As per usual, I saw this lovely piece of work made on America's Test Kitchen a while back. Of course, I set my mind to actually constructing it. That took a while. Mainly, fear held me back. Fear of making my own pie crust. Fear of royally screwing this up, though, it's got so very few ingredients, it's kinda hard to screw it up. Be warned, however, this is an IMMENSELY labor-intensive recipe. And while I am certain it won't take you the 4.5 hours it took me (because I get distracted easily and go do other shit)....it will take at least 2 hours, if not a bit more. Check out the pics and then see ALL the way down at the bottom for my final, verbose thoughts!
I won't be going into finite detail, as you can check out the more than worthy and well-explained details for the recipe by clicking that big linkie right up there. For now, keep reading and see how big a mess I can make!
Look MA, I made a holy mess! But I also made PIE CRUST!
Chicken grosses me out. Especially the bone-in variety. Disgusting. I did have to waver from the recipe and use a skillet, because I do not OWN a large dutch oven. The dutch oven I do have is smaller in circumference than the skillet. So yeah. But it worked fine.
I think I fried these puppies for about 25 minutes total. See, told you I get distracted.
Reserved fat. I used way more than one TBS because of the large skillet surface. C'est la Vie
Shredding the beasts. Gross. Disgusting. Picking out the yucky parts takes a while, but it's worth it.
The P-S de Resistancccccccccccce. This gravy is THE BOMB! I think it tops my mom's pan-fried-chicken-gravy, not by much, but it's a bit smoother and a lot less fatty than her version. Keeping in mind, this is never, ever, EVER going to be a healthy recipe. Ever. Get over it. Eat it. Work out next week.
Look MA...I actually FORMED pie crusts. I just tore out a very wide piece of parchment paper, folded it over the first crust and laid the second on top and then covered the sheet with plastic wrap. Saves space and wrap. I was just tickled that I got this far!! Pillsbury ain't got NOTHIN' on this crust!
This is my very expensive Pampered Chef pie plate/pan/dish. I used it one other time....the only time I ever made an official Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family. Some 7-8 years ago. It however, is worth the investment. Nothing sticks. I don't know why, or how, but nothing sticks. That rocks.
I have to admit, I probably should've used a smaller pie plate. But the apparent (to me) volume of shredded chicken was very deceptive, thus I thought I would need a bigger vessel. I was wrong. I put the crust in, then trimmer around the outer edges, fairly close to the edge of the plate. If you want a magical, metric fuqueton of crust, however, use it ALL! Who cares?
This is the picture that results when you fling a piece of cut crust, it lands directly on the picture button and takes a selfie. Yes, I said selfie. Puke. Couldn't repeat it if I tried. The word or the deed.
See, I way overestimated the amount of chicken bits...they barely reached the top....so a shallower pan is recommended.
Covered it up and cut the top crust a little bit wider than the bottom for tuckage purposes.
All went well, under the able-nosed direction of the trusty, flour-freckled kitchen supervisor. Note the tail-wagging approval directly above his pointy lil head.
There she is. I like to call my crust forming skills "rustic". At this point, I didn't care WHAT it looked like, I was STARVING. Have a snack while you're making this...it will tide you over.
I must say...is THIS not GORGEOUS? I am so proud that I made an entire pie, even if it contains meat, from scratch. Thank you Test Kitchen. Thank you!!!
Plated and ready to devour.
So, you can see, it KINDA almost looks like the Test Kitchen's finished product. Kind. A. What really matters though, is that my beloved was so impressed that he ate not one, but TWO pieces last night when he got home from work. Probably not the best meal to serve an hour before bed, but again, C'est la Vie.
Ok, so here are my thoughts. Overall, it kicked ass. HOWEVER, and here's the big one, I do know that in the future, if I ever attempt to make it again, I am going to sub all that bone-in chicken for good ol' reliable chicken boobs. There is just something about me and my palate that doesn't agree with chicken thighs. That, and it will be entirely less disgusting to shred boobs than picking meat and other gross bits off of bone. I never really looked, but I wonder if you can get boneless boobs with skin still on? I shall have to investigate.
Oh, and I totally forgot to add the half and half, even though it took me two weeks to remember to BUY it, when the recipe directed me to do so...SOOOOOOOOOOO I added it at the end. Still the same great flavor. I would probably also make MORE gravy and freeze some, just because the gravy is the real star...hand in hand with the crust. I also think I should have added about another 1/2 cup of gravy to the chicken before putting it in the pie, because it did fall apart upon cutting. Today, of course, it's set up, but right after cooking it kind of tumbles out the crust. No biggie, chicken chews whether it's contained or running freely about the plate.
The crust was divine and now I will have to consider what else I can use it with.
And again, this is in no way, shape, form or thought, a HEALTHY meal. It's just not. It never will be. It's a guilty pleasure, one that should be consumed maybe once or twice a year. Just go for it and enjoy it. It's a very heavy, heavy, dense, rich recipe. I think a pie this size would serve 6-8 people just fine, along with a salad and nothing else. It's THAT hearty, it WILL fill you up, even in smaller portions.
Go forth and rock your chicken!
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