Mrs. WM81 requested chicken pot pie, so that was dinner last night. I've never been fond of the dish, as the commercial ones are all crust with a tiny bit of bland filling. This is my third time making a pot pie in the last few years, so I researched recipes and got one off AllRecipes.
I followed the recipe exactly, except for changing everything.
It was useful for proportions, but any recipe that says to boil chicken and throw the stock out is NOT to be followed.
Fried the chicken, caramelized shallots, sauted the vegetables (carrots & potato), and made the gravy in one pan. Assembled it in a 9" cake pan, not a pie plate, so each piece is a meal. I'm going to make it again in a couple of weeks, refining what I did this time.
Getting the first piece out picture perfect quality doesn't happen ... but Mrs. WM81 said it was the best one she's ever had. [To be fair, all she's had before this is commercial frozen ones and my first 2 attempts, which were still better than frozen.]
Preserving flavors by making everything in one pan (do one thing, remove it, start the next ...) and caramelizing the shallots is the big win.