A roast chicken is the meal that keeps on giving. I love that the day after there is always another meal waiting to be created – a soup, a stew, or, as we did last night, a chicken pot pie.

Roasting a chicken is pretty much the easiest thing in the world to do, yet… it is also often the first thing an aspiring French chef is asked to cook during an interview. Any roasted chicken is good – a perfectly roasted chicken is… well… perfect.

I tend to lean towards the any roasted chicken is good category. I don’t fuss with them. I’ll rub a bit of butter or olive oil on the outside, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and into the oven on a vertical roaster at 425° for however many minutes it takes for the juices to run clear – or 165° if I use a thermometer. A good chicken tastes great with minimal fuss and a mediocre chicken is going to be mediocre no matter what you do to it.

I started doing beer can chickens a while ago and when we received an actual vertical roaster as a gift, it pretty much cemented my like for them. The neck and innards boil down for broth and mix the drippings to make gravy.

Waste not, want not, and all that…

Victor is a huge crispy-skin fan – me, not so much – so the vertical roaster really delivers for him.

So… un-stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy with oven-roasted cauliflower on Saturday became Chicken Pot Pie on Sunday.

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I do a double crust because we all really like the crust and it’s easier to clean the dish! I made my standard pie crust but I used half lard half butter and for the vodka, I used Absolute Peppar that has been in the bar cabinet for what seems like an eternity. No idea where it came from but I need to start using it – I’m tired of looking at the bottle.

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The filling consisted of onions, fresh carrots and celery, and lots of frozen mixed vegetables – along with the chicken meat that just slid off the bones from the long-simmering carcass.

The pot kept growing – as is typical when I’m making something like this – and I ended up with a huge pot pie – enough for dinner last night and lunch today – as well as TWO containers for the freezer! I have dinner for a couple of lazy winter nights…

Definitely the bird that keeps on giving…