Chicken pot pie is the perfect winter comfort food, but at City Landing in Boston, Chef Bill Brodsky is deconstructing this delicious dish!
Ingredients:
— 2 Tbl Canola Oil
— 12 each Boneless Chicken Thighs, skin on
— 2 Tbl Meat Glue, Activa RM Transglutaminase
— 3-4 each Chicken Breast, Boneless & Skinless, Pounded
— 2 Tbl Chopped Herbs, Parsley, Chive & Tarragon
— 2 tsp Salt
— 1/2 tsp Pepper
— 15 each Baby Carrots
— 12 each Baby Beets
— 12 each Brussels Sprouts, Quartered
— 12 each Fingerling Potatoes, Par Cooked
— 1 sheet Frozen Puff Pastry
— 1 each Egg Yolk
— 1 tsp Black Pepper
— 1/2 tsp Salt
Procedure:
1. Pound the chicken breast until it’s level and approximately 1/4 of an inch thick.
2. Season the chicken breast and thighs with salt and pepper and reserve.
3. Coat the sides and bottom of an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with the canola oil.
4. Take half of the boneless chicken thighs (skin-on) and arrange them in the pan with the skin side down. Sprinkle a little meat glue on the seams and flatten out the thighs so they are level. The bottom of the pan should not be visible. If it is, add another piece of chicken thigh.
5. Sprinkle half of the herbs on the meat and then sprinkle enough meat glue over the meat to lightly coat it (approximately 1-2 tsp.
6. Arrange the pounded chicken breast over the first layer of thigh meat so it evenly covers the thigh meat.
7. Sprinkle another tsp of meat glue over the chicken breast as well as the remaining chopped herbs.
8. Arrange the remaining thigh meat over the breast meat with the skin side facing up, so it more or less makes a sandwich with skin facing outward.
9. Sprinkle the remaining meat glue on the seams of the thighs and arrange the seams so they are all touching each other preferably with the skin overlapping so the pan appears to be one large sheet of chicken skin. This ensures a tight seal once cooked.
10. Cover the chicken with a layer of plastic wrap and place another 8″ baking pan on top of the plastic wrap. Place a weight on top of the pan and refrigerate the pan overnight.
11. Next day, Place the two pans and the weight in a 350-degree oven until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 150-degrees. You can use water in the top pan to act as a weight and remember to be careful when handling the hot pans. If you use water, it is not necessary to fill the pan to the top. One inch of water should work well. Once the chicken is cooked to 150-degrees, remove it from the oven (with the weight still on it) and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook to an internal temperature of 165-degrees once it is removed from the oven. The chicken should take anywhere between 45 and 60 minutes to cook based on oven calibration and if your oven is equipped with convection.
12. While the chicken is cooking, defrost one sheet of the puff pastry and cut into 3″ squares. Arrange it on a baking sheet and brush the top with the egg yolk. Dust the top of the pastry with the black pepper and a sprinkle of salt.
13. Bake the squares in the oven until the top has puffed up and it becomes a rich golden brown color. Remove the pan from the oven and reserve the pastry on a plate until you are ready to plate up. The pastry will take approximately 10-15 minutes to cook.
14. Place both pans with the weight still on top in the refrigerator and refrigerate overnight.
15. To remove the chicken from the pan, take a knife and run it around the edges of the pan. Place the pan on top of the stove and let it heat up over a low flame for one minute.
16. Carefully flip the pan over on a cutting board and portion the chicken into six rectangle pieces. This can be done hours before you reheat the chicken. You can take the chicken juices (which become gelatinous when cold) and use them to make your gravy.
17. To heat the chicken, place it into a large hot sauté pan with one and a half ounces of canola oil. Sear the chicken until golden brown, approximately three minutes. Carefully flip the chicken over in the pan and place the pan in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and hold it warm on a plate until you are ready for plate up.
18. Add your gravy to the same pan you seared the chicken in and bring the gravy to a boil. Reserve for plate up.
19. Boil your vegetables until they are just cooked through and toss them with butter salt and pepper.
20. To plate up, place the warm chicken on a plate and top it with a few spoons of the gravy. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken and top the chicken with a puff pastry square.
Serve and enjoy!