Chicken Potpie

I had leftover pie crust from when we baked the fresh peach pie. I hate throwing things away so decided to use the scraps for chicken potpie, one of Tony's favorite meals.

I brought in some of my potted herbs so still had Vietnamese basil and thyme. I accompanied the savory pie with dry-roasted (or nearly dry, I used Misto to spray the nonstick skillet with extra virgin olive oil) slices of end-the-season zucchini and Roma tomatoes, preceded by a wonderful Romaine lettuce-Gorgonzola cheese-balsamic vinegar salad.

Ingredients: 1 whole chicken breast, two wings, back and neck; 1 carrot; 1 celery stalk; 1 small onion; 1 sprig, Italian parsley (optional);  1/2 recipe pie crust; 6 Tb. unsalted butter; 1 small onion, diced; 1 large carrot, diced; 1 celery, diced; 1/4 C. whole-wheat flour; 3/4 C. low-fat milk; 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped; 2 Tb. sherry; 1/2 C. frozen petit point peas, defrosted; 1 Tb. curly parsley, minced; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 1 egg with 1 Tb. water for wash.

Directions: 1. Simmer chicken with enough water to cover, carrot, celery, parsley and onion, skimming off the scum as the parts start to simmer then cooking about 45 minutes. Remove chicken parts and cool. 2. Remove chicken meat from bones and separate into small, bite-size pieces. Return chicken bones to stock and boil vigorously until reduced to 1 1/4 C. 3. Preheat oven to 400°F. 4. Melt butter in skillet and cook onions, carrots, and celery about 10 minutes until onions are translucent. Add flour and cook, stirring, another minute. Add stock and milk, stirring steadily. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, roll out pie crust to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out four rounds 1/2 inch bigger around than circumference of your ramekins. 6. Spoon still warm filling into 4 ramekins, careful that filling does not reach above line of sides. Top with dough circles, folding excess dough under itself, and use tines of fork to press dough against the edges firmly. Cut 1-inch vent in the center of each pie. 7. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling. Cool at least 5 minutes before serving.