Recipe: Mrs. Hering's Famous Chicken Potpie (Macy's Walnut Room)

MRS. HERING'S FAMOUS CHICKEN POTPIE

"Mrs. Hering's Famous Chicken Potpie started in 1890 when the enterprising clerk at Marshall Field's overhead two customers thinking about lunch and offered them the homemade chicken potpie she had brought for lunch. She set up a table, served her pie, and started a tradition, according to The Marshall Field's Cookbook by Stephen Siegelman and Marshall Fields. Mrs. Hering's Famous Chicken Potpie is iconic to the Walnut Room in Chicago, in what was once a Marshall Field's but now is Macy's. Although the store name has changed, the Walnut Room still serves 3,500 of its famous pies per week during the holiday season."

FOR THE CHICKEN/BROTH:
1 3 1/2 pound frying chicken
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 small onion, halved
2 teaspoons salt
FOR THE DOUGH:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
FOR THE FILLING:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 carrots, sliced thinly on the bias
3 celery stalks, sliced thinly on the bias
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup dry sherry
3/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN/BROTH:
Combine chicken, carrot, celery, onion, and salt in large stockpot. Add cold water just to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease heat to low and simmer 45 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and allow to cool.

Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil for 20 minutes to concentrate the broth. Pass the broth through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the vegetables. When cool enough to handle, pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred into bite-sized pieces.

TO PREPARE THE DOUGH:
Combine flour, salt, and butter in bowl of a food processor and pulse 5 times to combine. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times, until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water. Stir and then press together with a wooden spoon until the dough sticks together. A little at a time, add more water if the dough won't come together. Shape dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days before rolling.

TO PREPARE THE FILLING:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots, and celery for filling and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in the milk and 2 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. Decrease heat to low and simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes.

Add the chicken meat, thyme, sherry, peas, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

TO MAKE THE PIES:
Divide the warm filling among six 10-to-12-ounce potpie tins or individual ramekins.

Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 6 rounds about 1 inch larger than the dish circumference. Lay a dough round over each potpie filling. Tuck the overhanging dough back under itself and flute the edges with a fork. Cut a 1-inch slit in the top of each pie. Brush tops of pies with egg wash. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Place pies on the baking sheet and bake 25 minutes, until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling. Serve hot.

Yield: 6 servings
From: The Marshall Field's Cookbook by Stephen Siegelman and Marshall Fields
Source: Kathie Smith, the Toledo Blade