Make Ahead
by: Oui, Chef
October15,2009
4
9 Ratings
- Serves 8
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
This recipe has at it’s core, an adaptation of Jacques Pepin’s recipe for Poached Chicken (“Cooking at Home with Julia Child”), but whereas Jacques serves his chicken and veggies over a bed of rice, I have used his dish as a launching point for this “Chicken Pot Pie Provencal”. In addition to the customary peas and carrots, this version includes fennel, fingerling potatoes, haricot verts, oven roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms with mustard seeds, and a mustard velouté enhanced with fresh tarragon and thyme.
—Oui, Chef
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Jacques's Poached Chicken
- 4 poundsroasting chicken
- 6 carrots, ends trimmed, peeled
- 4 celery stalks, ends trimmed
- 1 leek, white and light green parts only
- 1 cupdry white wine
- 2 sprigstarragon
- 3 sprigsthyme
- fronds from a large fennel bulb
- 10 ouncespearl onions, peeled
- 1 tablespoonkosher salt
- 12 black peppercorns
- Chicken Pot Pie Provencal (recipe will make two 9” round by 3” deep pies, each will serve 4-6 people) If making only one pot pie, freeze 1 pastry disc and half of the filling for later use.
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces.
- 2/3 cupice water
- 1 teaspoonkosher salt
- reserved chicken
- reserved carrots
- reserved pearl onions
- 10 fingerling potatoes
- 1 large fennel bulb, quartered and roasted
- 10 ouncesbutton mushrooms, thickly sliced and sauteed
- 1/2 poundharicot verts, topped and tailed, blanched, refreshed, and chopped
- 1 1/2 cupsfrozen green peas, thawed
- 1/4 cupdiced oven roasted tomatoes (store bought)
- 1 tablespoonbrown mustard seeds
- 1/4 cupvermouth
- 6 tablespoonsbutter
- 8 tablespoonsflour
- 1 cupheavy cream
- 1 cupcreme fraiche
- 4 tablespoonsdijon mustard
- 1 tablespoonfinely chopped tarragon
- 2 teaspoonsfinely chopped thyme
- 1 egg, whisked for egg wash
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Jacques's Poached Chicken
- Place chicken in a large stockpot.
- Tie whole carrots, leek, celery, and fennel fronds into a bundle and add to the pot with the chicken. Tie tarragon and thyme together and add to the pot. Toss in the peppercorns and the pearl onions, white wine, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Fill with water to just cover the chicken, put over a high heat and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower the heat to maintain a gentle boil for 20 minutes. Raise the heat back to high, to again achieve a rapid boil, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 1 hour.
- Remove chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Remove the bundle of vegetables, discard the fennel fronds and leek, and cut the carrots and celery on the bias into bite-sized pieces, reserve.
- Skin the chicken and pull all the meat from the bones, tearing into bite-sized pieces, reserve.
- Strain the cooking liquid through a fine meshed strainer into a clean saucepan, skim any fat from the top and set over medium high heat to reduce to 4 cups of concentrated stock, reserve.
- Chicken Pot Pie Provencal (recipe will make two 9” round by 3” deep pies, each will serve 4-6 people) If making only one pot pie, freeze 1 pastry disc and half of the filling for later use.
- for the pastry crust - Place the flour into a bowl of a food processor, toss the butter on top, and pulse in short bursts until the butter is reduced to pea sized pieces. Add the salt to the water and stir to dissolve. Pour the water through the feed tube of the processor and pulse until the dough just starts to come together in a ball, you should still see some small butter chunks in the mix.
- Dump the dough out onto a well floured work surface, and divide it into two equal sized balls. Press each ball into a disc about an inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, or overnight.
- for the pot pie filling - Pre-heat the oven to 400?. Quarter the fennel bulb, and cut out the wedge shaped core. Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and place on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until nicely caramelized. Remove from the oven, roughly chop and reserve.
- Place the fingerlings in a pan of cold water to cover. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a gentle boil and cook until just cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Drain, place on a cutting board, and cut into coins. Toss in a bowl with a touch EVOO and reserve.
- Sauté mushrooms in a little olive oil with salt and pepper, until caramelized. Add mustard seeds and vermouth, and cook until all the liquid has evaporated, reserve.
- Make a roux by melting the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan, add the flour, and whisk constantly for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the 4 cups of reduced stock, whisk until smooth. Put back on the heat, add the cream and creme fraiche, and cook, whisking, until the sauce thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Whisk in the mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the minced tarragon and thyme, remove from heat to cool slightly.
- Put all filling ingredients (potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, fennel, celery, haricot verts, mushrooms, and chicken) into a large mixing bowl, add the mustard velouté and mix well. Check for seasoning, reserve.
- Whisk the egg in a small bowl.
- Pour the filling to within 1/2” of the top of a 3” deep, 8-9” round soufflé dish (or other such ramekin or earthenware vessel)
- Roll the pastry dough on a well floured surface to about 1/8” thickness.
- Brush egg wash onto the rim of the ramekin and about halfway down the outside of the dish to hold the crust in place while baking.
- Place the rolled pastry on top of the pie, allowing about 2” to drape over the edges. Press into place to adhere to the dish, cut away any excess.
- Brush the entire crust with egg wash, and cut 8 small vent slits in the top. Put the pie on a sheet tray and place in the 400? oven for 30-35 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned, and the contents are seen bubbling through the vent holes. Remove from the oven and serve with a simple green salad.
Tags:
- Pasta
- Pot Pie
- French
- Chicken
- Carrot
- Celery
- Fennel
- Leek
- Milk/Cream
- Mustard
- Pea
- Tarragon
Contest Entries
- Your Best Chicken with Mustard
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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ihaventpoisonedyouyet
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Ms. T
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Oui, Chef
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I am a father of five, who recently completed a two year professional hiatus during which I indulged my long held passion for cooking by moving to France to study the culinary arts and immerse myself in all things French. I earned “Le Grande Diplome” from Le Cordon Bleu, studied also at The Ritz Escoffier and Lenotre cooking schools, and completed the course offerings of the Bordeaux L’Ecole du Vin.About six months ago started "Oui, Chef", which is a food blog that exists as an extension of my efforts to teach my children a few things about cooking, and how our food choices over time effect not only our own health, but that of our local food communities and our planet at large. By sharing some of our cooking experiences through the blog, I hope to inspire other families to start spending more time together in the kitchen, cooking healthy meals as a family, passing on established familial food traditions, and perhaps starting some new ones.
Popular on Food52
17 Reviews
sam November 23, 2021
Made this in France, loved by all. Made into individual pies at home, they are perfect. Lesson on crust, it is in the technique and the quality of the butter. This is absolutely delicious.
Anna January 17, 2019
I cut some corners - used only chicken thighs, only let the stock rest for 40 minutes, roasted the potatoes and fennel together. And only made a half recipe. Oh, and used the Four and Twenty Blackbirds pastry (https://food52.com/recipes/24906-four-twenty-blackbirds-all-butter-crust). Still absolutely delicious.
Douglas B. December 23, 2017
soooo good I almost ate the entire pie on my own in one sitting
sam October 21, 2016
Visiting Provence. Decided to make a provencal dish. It did not disappoint. I would serve this to anyone anytime. This is delicious. Do it!
Lolo January 17, 2016
Lovely, flakey crust and the veloute really makes this dish shine.
Note to others feeling a bit intimidated by the long directions: I made this using some leftover meat and broth from a chicken I had roasted earlier in the week, and it was delicious (and a fare bit less time consuming than original recipe). I also roasted the potatoes (diced small) with the fennel, carrots and celery to save one step. Finally, I don't have a 3" soufle dish, but the full recipe fit nicely into one 9x12" baking dish.
Blue O. December 22, 2013
This is the second year in a row I am making the pie for my husband's birthday. It's a two day affair but he loves it and so does the rest of the family. So, oui, Chef, c'est tres bien! Merci
Oui, C. December 23, 2013
Ahhh...a true labor of love. So happy to hear it's a hit with your family and that it has become a birthday tradition. Happy Holidays to you and yours! - S
ntt2 February 9, 2013
Also, is it mustard or mustard seeds? Thanks, nt
ntt2 February 9, 2013
Any reason not to put all the reserved per-cooked veggies together until time for mixing with mushrooms? Thanks, nt
ihaventpoisonedyouyet August 26, 2012
Oh my god this sounds so good I don't even want to make it. I just want to read the recipe over and over and enjoy it vicariously. No one I know is nice enough to deserve something so amazing!
Ms. T. July 26, 2012
This looks amazing! Do you think it would freeze well? I'm looking for a recipe for a friend who just had a baby. Want to drop off something homemade for her freezer that she can pull out and bake for an easy dinner. I would let filling cool completely, then freeze with raw pastry on top and give her instructions to bake. Thoughts?
Oui, C. July 28, 2012
I've never frozen one, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as you put a raw dough on top. Over the years I've bought many a pot pie and cooked them from frozen with great results. I'd love to hear how it works out....good luck!
Ms. T. August 13, 2012
Wow. This was a lot of work, but totally worth it. Definitely the best pot pie I've ever tasted. Great combo of flavors and the mustard gives a unique tang to that creamy filling. The only thing I'd change is the pearl onions. After cooking them in the poaching liquid, they were too mushy to include in the filling, so I had to discard them, which made me very sad after all that peeling! Next time, I'd use a regular onion to add flavor while poaching, and then discard it. And then I'd cook pearl onions or shallots separately to add to the filling. (Perhaps roast the shallots while doing the fennel.)
I ended up making individual pot pies in ramekins. I filled the ramekins with cold filling, then put the pastry on top, wrapped them in plastic and froze them. Then baked them at 400 for 50 minutes. Perfection! I dropped 6 frozen pot pies off for my new-mother friend and kept 5 for me and my husband--everybody loved them. A new mother who is getting no sleep, and a busy working woman, we both appreciated the convenience of a homemade frozen "TV dinner" without sacrificing gourmet. Thanks for sharing!
Oui, C. August 13, 2012
I know....it's a real monster isn't it? So glad you tried it and like it. I'll bet you're the only Food52er that has taken on the challenge and lived to tell. Thanks for testing out the freezing technique, I'll be sure to be making these that way this ski season. Cheers - S
ntt2 January 19, 2012
What do you do with the second disc of dough? thanks, nt
Oui, C. January 19, 2012
you can freeze it for later use.
MrsWheelbarrow October 23, 2009
This looks like a wonderful project for a rainy afternoon. It's just mouthwatering.