Nothin But a Chicken Pie

All right then. Nicole is at the NJ DMV with Duncan getting her license renewed. Shaw, momentarily asleep in the swing in the dining room, is snoring through her cold. We keep the house @ 60ºF in the winter here at the house where we live. It gets cold. We wear sweaters and put a single duraflame log in the tiny fireplace and stay forcefully cheerful, almost maniacally upbeat. We giggle self

righteously when we hear other folks complaining about the cold when their houses are turned down to 68ºF. If someone visits and says, "It's freezing in here.", I say, "No. Freezing is 32ºF. It's 60ºF. Almost twice as warm as freezing!"

If it gets absolutely unbearable, we just run out and jump in the incongruous hot tub that we own and that heats you up to 104º and keeps you warm for a good 45 minutes on your return.

I hadn't used the hot tub in awhile because it didn't seem to be in line with our our borderline poverty circumstance. How could I take something so luxurious as a hot, bubbly bath when the situation is so dire? Didn't fit. Rich people hot tub. Poor folks are cold and miserable and stay that way. I jumped in the other night when it dipped below 20º outside and realized that this was the first indulgence I had allowed in a while and that now is exactly the time to yield to this extravagance.

In my mind, I guess I was thinking, "I'll use the hot tub when I get a steady job." Silly.

Once I had submerged and was staring at Orion and the occasional jet on it's descent into relatively near Newark International, I thought, "Darn this feels good. Should have been coming out here every night. Fool. Who are you to deny yourself the pleasures that are readily available in the moment because you deem yourself not worthy in general, in some self imagined broader judgment sphere? If this thing is gone someday, Fool, you're going to be good and pissed that you didn't enjoy it while you had it. Fool." Seems to be a running theme.

Which of course leads me to Chicken Pie.

It's later in the day and Shaw may or may not be more sick than we thought. She's pretty miserable and crying long and loud at times when she usually smiles and bubbles. She has a chest full of phlegm that you can feel and hear when she breathes. Nicole called the doctor and she's going in this afternoon. We're worried because 11 week old Shaw is not covered on our insurance because we can't afford it and what is going to happen at the payment counter? Hey Joe Lieberman. Hey.

Duncan's watching some Christmas movies. He's been kind of defiant and gloomy the last couple of days. Not like him. I saw a piece in the Times the other day, a poll about how 50 % plus of out of work folks are worried that their kids are being emotionally affected in an adverse manner by their parent's unemployment. You have to wonder. Kids know everything, even if they can't express it. They know it and they feel every current that flows in a family. I know I did. I think I might be able to cheer him up with a late afternoon hot tub.

Which of course leads me to Chicken Pie.

It's later in the evening. Duncan is in bed. Shaw is fine. The doctor says she has a cold. Something nice in knowing that we are over cautious with the second child too. By the time Nicole got to the doctor's office, Shaw was completely over being miserable. In fact she was in a terrific mood. She was bubbling to every one she met, smiling, laughing, complementing them on their taste in jewelry. The doctor was like, "There's nothing wrong with her. At all." Nicole felt relieved. At the payment counter, they said, "Cigna Co pay?" Nicole said. "Sure. Yes." She paid the $25 and came home. We live to fight another day.

Which reminds me of Chicken Pie.

When I mentioned that I was stuffing a chicken into a pie in my status the other day, the response was immediate and visceral. I believe people like to hear two things in life. They like to hear "Chicken", and they like to hear "Pie" put them together and there is a definite Gestalt phenomenon. This was a little labor intensive, but definitely worth it and made us food drunk with the awareness that the whole was indeed greater than the sum of it's chicken parts.

CHICKEN PIE (Adapted from Ina Garten)

1 whole chicken (3.5 to 6 lbs.)
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 bunch green onions
Kosher Salt
Pepper
5 cups chicken stock
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups chopped yellow onions
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups diced carrots, blanched for two minutes
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Pastry:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold butter diced
1/2 cup to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Kosher Salt and cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Rub Dijon mustard all over chicken and rub salt in the cavity. Stuff bunch of green onions in the cavity, truss, and roast for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Remove meat from bones and carcass and discard skin. (Save bones and carcass for stock.) Cut or shred the chicken into bite size pieces.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. 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 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the chicken, carrots, peas, and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor on the dough setting. Add the shortening and butter and mix. Pulse until well mixed. With the motor running, add the ice water and process until it comes together. Dump the dough 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 375ºF.

Divide dough in half. Roll dough out flat and cover the bottom of a large pie mold with 1 to 2 inches of overhang. Roll out another piece for the top crust. Pour filling into pie and lay top crust over. Fold overhang and crimp. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make slits in the top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown and the filling bubbling hot.