Chicken Pie

By Sophialuc

Hands on time: 1 hour Total time: 4 hours Serves: 6

Anne Lowry doesn't like vegetables in her Chicken Pies; instead, she adds a few hard-boiled eggs to create, as Paul Simon sings, a mother-child reunion.

Nutrition:
Per serving: 618 calories (percent of calories from fat, 48), 39 grams protein, 40 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 32 grams fat (16 grams saturated), 240 milligrams cholesterol, 707 milligrams sodium.

Ingredients

• 1 (4-pound) chicken
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled butter or vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 3 eggs, hard-boiled
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Place chicken in stockpot and cover almost entirely with water. Cover pot, bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer. Cook until chicken is done, about 1 hour.
While chicken cooks, make pastry crust. Place 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2 or 3 times to blend. Add butter or shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With motor running, add 5 tablespoons water all at once; blend until mixture begins to ball. Gather dough into a ball (add a tablespoon or 2 more water if it won't), flatten into a disk, and then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until ready to use.
When chicken is done, remove from water and place in a bowl in the refrigerator until cool enough to handle. Do not discard water. When you can handle the chicken, debone. Store meat in fridge, and toss bones back into the cooking water. Bring water to a boil and cook, uncovered, for about an hour. Strain liquid, reserving about 5 cups. Pick over bones for any additional meat.
Chop meat into bite-size pieces. Peel hard-boiled eggs, chop and add to meat. Place meat-and-egg mixture in a lightly greased large casserole dish.
Return 4 cups reserved chicken broth to the stockpot over medium heat. While liquid comes to a simmer, stir 3/4 cup cold water into remaining 1/2 cup flour, mixing until smooth. Pour about half of flour paste into simmering stock, stirring constantly. After liquid returns to a simmer, stir in additional flour paste until gravy is desired thickness. Add more chicken stock if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour enough gravy over meat mixture to cover. Roll out crust to 1/4-inch thickness. Trim to the size of the casserole dish, then place over filling. Press against inside edges of dish to seal; cut a few slits in top of crust to vent.
Bake until crust is lightly browned and gravy is bubbling, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes before serving.