Chicken Puff Pie- comfort food to the max, the puff pastry adds a special and delicious touch without the fuss of making a savory pie dough.

Oh man...this is sooo good that (unfortunately for my thighs) it has become a BBBistro favorite!

NOT only is it comfort food to the max, the puff pastry adds a special and delicious touch without the fuss of making a savory pie dough.

Let's talk chicken...you can do several things here but honestly leftover chicken is the best. I like to buy 4-6 split chicken breasts with the rib bones on. They are cheaper than boneless skinless per pound and you get the tenderloin and breast and bones which equal flavor! I fry them skin side down til golden brown then turn and braise them in lemon, herbs, white wine and chicken stock and eat one or two for dinner. Reserve the rest for your chicken puff pie stew/filling.  I've also used plain chicken breasts 90% cooked through and leftover whole roaster chicken meat.


Pie Insides 
*quarter to half white onion-finely diced
* 2 ribs celery washed and diced
*2-3 carrots peeled and diced
*1-3 cloves of garlic
*olive oil and butter 2-3 tablespoons
*kosher salt and fresh ground pepper-just a little bit. I add more later to taste.

Combine all in a heavy bottomed sauce pan or enameled cast iron over medium heat until soft.

+Add 1/4-1/2 white flour and whisk until combined. If you need to add more butter or oil you can add. You want a light, somewhat thin paste. Whisk and cook the flour taste out, about 3 minutes.

+Add your liquid for your sauce and bring up to a soft and gentle boil. Whisking to combine.
I add some white wine or leftover medium bodied beer and a few cups of water or chicken broth from a box (Imagine is a really good brand). I will later add chicken bouillon (BETTER THAN BOUILLON IS MY SECRET INGREDIENT HERE!) Costco is the best place to buy!

Whisk until it starts to thicken. Let it bubble away, cooking down the vegetables. You can add some herbage here if you want: lemon thyme, parsley, bay lea. A dash of paprika, a dash of cayenne. A leftover Parmesan rind...flavor flavor flavor tricks...

+Add 3-5 medium diced yellow potatoes. Depending on the toughness of the skin I may or may not peel.

Take out your frozen puff pastry now. Take it out of packaging and put on a silpat or cutting board. DO NOT UNFOLD YET! Preheat oven to 400-425 dF.


OK, at this point you want to bring all your ingredients to a place where the veggies are slightly tender but not mushy because you are going to cook in oven for another 30 minutes plus. I don't add the chicken, peas, anything else that is tender until right before I assemble. I also want the 'gravy' part to be thicken enough to not be too soupy or watery.  If it is too thin, you can either add a cornstarch slurry (1 tbs cold water and 1 tbs cornstarch mixed together) or if you gravy needs more richness you can make a roux and add that to the simmering innards.

Dice up your chicken into bite sized chunks and add, add a touch of milk or half and half to your gravy, turn off heat, add some frozen peas or sometimes I add frozen mixed veggies that have corn, green beans, carrots (and I just go lighter on carrots and beginning).  Taste your mixture. Need more kosher salt, bouillon, pepper, etc?

Assemblage:
You now can put it all together in a large baking dish or individual ramekins. I've also made it in Pyrex and foil lasagna bakers before too.

You are going to put a layer of puff pastry on the bottom of your dish. So gently unfold you pastry and roll it out slightly. The trick here is to handle it when it is still half frozen so it doesn't fall apart if too warm but that its defrosted enough to not crack apart. This just takes time to learn timing. :) The flaky-ness, the buttery-ness comes from COLD DOUGH!


Slap your dough on the bottom and reserve the second sheet of dough for the pretty top. Spoon your filling on top. The remaining puff pastry, you can cut with a pizza cutter into strips and lay across the filling or cut it into shapes with a cookie cutter.

Brush pastry with egg wash real fast and bake at 400-425 degrees for 30-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Eat with loved ones!