Instructions: *If you decide to use leftover cooked turkey or chicken, youll need 2 to 2 1/4 pounds of boneless, skinless meat, which is between 6 and 7 cups of meat.

Filling: Place the chicken (or chicken parts), onion, carrots, parsley, thyme and salt in a deep stock pot. Add the water; it should almost cover the chicken (if it doesnt, add more). Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer the chicken and vegetables for about 1 1/4 hours (for a whole chicken) or 45 minutes to 1 hour (for chicken parts), till chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken and vegetables, discarding the vegetables and spreading the chicken on a platter to cool. Boil the stock till its reduced to 2 1/2 cups; this will take about 45 minutes. If after 45 minutes theres more than 2 1/2 cups of stock remaining, simply measure out 2 1/2 cups, and save (or discard, or pour on your dogs food) the rest. Alternatively, you can use 20 ounces of canned chicken broth, about 1 1/2 cans.

Sauce: Skim the fat off the top of the stock, reserving 4 tablespoons and discarding the rest. Place the 4 tablespoons of fat in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of butter, and heat over medium heat till butter is melted. Add 6 tablespoons of flour, and stir to combine. Gradually pour in the 2 1/2 cups stock, whisking constantly. Cook and stir the sauce over medium heat till it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for 5 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, remove the skin and bones from the chicken, and tear it into 1-inch pieces. When the sauce is ready, stir in the chicken and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add ground black pepper and additional salt to taste.

Spoon the chicken into an 8 x 12-inch (or similar size) casserole dish; the dish should hold 2 to 3 quarts, and should be wide rather than deep, in order for the biscuits to fit on top

Biscuits: In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, your fingers, or an electric mixer, cut in the shortening till the mixture is crumbly. Whisk together the egg and milk, and stir into the dry ingredients, mixing just till fully combined. The dough will be very wet and sticky.

Assembly: Preheat the oven to 450F. Using a spoon or cookie (or ice cream) scoop, drop the batter in golf ball-sized rounds onto the chicken, spacing them evenly and leaving a bit of room in between for expansion. Place the chicken and biscuits in the oven, and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve hot or warm.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings, depending on the appetites involved

NOTES :
This recipe could just as easily be titled Grange Supper Chicken Pie, or American Legion Supper Chicken Pie, or B.P.O.E., or Odd Fellows, the volunteer fire department, or any number of organizations - New England and otherwise - that have regular "suppers," fund-raising or just social. When we lived in Maine and belonged to the American Legion - it was known to one and all simply as The Legion - we regularly enjoyed the groups Monday night suppers. Large stainless steel trays of green beans or peas, cooked carrots, corn and mashed potatoes were set out across a counter that separated the basement kitchen from its adjoining dining hall.

They were the comforting accompaniments to the meat course - ham or chicken, usually, or maybe beef on a special occasion. Soft white rolls rounded out the entree, and the usual dessert was pie, cake or gingerbread. Everything was home-cooked by a couple of Legionnaire chefs; all was dished up by those same chefs and their helpers - this was "wives night out," and the women were strictly guests, not workers. We took the opportunity to talk about gardens and kids (or grandkids, for many of the women), while the men avidly rehashed the most recent high school boys basketball game, the rehash always generously fleshed out with tales of teams gone by. It was fun; it was safe; it was a flashback to 1950s America, the part we remember with nostalgia.

Though I havent been to many group suppers here in Vermont, Ive heard the "Famous Hartland Roast Beef Dinner" (thats how its billed in the newspaper), held every winter Saturday night, is something I need to sample. Chicken suppers and ham dinners abound, and during hunting season youll run across an occasional ad for a game dinner. But one supper I seldom hear about these days, one that used to be quite popular, is the Vermont Church Chicken Pie Supper.

Maybe church attendance isnt what it used to be. Or maybe chicken pie is just too "common." But a good chicken pie, Vermont-style, is one of the most comforting foods I know. Boneless chicken in a thickened gravy made from its own juices is spooned into deep trays, then topped with mounds of biscuit dough. No peas; no carrots, nor onions, celery, nor anything else is included that might divert ones attention from the flavor of the chicken. The trays are placed in a hot oven and baked till the biscuits are golden brown, tender and flaky, and the chicken gravy is bubbling. As you go through the line, and receive your side dishes of green beans or peas and carrots, your mashed potatoes and your bread, the final stop is the chicken pie, where a large serving of aromatic chicken and gravy, crowned with a biscuit, is gently spooned onto your plate.

Now, you may gild the lily by breaking open the biscuit and melting some butter into it, but it really isnt necessary; I prefer to simply tamp down some of the biscuit (so it merges with the gravy), leave the rest on top, and enjoy biscuit and chicken in every ambrosial bite. Were not living in Maine anymore, but as they say in that state - Ummm-ummm! Some good!

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