American-style Chicken Pot Pie

For the filling: Rinse the chicken, clean, gut and place in a large pot.

Rinse the onion well and cut in half with the peel.

Peel the carrots, celery and parsnip and cut into uniform cubes. Save half of the carrots, add the rest with the other vegetables and the parsley to the chicken. Pour in the chicken stock and fill with enough water to cover the poultry. Bring to a boil and let simmer over medium heat for about 45 minutes until the chicken is tender. Remove the pot from the heat, remove the chicken, add the vinegar and let everything cool.

For the dough: Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter in small pieces and chop all of them together with the dough scraper. Then add the lard and chop. With the ice water, quickly work everything into a smooth dough and let cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Heat the clarified butter. Rinse the mushrooms, sauté in the hot butter and set aside.

Bring about 375 ml (approximately 1 2/3 cup) of the chicken broth to a boil. Add the remaining carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. Peel the potatoes, dice, add to the pot and also cook for about 5 minutes. Chop the leek, add to the pot and continue to cook over low heat for a few minutes until the leek is soft. Now remove the vegetables and set aside. Save about 250 ml (approximately 1 cup) of the cooking liquid.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (approximately 390°F). Grease about four to six ramekins. Make sure to also grease the outer edge and place on a baking rack.

Remove the still lukewarm chicken meat from the bones and cut into 1 cm (approximately 2/5 inch) cubes.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the flour in it, deglaze with the cooking liquid, bring to a boil while stirring and let boil thoroughly. Add the cream and strongly season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. While frequently stirring, allow the sauce to cool slightly.

Then mix in the cooked diced vegetables, the chicken cubes, mushrooms and peas.

Fill the ramekins with the mixture. Roll out the dough and cut out round covers for the ramekins. Lay the pastry lids on the ramekins, cut the edge to fit the ramekins and press down well.