I made chicken pot pies tonight, Larry’s request. This recipe is from Liberty Cafe, a restaurant in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco. I’ve had the pot pies and Liberty Cafe, and I think they’re excellent – better than any I’ve ever made. These take time. The dough for the top is a rough puff pastry, and it’s kind of difficult to work with. The filling is relatively easy – roast a whole chicken with the vegetables, and use the pan drippings to make a gravy for the filling.
These freeze nicely. Tonight I made five pies (the recipe calls for six, but Larry thought they were a little small last time, although I couldn’t finish mine tonight). I put two right into the oven for dinner, and I put the rest into coated paper ceral bowls. The cereal bowls work great. The pies can come straight out of the freezer and into the oven and the paper bowls don’t burn.
A couple of years ago, Hilary and I spent an entire day making pot pies. We tripled the recipe and froze a bunch of them. It’s a good rainy-day activity.