The opposite week, my good friend Bonnie and I have been planning for dinner…

It was a Thursday afternoon and we have been going backwards and forwards on textual content. Ought to we seize sushi? Burgers? Dumplings? I needed to exit, but additionally, I used to be form of within the temper to prepare dinner for individuals. I regarded within the freezer and noticed I had puff pastry and a few hen. If my children weren’t in school, and nonetheless at house on their means again from apply or a good friend’s home, I might’ve in all probability determined to make them hen pot pie. I missed them.

Are you within the temper for hen pot pie? I texted Bonnie, additionally an empty nester. I can prepare dinner and you’ll deliver Jonathan.

The response was swift. YES.

Just a few hours later, 4 of us have been sitting down at my kitchen desk to hen pot pie with an enormous inexperienced salad cobbled collectively from no matter was left within the crisper. I scooped nuts and gherkins into small bowls to snack on whereas we waited for the pie to bake. They introduced two pints of ice cream for dessert. We marveled that none of the children got here up in dialog till over an hour into our meal (undoubtedly a document), and by 9 p.m. all of us have been on our respective sofas watching Netflix.

There had been none of the standard planning and list-making and buying and chopping and crash cleansing and table-setting and votive-lighting, all of which might’ve undoubtedly occurred if there have been dinner plans within the calendar for, say, a Saturday night time when expectations (to me, a minimum of) really feel larger. However for a weeknight dinner? It was like I used to be cooking for my household. It felt good. It felt simple. And as quickly as they left, my thoughts raced with different methods I may harness the low-key issue as a way to deal with what mattered: seeing my associates extra. On a regular basis chili with cornbread? An enormous pot of butternut squash soup and a crusty baguette? Just a few mushroom-and-olive pies from the nook pizzeria? That is going to be enjoyable.

Rooster Pot Pie
That is my turkey pot pie, simply utilizing hen. Don’t overlook to thaw your puff pastry forward of time. Makes four beneficiant servings or 6 medium servings.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped into giant chunks
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (from about 2-Three medium carrots)
1 tablespoon recent thyme leaves (from 8-10 sprigs recent thyme)
Kosher salt and freshly floor pepper
Three medium yellow potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 half of kilos)
2 half of cups hen broth
3/four cup milk (any form, ideally entire)
1/four cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Three cups shredded cooked hen (use a store-bought rotisserie and don’t overlook to cut up that crispy pores and skin, too!)
half of cup frozen peas
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 retailer purchased puff pastry, resembling Dufour model, rolled out gently on a floured floor, to the approximate measurement it might take to drape over your baking dish by about 1 inch throughout
1 egg, calmly overwhelmed with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Add the butter and olive oil to a big pot or Dutch Oven set over medium warmth, then add the onion, celery, carrots, thyme leaves, a beneficiant quantity of salt and pepper and prepare dinner, stirring often till onions have browned barely, about 5 minutes. Stir within the potatoes, and add the broth. (Greens ought to simply barely be submerged.) Convey to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, till the potatoes are largely tender — they’ll prepare dinner extra within the oven.

Whereas the greens are simmering, in a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk collectively the milk and flour. Slowly add the flour–milk combination, together with Worcestershire sauce, to the pot, and switch up the warmth to medium. Stir and prepare dinner till the filling will get bubbly and thickened. Take away the pot from the warmth and stir within the hen and peas.

Add the pot pie filling to a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle Parmesan on high of the filling and canopy with the puff pastry, ensuring there’s a little bit of overhang on all sides. (You don’t must crimp it.) Lower 6 to eight slits on the highest to permit the steam to flee whereas baking. Utilizing a pastry brush, completely (and gently) paint the floor with the egg wash, which can lead to a stunning golden sheen.

Place the pie within the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes, however regulate it! If the highest darkens earlier than 20 minutes, cowl loosely with foil (don’t wrap it, simply place loosely on high). Bake till the pastry is puffy and golden and the filling is effervescent by the slits. It ought to look massive and puffy throughout the perimeter, all of the extra dramatic for presenting! The center may collapse somewhat, however that’s okay.

P.S. A dinner dialog starter and Joanna’s lasagna get together.

(Rooster pot pie picture by Yossy Arefi for Cup of Jo.)