Chicken Pot Pie from Ad Hoc at Home

Ad Hoc is one of the restaurants in renowned chef Thomas Keller's mecca of Yountville, CA. In the fall of 2009, I had the distinct pleasure of dining at his flagship, The French Laundry, and it was the food experience of a lifetime. While it was centered around The French Laundry, our trip to Yountville was more than a little Keller-obsessed.  Besides The French Laundry, we ate at Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, and Ad Hoc. In the future, I'd like to write more about Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery.  First though, I'd like to tell you about Ad Hoc.

Ad Hoc offers a four-course meal in a casual atmosphere.  The food is delicious and is served family-style--evoking a meal served around the home dining table.  The casualness and warmth of the restaurant translates to the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook which is designed to call to mind a blackboard and is filled with cute illustrations.  The recipes are also casual, and would be perfect for a big family meal around the dining room table.

I hope plan to cook through Ad Hoc at Home. I started with the Chicken Pot Pie. I love chicken pot pie, but I rarely have it.  I find that at most restaurants the pie lacks chicken and frozen versions have chicken that is questionable, at best. I've never attempted a chicken pot pie at home because I've been intimidated by the crust. However, I've come to trust the recipes in Thomas Keller cookbooks, so I knew I wanted to give this a try.  Still, it seemed like a lot of work for the two of us for a regular meal.  I mean, real, homemade pie crust is involved here--with butter, lots and lots of real butter. So when my in-laws were coming for a visit, I decided it was the perfect time to make this:

RECIPE BRIEFING

Crust

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour (and additional for rolling

1 ¼ tsp kosher salt

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled

About 5 TBS ice water

One egg (for eggwash later)

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Add the butter and toss to coat with flour.  Use your hands or a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are no larger than peas.  Drizzle ¼ cup of the ice water over the flour and use a fork to mix it together until the dough just holds together when pinched. You may need to add the remaining TBS of water if the dough it too dry.  Knead the dough until it is completely smooth and the butter is incorporated.

Divide the dough, with one half being slightly larger (for the bottom crust) than the other. Shape each half into a 1-inch thick disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a day.

Remove the dough from the fridge.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Lightly flour the larger disk of dough and roll it out to a 13-14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick.  Turn the dough frequently and add a little flour if needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.  If the dough is too hard to roll at first, let it rest on the counter for a few minutes.  You want it cold, but roll-able.  Once rolled, transfer the round of dough onto a 9 or 10-inch pie plate and mold it into the corners and up the sides of the plate

In the same way, roll the smaller piece into a 12-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Refrigerate both doughs for 15 minutes.

Filling

1 cup ½-inch pieces red-skinned potatoes

1 ¼ cups ½-inch pieces carrots (cut on the diagonal)

1 ¼ cups ½-inch pieces celery (cut on the diagonal)

12 white pearl onions

3 bay leaves

3 thyme sprigs

24 black peppercorns

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

Place the potatoes, carrots, and onions in separate small saucepans and cover with water.  Add one bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig, and 8 (not 7 or 9! Oh, Chef Keller) to each pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain the vegetables and discard the bay, thyme, and peppercorns.  Cut the onions in half (note: the instructions do not indicate when to peel the onions. I’ve found the easiest way is to boil them in their skins and then peel them while you are halving them).  Spread the vegetables on a sheet pan.

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil.  Fill a medium bowl with ice water.  Blanche the celery for 1 to 1 ½ minutes until tender-crisp. Drain and submerge in the ice water until cold to stop the cooking.  Drain and add to the sheet pan.

Béchamel

3 TBS unsalted butter

3 TBS all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 TBS finely chopped flat leaf parsley

½ tsp finely chopped thyme

Pinch of cayenne

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Turn down the heat if needed to prevent the flour browning.  Whisk in the milk. Lower the heat to keep the béchamel at a gentle simmer. Cook, whisking frequently, until the sauce has thickened and reduced to about 2 cups, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.  Be careful to whisk along the bottom of the pan and the corners so the sauce does not burn.

Strain the sauce through a strainer to get rid of any lumps (I tend to skip this step). Season with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, and cayenne.

I’ve found that both the vegetables and the béchamel can be done the day ahead and refrigerated.  I bring the vegetables out of the fridge a few hours before I want to assemble the pot pie and gently warm the béchamel on the stove top so the filling isn’t cold going into the oven.

To Assemble the Pot Pie

Preheat the oven to 375­F.  Remove the crusts from the refrigerator.  Beat the egg in a small bowl.

Scatter the vegetables and chicken into the bottom crust. Pour the béchamel over them. Moisten the rim of the bottom crust with some of the egg. Cover the filling with the top crust and press together the edges to seal. Trim any excess crust. Brush the top crust with some of the egg.  Cut a small vent in the center of the top crust with a knife to allow steam to escape.

Bake on the lower oven rack for 50 minutes to an hour, until the crust is a golden brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut, serve, and enjoy.

THE VERDICT:  5 gavels
This chicken pot pie is delicious.  The crust is flaky and tender.  The bechamel is rich and creamy without overpowering the rest of the flavors.  Cooking the vegetables separately was worth the effort.  Each bite of the filing is a small burst of clear, clean favor.  The carrot tastes like a carrot; the celery like celery.  There is no muddling of flavors here.

The pie was a big hit with my in-laws, especially my father-in-law, who is still talking about it.  While the recipe looks intimidating and has a lot of steps, there's nothing particularly difficult about it.  Make it.