From Dish Paige!:

Every year my parents get me a present for Valentine’s Day, and depending on their availability, either one or both of them take me out to lunch as well. It’s sweet and I love it, and it doesn’t at all underscore the fact that I’ve never actually had anyone to celebrate the holiday with and that I’m going to grow old and die alone and it’s all Hallmark’s fault anyway because no one really cares about Valentine’s Day except for people who are single because, again, Hallmark designed this thing to sell chocolates to people who never thought they were lonely until a commercial told them so. Or err….
So last year my parents got me a set of 4 heart-shaped Le Creuset ramekins for the occasion, and I figured the best thing to do with them was make some mini Pot Pies.
To make the dough, I used my old stand-by recipe, which you can find here.


For the filling:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
1 three pound chicken
4 cups chicken broth
4 oz. pearl onions, peeled and sliced in half
5 oz. red potatoes, washed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3 small/medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
2 small/medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
5 oz. (e.g. half a box) frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup milk
a few sprigs of thyme
salt & pepper
1 large egg
Directions:
Place the chicken and stock in a medium pot and add just enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through – about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, if you’re making your own dough, now would be a good time to do it! Then, peel/chop/slice your veggies. If you’re not making your own dough – well how about writing some haikus in the meantime?
Once the chicken is done, transfer it to a plate and set aside until it’s cool enough to handle. Strain 1 1/2 cups of the stock into a measuring cup and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the butter in a large skillet or a medium pot (whatever), and add the potatoes, carrots, onions and turnips and cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies begin to brown. While keeping an eye on the veggies, remove the skin and bones from the chicken and shred the meat into bite-size pieces. There will be more chicken then you actually need, but I’m sure you can figure out a use for the leftovers!
Once the veggies have browned, and a few sprigs of thyme to the pan and give it a stir or two. Next, add the flour and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Add the reserved chicken stock and milk and bring to a simmer. Cook the mixture until it’s thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Stir in about 3/4 of the chicken you shredded (or more or less depending on how much you want in your pot pies), and salt & pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough (if you’re making one big one make one big circle, if you’re making individual ones, make four little circles) and transfer to your vessel(s), leaving about 1 inch of dough hanging over the sides. Carefully spoon the filling into the dough. Then, roll out the remaining dough in the appropriate size, place on top of the filling and pinch everything together so it sticks the top to the bottom and it looks pretty. Use a knife to make a few slits into the center of the pie. Beat 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water, and bush the top of the dough with the glaze. Sprinkle with sea-salt and then bake on a baking sheet until the dough is golden brown. If you’re making individual pot pies, they’ll take about 30-40 minutes. A large pot pie will take about 45-60 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.







2 tbsp olive oil (or so)
Heat olive oil on high in a heavy bottom stock pot.