Pot Pie

The flaky dill biscuit crusts that top these creamy pies look impressive, but they're surprisingly easy to make.

Boneless chicken thighs give a moist result, but chicken breasts work well, too. Mix wild mushrooms with cultivated button mushrooms for a deeper flavor. Goes great with: Mashed potatoes flecked with chopped fresh parsley or tarragon. What to drink: Chardonnay or Merlot.

We made our potpie in an oval baking dish, but you could also use a square or rectangular one.

Roasting the vegetables and adding red wine are the secrets to the satisfying flavor of this pot pie. Other root vegetables such as turnips or parsnips would work well here, too.

This comforting dish is infused with the flavors of a traditional bouquet garni enhanced by celery leaves, and the filling of the pie is more brothy than that of most versions.

Have your butcher skin and bone the turkey thigh. Toss curly endive and radicchio with apple slices and cider vinaigrette for a salad. Orange sorbet with warm chocolate sauce and toasted pecans is a simple ending.

These make-ahead savory pies are wonderful centerpiece dishes for a casual dinner.

Brian Preinfalk of Show Low, Arizona, says there’s nothing he’d rather eat on a cold winter day than one of the beef pot pies at Creasey’s Restaurant in the nearby ski resort town of Pinetop.

For a first course, toss mixed greens with a cider vinaigrette.