Chicken Potpie and Banana Splits

(taken from "Comfort Food" by Rick Rodgers - Williams Sonoma)

It's starting to get warm in Wisconsin, so it's last call for hearty dishes like chicken potpie. (Oh, who am I kidding, I make unseasonal meals all the time.) This was another first for me. I didn't really have the right pot, so the crust fell in and didn't cook as well as it might have. But the filling was very good. Here's the deal:

CRUST
Flour, 2 1/2 cups
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp, chilled
Vegetable shortening, 3 tbsp, chilled
Ice water, 1/2 cup

Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into chunks and scatter over the flour mixture. Mix the butter and shortening into the flour mixture just until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs.

Pour the ice water over the flour mixture and toss it together with a form until the dough forms moist clumps.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

FILLING
You can do this while the dough is chilling. The recipe calls for dividing all of this into smaller ramekins - I just made it all in a big dutch oven - which is maybe why the crust fell in. In any case...

6 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 pound quartered mushrooms
1 cup chopped leeks, white and green parts
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 cup peas
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp flour
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup dry sherry
2 tbsp tarragon, minced
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (from purchased rotisserie, if you want)
Salt and pepper
Crust from above
1 egg

In a large frying pan, melt 1 tbsp of the butter over medium. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until they start to brown. Then stir in the leeks and carrots, cover, and cook, stirring from time to time until the leeks are tender. Remove from heat and stir in the peas.

In another large saucepan, melt the rest of the butter (5 tbsp, gasp) over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and let it bubble for about a minute. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock and sherry and then the tarragon. Bring it to a boil, whisking. Stir in the chicken and the veggie mix and season with salt, pepper. Let it cool (they suggest an hour, if you have it).

Preheat the oven to 400 and place the filling in an oven-proof container - I used a dutch oven.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, then roll out the dough until it's about 1/8 in thick. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt. Lightly brush the dough with the egg, then place the crust over the dutch oven with the filling in it, removing extra crust if needed. Make sure the crust is taught and sticking to the edges of the dutch oven. Lightly brush with the egg. Pop it in the over until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Done!


Er, luckily we worked out today. We finished this off with banana splits, which Joef taught me how to make:

1 banana
3 scoops vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream to taste
Hot fudge to taste

(One could make one's own whipped cream and hot fudge - but we'll do that another night.)

Split the banana in half, position it around the ice cream, top with fudge and finish with whipped cream.