Hot In Little Rock

The other evening some friends commented to our spouse that there were a lot of pots and pans hanging from the kitchen ceiling.  “Oh, he collects those things,” she responded.  If confession is truly good for the soul, then we confess.  Our most recent addition was four, individual enamel-over-cast iron pots with lids.  Eager to put them to use in this chilly weather, we decided on good, old fashioned, chicken pot pie.

Roast chicken is a winter favorite, and we had some in the refrigerator.  (It had been roasted, by the way, in another, huge enamel-over-cast iron roaster.  Perhaps the collection is getting out of hand.)  We cut the chicken into bite size pieces.  Then we diced half an onion, 8 mushrooms, three stalks of celery, and cut two carrots into coins.  We placed the vegetables into a pot into which we had melted a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil.  When sautéed until just tender we added 2 tablespoons of flour and stirred until it was cooked.  Next we added some chicken broth and a bit of white wine and stirred until the mixture thickened.  Salt, pepper, and a touch of cream finished the filling, which we spooned into each of the four individual pots.

We took some pie crust, which we had defrosting in the fridge (always make more than you need and freeze the rest for times just like this), rolled it out, cut rounds and placed them on top so that they covered the pot.  We pressed them down, washed the tops with egg, and cut a small slit into each one.  We baked these for about 35 minutes or until the tops were golden.

We paired the pot pies with a 2007 Russian River Chardonnay.  We wanted a wine that would complement without competing and this was a good choice.  The nose seemed to flower with notes of pear and citrus.  On the palate there was the roundness of butter caramel and what tasted like apple that had been slightly roasted.  There was just enough acid to balance the creaminess of the pie filling.

We’re probably finished collecting pots and pans for a while…or at least for today.  But if you see something really interesting…..