Martha Stewart Turns To These 2 Ingredients To Boost The Flavor Of Chicken Pot Pie

Martha Stewart is known for being the queen of home and lifestyle. Her favorite recipes have stood the rest of time, and her tips for upgrading dishes is what keeps fans coming back for more. Stewart's chicken pot pie is no exception; she adds generous flavor to this classic dish with the addition of two special ingredients: cremini mushrooms and cognac.

A typical chicken pot pie consists of plenty of vegetables, but cremini mushrooms aren't likely to make the cut. Carrots, potatoes, and onions are the standard, but mushrooms add an earthier flavor those other veggies don't bring to the table. Stewart chooses creminis specifically because "they're a little bit firmer than those everyday mushrooms" (via Facebook). She doesn't do too much as far as seasonings go, sticking with salt and pepper but adding a few herbs, like fresh thyme and parsley. Finally, she tops the pie with a chilled pie crust before brushing it with egg wash and baking. If you don't want to stick to a traditional pie crust, though, you can use Cheddar Bay biscuits instead to upgrade your chicken pot pie even further.

If you try any of Martha Stewart's pot pie tips, let it be adding cognac. Cognac is a type of brandy that, depending on how it's aged, often has rich, fruity notes to it that might also resemble licorice. When cooking a hearty meal like chicken pot pie, the cognac pairs nicely with the savory chicken broth to add a full-bodied flavor that broth alone can't achieve.

There are plenty of ingredients that can upgrade chicken pot pie, but the addition of cognac is what sets Stewart's recipe apart. She pours the spirit in after the vegetables have had time to soften. "The cognac is going to deglaze the bottom of the pan, but it will also add a depth of flavor to the sauce, which I learned from an old friend years and years ago," she says in the video posted to her Facebook page. Stewart suggests giving it time to infuse into those veggies before adding flour to thicken everything up, then adding the broth to finish out the pie filling. Between the cognac and cremini mushrooms, her take on chicken pot pie will make your taste buds sing.