Let me start by saying that I love everything to do with Cooks Illustrated. Our TiVo has season passes for both ATK and Cook’s Country. We have subscriptions to both Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazine as well as an online subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. I follow Christopher Kimball and America’s Test Kitchen’s Twitter feeds. Finally I own the The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook: Every Recipe from the Hit TV Show, 2001-2011
I’ve made many dishes from these publications, for instance Cook’s Country Best-Ever Hot Cocoa Mix I made a couple weeks ago. Today’s dish: Cook’s Illustrated: Chicken Pot Pie w/ Savory Crumble Topping
(Traveler Bill’s Test Kitchen does not publish unadapted recipes without permission, and we’re too lazy to get permission. However, you can get the recipe at the Cook’s Illustrated website. While the site does require a subscription, it can be accessed with a free trial. That said, you can’t go wrong with a subscription. -Traveler Bill)
Assemble your ingredients
Ingredients for the pot pie filling. Front Row - L-R butter, lemon juice, frozen peas. Second Row - Salt, fresh ground pepper, parsley minced, tomato paste, soy sauce Third Row - vegetable oil, onions, carrots, celery, milk Back Row - Chicken, chicken broth, mushrooms, milk Not Pictured - Flour
For the crumble top Front Row L-R - Cream, Parmesan cheese, butter Second Row - flour, baking powder, (salt, pepper, cayenne powder)
Simmer the chicken in the broth
Meanwhile, start the crumble topping
To the flour add baking powder, salt, pepper and cayenne
And the butter
Combine the butter with the flour mixture with your fingers
Mix in the Parmesan cheese
Stir the cream into the dry ingredients
Crumble the dough on a sheet pan covered with parchment.
Pull the crumble when its starting to brown.
Reserve the chicken
And the broth
Shred your chicken
Simmer the vegetables
Reserve the vegetables with the shredded chicken
Simmer the mushrooms
Reserve the mushrooms with the chicken and vegetables
Then make a roux
Be sure to scrape the brown bits. All good cooks are FOND of the brown bits.
Slowly whisking in the chicken stock and the milk
Stir in the remaining ingredients with the reserved chicken and veggies
Pour into an oven safe dish and heat on a lipped tray
Serve to your sweetie with a Shirley Temple and a Splayd
Conclusions:
I have yet to come across a recipe from any of the various entities of Test Kitchen that was a stinker. And this was no exception. It tasted exactly like a pot pie should. EXACTLY LIKE POT PIE! Do yourself a favor and give it a try. It really hits the spot on a cold weekend afternoon.
UPDATE! It is still delicious three days later.
