You are here

Cooking In The Parks: Chicken Pot Pie At Shenandoah National Park

Share

 

Got a hankering for the chicken pot pie they serve at the Spottswood Dining Room at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park, but can't get there this year? Here's the recipe from Chef Patrick Miller so you can make it at home.

Pie Dough

1 pound of flour

half-pound of butter, diced into quarter-inch by quarter-inch bits

4 ounces of ice cold water

Pinch of salt

Egg Wash

2 eggs

4 ounces of milk

Pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients and whisk together

Preparation

  • Place flour and butter in mixing bowl.  Using dough hook attachment start to incorporate butter into the flour on low speed.  Slowly add cold water a little at a time until dough starts to bind and form a solid mass.
  • Turn dough out on to a flour surface and knead briefly.  Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for two hours.
  • Remove dough from plastic, place on a floured surface. Using floured rolling pin roll dough out to a thickness of approximately ¼” thick.
  • Cut dough into the desired shape.  Egg wash outer edge and place over casserole.
  • Make three small incisions in top surface of pie dough to allow steam to escape, lightly brush pie dough surface with egg wash.
  • Place pie dough topped casserole on sheet tray in 350 degree oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until dough is golden brown and flakey. 

Chicken Potpie Filling

1 -- 3.5 pound chicken, washed

2-3 Bay leaves

2 teaspoons dry thyme

1 quart chicken stock

2 cups biased cut carrots

2 cups biased cut celery

2 cups pearl onions

1 cup peas

2 cups small diced potatoes, par cooked until tender, then cooled

4 ounces butter

4 ounces flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  • Place chicken in stockpot, add stock, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns. 
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until leg bone is easily pulled off.
  • Remove chicken from pot and cool in refrigerator.  Strain broth, discard solids.
  • Pick cooked chicken meat from carcass, dice into 1” cubes.
  • Heat large stockpot on moderate heat, add butter and melt.  To melted butter add pearl onions, carrots and celery.  Sauté until tender.  Add flour and stir to incorporate.  Cook for 3 minutes.
  • Add reserved broth a little at a time using a wire whisk to form a thick sauce.  Add blanched potatoes, peas and diced chicken.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.  Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Ladle pot pie into individual casseroles.  Cover casseroles with pie dough rounds that have been brushed with egg wash.  Make three incisions (air vents) and place on sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees until dough is flakey and golden brown.

Suggested wine pairing: Horton 2006 Viognier

 

Comments

How about some filling in that empty pie crust? :-0


Hmm. Is there a recipe for the filling too? I'm sure the crust is delicious, but I like a little chicken and stuff on the inside...


Quality control took the weekend off, obviously. Let me put some filling in there!


How many does this feed? I volunteer with a group that does a community kitchen and would love to bring this to the table.


And all this time I was thinking this was one of those "light" recipes.   Put filling in there and just watch the calorie count go up.  To say nothing of all that cholesterol and fat and sugar and sodium . . . .


Karen, just a rough guess, but I'd say four hungry adults...


Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.