One day I just know I’ll be palling around New England with Ina, popping into small specialty grocery stores to buy “good dijon mustard,” it’s for sure my destiny. Until then I’ll keep rocking her recipes, but let’s keep the fact that I use store bought (GASP) chicken stock between us bloggers. One night I told Dave to pick whatever he wanted for dinner and he landed on this – excellent choice, it was yummy, especially on a cold Chicago day. A bit labor intensive, but you could definitely do some prep the day before to make it easier. I altered this recipe, but here is the original.

Ingredients:
*Supposedly this recipe fills “4 bowls” – we used 6 ramekins and had practically double the filling left. If I make it again, I would cut the filling recipe in 1/2.
Filling:
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on (I just used 6 chicken breasts not on the bone)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
1 cup celery
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas with pearl onions(2 cups)
2 tbs fresh thyme
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Rub chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper – roast for 35 to 40 minutes until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then cut the chicken into large dice. In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large dutch oven melt the butter and saute the onions and celery over medium heat until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce – simmer over low heat for 1 more minute stirring until thick. Add 2 tsps salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and heavy cream. Add chicken, carrots, peas, parsley and thyme. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder (we used a kitchen aide mixer). Add shortening and butter, mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls (I used 6 regular sized ramekins). Divide the dough out according to how many servings you are making and roll each piece into a circle that will cover the top of the dish. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.