Two Of The World's Great Recipes, Combined Into One.

First off, a correction: In Tuesday’s email, I reminded you that if you ever cook one of my recipes and post it on any of your social channels, you can/should hashtag it (because we love seeing and reposting what you make). Not surprisingly, I misspelled the hashtag. It’s #cookbitt. Okay, onward.

I was trying to think of a really great dish to bring some joy to our increasingly stressful days. Something that straddles the line between winter and spring (which I think is roughly the time of year that we’re in). Something that feels substantial and comforting, but also tastes vibrant and bright. And also something that can be a bit of a fun distraction over the weekend (since we’re in desperate need of those right about now). I wanted to come up with something slightly surprising, maybe even a dish that you hadn’t seen or tasted before. Then, kind of out of nowhere, Daniel (one of our colleagues) published this recipe on Heated that none of us (myself included) had ever seen or tasted before: Chicken Piccata Potpie.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: Classic chicken potpie, but with a filling inspired by piccata (which is chicken with lemon, capers, garlic and parsley). It’s such a simple mashup (though I’d definitely never thought to do it) and the result is this hearty, filling potpie that’s bright with the acid of lemon juice and vinager-y capers to cut through the richness. Like the classic, it also includes peas, so if you live in a place where it’s still essentially winter, use frozen; if spring has already sprung where you are (and you have a good way to get your hands on seasonal vegetables), use fresh. This dish has a foot in each season, so now’s the time.

The recipe and its origin story are below. Hang in, enjoy the weekend (as best you can), and see you Tuesday.

—Mark