain since it opened in 2005. There are a few things that set mine apart from the classic version. First of all, I smoke my chicken before roasting it on a rotisserie. I also add sweet potatoes to my biscuit crust for their touch of sweetness and great color. Carrots, pearl onions, peas, and cremini mushrooms are all cooked in a creamy chicken gravy, neither too thick nor too thin, that gets a slightly spicy kick from just a touch of chipotle chiles.

The
Throwdown!
team trekked down to Austin, where I surprised Crystal and Sandy at their ’50s-style sock hop. Crystal was so nervous that she had to make a bathroom run, but both quickly regained their composure and accepted my challenge. Hot out of the oven, it was time to sample the pot pies. The Texas crowd was loving my dish, but would I get any of that love from the judges?

Cookbook author Rebecca Rather and Daniel Northcutt set about judging our chicken pot pies on their crusts, filling, and overall comfort factor. They tasted mine first, noting how much they loved its presentation and flaky brown crust. They immediately picked up on the smokiness of the chicken. Their only criticism was that they would have preferred a creamier sauce. Rebecca and Daniel also loved the Casserole Queens’ dish: the crust, its rich filling, and the creamy texture. It was a close one—very close—but in the end, they chose my chicken pot pie as the winning contender.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1.
To make the crust,
stir the flour, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir the egg, milk, and sweet potato puree together in a bowl. Add the mixture to the flour, and gently mix with a rubber spatula until just combined. Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface, and lightly knead until the dough just comes together. Form into a round and flatten it slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

2.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

3.
To make the filling,
melt the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and cook until thickened. Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. If the mixture is too thick, thin it with a little extra milk.

4.
Add the mushrooms, turnips, carrots, onions, peas, chicken, and chipotle, if using, to the sauce and fold gently to combine. Season the filling with salt and pepper, and stir in the parsley.

5.
Divide the dough in half, and roll each half out on a lightly floured surface until ⅛ inch thick. Invert individual heatproof bowls on the pastry sheet, and using a sharp knife, cut circles around the outside of the bowls that are slightly larger than the bowls. Fill the bowls three-quarters full with the chicken filling, making sure each serving has a nice amount of chicken, vegetables, and broth. Carefully cap each bowl with a pastry round, pressing the dough around the rim to form a seal. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season with salt and pepper. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in the center of the dough. (Alternatively, roll one large crust and use it to top a family-style pot pie in a 10-inch baking dish.)

6.
Place the bowls on baking sheets, and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 15 to 18 minutes for individual pies and 25 to 30 minutes for one large pot pie. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTE

If you would like to cold-smoke your chicken before roasting it, prepare a small charcoal or wood fire in a domed grill or in a stovetop cold smoker. Lay chips of soaked aromatic wood over the ashes. Arrange the chicken on the grill rack over the chips, open the top vent slightly, and cover the grill so that the smoke stays inside. Smoke for 20 minutes. Omit the chipotle.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2.
Combine the 2 cups milk and the cream in a bowl.

3.
Roll the puff pastry slightly, if necessary, so that it measures 9 × 13 inches.

4.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and shallots, and cook, stirring frequently, until the pepper is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, tarragon, salt, and black pepper, and stir to coat the vegetables with the flour. Add the wine and let it bubble for a minute. Raise the heat to medium-high, and stir in the milk mixture. Cook, stirring, until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken, peas, carrots, and potatoes and simmer, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes.