All good recipes start with butter.

Ok, not all, but most.

The weather in Brooklyn as of late has felt more like fall than end of summer. This has caused my roommate and I to crank up the oven on occasion in hopes of a hot meal. He has been particularly keen on baking frozen gourmet pot pies, and was so excited about his pot pie one night he urged me to pick one up at the store the next time I was there.

There are times that I stand in the frozen food aisle of the grocery staring through the frosted glass and dreaming of a pot pie, a spicy enchilada, or a single serving of macaroni and cheese. I stand and look wistfully at the enticing pictures on the box but deep in my heart I know it will not taste nearly as good as I hope. So I close my eyes, turn, and march on gathering the rest of my groceries.

This week I decided I've endured enough pot pie abstinance and set out to make my own. A real pot pie. Made in a pot. Ok, in a casserole dish, close enough.

I figured Fanny Farmer would be the place to find a good old fashioned chicken pot pie recipe, but alas there was no such thing under "pot pie". Then I thought to look under chicken, for I think the woman has a whole chapter of things to do with chicken and was sure there had to be a recipe to glean from. Sure enough, under "chicken pie" there it was. I guess hers wasn't made in a pot either.

It was, in fact, easier than I anticipated. Granted I made my pie dough earlier in the week at work. Still the assembly was quick and the pie was delicious! I have just added a new dish to my winter reportoire and I can't wait to make it for a couple friends who are expecting babies in the near future. I imagine it would be great "new parents" food for those times where you are exhuasted and starving and there is not a crumb to be had.

The following is a good rainy day project, although I made it on a perfectly good, somewhat sunny day, the cool temperature and breeze was all the inspiration I needed for this warming dish. I realize it is a little involved because it calls for making pastry, but this is why a rainy day is ideal. For really, what else do you have to do than stay indoors and piddle about the kitchen? Or, if you are really on top of things you can prepare your pie dough in advance and pull it out of the fridge or freezer when the mood strikes.

Fanny's recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken and vegetables stirred into a bechamel-like sauce, covered with pastry or biscuit dough and baked. I wanted to save a couple steps by not individually pre-cooking my vegetables and went a different route.

First I poached my chicken in lightly salted water. As it cooled in order to be cut, I made my bechamel and then tossed in all my vegetables and cooked them gently in the sauce until they were al dente. Together the cubed chicken and sauce went into a casserole and were hidden under pastry, although I like the idea of biscuits on top and plan to try that next time. Into the oven for a mere 30 minutes and voila! A homemade pot pie! Puts my roommate's little store-bought pie to shame . . .

Chicken Pot Pie

1 recipe of The Best Pie Dough (below)

2 or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 small carrots, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 yukon gold potato, peeled and diced

3/4 c frozen peas

1 1/2 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, minced

1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves

salt and pepper to taste

6 Tbsp butter

1/4 c plus 2 Tbsp flour

2 c chicken broth

1 c heavy cream

Prepare pie dough and place in the fridge for at least 90 minutes to chill.

In a small pot place chicken and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt, cover and cook over medium low until cooked through. Remove and let cool.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large skillet melt the butter, add the onion and cook just until tender. Sprinkle in the flour and stir. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Slowly add cream and broth while whisking so it stays creamy and doesn't lump. (I only had 1 cup of chicken broth and 3/4 c. cream on hand so I made up for the rest of the liquid with water from poaching the chicken.) Once it is creamy add your remaining vegetables and cook over low until al dente. They don't need to be fully cooked, but they do need to be somewhat soft. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and parsley. Cube cooked chicken and combine with the sauce. Pour into a 3 quart casserole dish and set aside.

Roll your pastry out on a floured surface so it is large enough to drape over the sides of the casserole. Fold it in half, brush off any excess flour and transfer to top of baking dish, then unfold. Trim off any excessively long portions of dough. Fold the edge under and crimp. The edge of your crust should be inside the walls of your casserole, not on the rim. Brush with a little egg beaten with a pinch of salt. Cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Pop in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Best Pie Dough

This really is the best pie dough recipe I've found in my years of baking. It is from a little cookbook out of the Northwest called the Alice Bay Cookbook.

1 1/3 c all purpose flour

1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

1/4 - 1/3 c water

Cut butter into 1/2" pieces. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Place all ingredients in the freezer for about 15 minutes. If you have a food processor I recommend using it as it makes this dough a breeze. If not you can cut the butter in with a pastry cutter or two knives.

Pulse flour, salt, and butter until the butter is in small pieces, about the size of a lentil. (I know other recipes say "the size of a pea" but I actually think that is a little too big.) Drizzle in water as the food processor is running just until the dough begins to clump and move around the bowl. If you are doing it by hand pour in a little water, mix with a fork, pour a little more, etc. You just want the dough to come together into a ball without over working it. It will be easier to roll out if the dough is slightly wet and tacky as opposed to dry and crumbly. Cutting the butter in sufficiently will also help in bringing the dough together with less water.

Flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes or up to 3 days. If you plan to make it further in advance just wrap it well and throw it in the freezer. Pull it out a few hours before you want to use it and thaw in the fridge. You want the dough to be cold when you roll it out. Yields 1 single crust pie.