Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe can be doubled - in that case, use an 11x16x2½" lasagna pan.

4 lbs. chicken (a big "best of fryer" works well)
3 cans chicken broth
most of a quart of half-and-half, or can use part milk
most of 2 sticks of butter
2½ cups flour
2 sticks celery
3 medium carrots (Karen prefers grated)
1 medium onion
(optional) some red pimiento peppers (or roasted peeled chopped bell pepper)
(optional) 1/3 each red, green bell pepper, chopped finely
1-2 tablespoons dried parsley
½-1 teaspoon nutmeg
salt & pepper

Poach chicken in Instant Pot or on stove: Put chicken in a pot, cover with broth. Cut a sprig of fresh rosemary and a
sprig of fresh sage and add to the pot along with a few bay leaves. Bring to a
gentle simmer and poach chicken until the skin is loose but the joints are still
a little tight, maybe 30 minutes. Get out the meat cutting board (the one with
the trough around the edge to catch the juice) and pick the chicken pieces out
of the pot and onto the board. Using the tongs, remove the skin, bones, and
cartilage, and discard. Chop the meat. Strain the broth into a tall deep
container and put in the freezer for an hour or so to allow the fat to congeal,
then defat and discard the fat. Clean the pot - it will be used later.

(Alternate method for day-before prep: poach chicken as above, then remove
pieces to colander set in large bowl to drain and cool somewhat. Strain broth
into large Tupperware and allow to fully cool, then put in big freezer for an
hour and defat. When chicken pieces are cool, skin and bone, saving only the
meat. Chicken made this way is very tender and flavorful and not dry at all -
much better than oven roasted.)

Peel and chop the vegetables. Pick an 8" top of fresh rosemary, and about six
fresh sage leaves. Remove all stems and mince finely. Put ½ stick of butter in a
12" skillet and add herbs and vegetables, then sautee until the carrots are just
barely still crunchy.

Make the biscuit dough (see below) and roll it out to the size of a 9x13 pan. Or use Puff Pastry. Note: only put pastry on top of pie, not on bottom.

Preheat the oven to 400° after putting a rack in the top 1/3.

In a No. 10 Dutch oven, melt another half stick of butter and whisk in ½ cup of
flour. Whisk in 2 cups of the strained defatted chicken broth, then 1½ cups of
milk (Joy Of Cooking calls for whole milk, so I used partly 1% and partly ½ &
½.) and bring to a simmer. Add ½-1 teaspoon of nutmeg and some salt and pepper.
Add the meat. Add the vegetables. Add a tablespoon or so of dried parsley. Stir
it up. Looks good, eh?

Spray a 9x13 Pyrex baking pan with spray-on oil. Pour in the stew. Carefully put
the biscuit dough on the top. Put it in the oven. Put a cookie sheet below it to
catch drips. Bake it for 35 minutes.

Baking-Powder Biscuit Dough

2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
5 T salted butter, cold (add 1/2 t salt if butter is unsalted)
3/4 cup half and half (or a bit more)

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.

Cut in butter with pastry blender until mess resembles coarse crumbs. Add h&h,
stir until mixture is tolerably homogeneous. With floured fingers, gather it
into ball, plop out onto floured board. Knead 30 seconds, shape to size of pan,
leave on board until needed.