The tragedy of time marching on and Chicken Pot Pi
Back in the Late 1980's and early 90's there was a pie shop on Union street in San Francisco called Bepple's Pies. My friend Rita and I would go there late at night if the sudden urge hit us to get their fantastic dessert pies, their chocolate cream pie was absolute heaven! They also made savory pies and I was obsessed with thier chicken pot pie, it had a light sweetness to it and unlike the Swanson's pies we grew up with that are more sauce than filling this pie was full of meat and veggies. Simply delicious!
Some years later I went to union street to meet a friend and where I remembered Bepple's to be, and sadly it was gone! Had been for a few of years according to the stores around it. I was sooo sad! How could such a tastey place be gone? I set out to try and recreate the chicken pot pie as closely as I could remember it.
Out of curiosity I looked up Bepple's online; looks like they closed around 2004 or 2003. So sad..such a tastey place!!
This is what I came up with....ENJOY!
2 chicken breasts cubed into small bite sized pieces
3 fresh carrots sliced and quartered
1/2 cup peas canned or frozen
1 sweet onion diced, walla walla, vidalia or Maui.
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 can chicken broth
Dash of garlic salt
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp sweet basil
1 bag cubed precooked red potatoes.
Salt and Pepper.
1/4 cup cooking sherry
"Wondra" gravy flour.
2 frozen deep dish pie crusts.
Directions:
Remove Pie crusts from the freezer and let both thaw.
Preheat oven to 375
In a ziploc bag put the 1/4 cup flour, chicken with some salt and pepper and shake to coat.
Heat oil in a skillet add the chicken and onions and cook til the onions are caramelized.
Add the carrots, peas, sugar and other spices and cook til chicken is done. Then leave on low heat while you make the broth.
In a seperate sauce pan add the chicken broth and cooking sherry and add the cream of tarter or Wondra to thicken the broth. Once the broth is quite thick add to the chicken mixture.
Place in one of the pie crusts this should be enough to fill the pie crust almost double over the top. Take the second pie crust and loosen it then place it over the pie filling carefully loosening it until it comes out of its tin.
Lightly crimp the two crusts together then cut 2-3 slits in the top and place on on a cookie sheet. bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until top crust is a light brown.
You can also substitute fresh chicken breasts with 3 cans of all white meat shredded chicken.
I remember Bepple's Pies. We used to splurge once in a while and get one of those excellent examples of the baker's art, but they were defective, every one of them, and completely disappeared after only a couple of days, due to evaporation, no doubt. They closed, we left town... but I still miss them a lot. Let me know if you are able to recreate the blueberry pie. I swoon over that pie, still. Never tried the savory pies, because, you know, vegetarian. Your recipe looks like it has all the stuff in it, though.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Bepples when I was in high school. I was in the back making Cole slaw, soup and keeping the place spotlessly clean (not easy in a pie shop).
ReplyDeleteI ate there frequently and brought many, many leftover pies home. My favorites were the lemon meringue, and the pecan, but my absolute favorites were the chicken pie and the beef pie. They were tremendously deep pies.
I looked through your recipe and, although I am sure it's delicious, I am fairly certain that it is wrong on some very basic levels. To begin with, the chicken breasts were boiled with garlic and herbs. Secondly, it wasn't really a pot pie, as you have noted. It was simply stuffed with a chopped chicken mixture. Unfortunately, I don't know what was mixed in. However, I do remember that it was served with a thin layer of Dijon mustard and melted swiss cheese.
Bepples not only made great pies, it was also very well run. The manager was an ex marine seargent, and truly inspirational.
Oooh thank you for the reminder about the mustard and cheese and the hint about the chicken I will deffenately do that next time.
ReplyDelete:-D
Just did a search for the Bepple's chicken pot pie recipe and came across your page. I am going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI remember it fondly. I always thought it had a little stuffing mixed in. It was delicious with the mustard and cheese melted on the top.
Does anyone remember their blueberry muffins? They weren't super sweet, and stuffed with blueberries. They had a crumble topping with nuts mixed in. I dream about them!
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