April 17, 2014 2:13 p.m. ET  EVEN THE ANCIENTS found it hard to resist food that was scrumptiously sauced and encased in flaky pastry. The savory pie predated its sweet cousin, first appearing at Roman banquets, full of venison or hare or birds—sometimes live ones that flew out when the crust was cracked. Homelier versions filled with meat, potatoes and vegetables and baked in an iron pot over an open fire or buried under embers came to be known, appropriately enough, as pot pies. Today, such a pie might be prepared in anything from individual ramekins to a family-size baking dish.  My personal pot-pie history extends back to the Swanson's frozen pies I ate as a child in front of "The Mickey Mouse Club" and the signature pot pies served at L.A.'s legendary Brown Derby. I was out of college before I tried making my own. Assisted by the "Joy of Cooking," I turned out chicken pot pies and moved right along to seafood and vegetarian versions. How cleverly the pot pie took care of leftovers! Warmed-over stews, fricassees and roast vegetables were crowd pleasers tucked inside a pastry crust. It was a great way to use frozen vegetables, too, on nights when I hadn't made it to the market.  Still, pot-pie perfection eluded me. Bottom crusts absorbed liquid from fillings and went soggy. And timing was tricky: I struggled to get the center piping hot and the pastry a crisp golden-brown simultaneously. These had never seemed to be issues at the Brown Derby.  So I checked out the Derby's 1949 cookbook and discovered their secret: They eliminated the bottom crust entirely, apparently a common practice at the time. That tidily took care of the sogginess problem. Even better, the top crust was now a simple pastry cut-out that could be baked several days ahead, reheated last minute and popped on top of the bubbling filling just before serving.  Whether for an intimate Sunday supper, an elegant extravaganza or something in between, individual pot pies or generous portions taken from a larger whole are an irresistible one-dish main course. Easy as pie: Just pair with a salad.  The classic chicken pie is packed with vegetables in a subtly seasoned béchamel. The Cote d'Azur seafood pie is robust and also gorgeous, with pale shrimp, scallops and mushrooms offset by a saffron-yellow sauce and green peas. A medley of sautéed peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, olives and fennel fill the vegetable version, enhanced by piquant paella spices and a splash of Sherry. (How do you say "pot pie" in Spanish?)  Try one of these recipes or be creative with the leftovers you find in your fridge, adding stock or whipping up a béchamel to keep the filling moist. You can't go wrong. With the possible exception of live birds, everything tastes better with a crust on top.  Active Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 2 hours (includes resting dough) Makes: 8 individual pie crusts  Place 3 cups flour (preferably 2½ cups all-purpose and ½ cup whole wheat) and 1½ teaspoons sea salt in a food processor and process until combined, 15 seconds. Add 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, and pulse until pea-size lumps form. Add 4 tablespoons ice water and process until dough just begins to come together, about 20 seconds. (Do not let it form a ball.) If dough is too dry to come together, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Form dough into a ball, then press into a disk. Place between two pieces waxed or parchment paper and roll to ⅓-inch thickness. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. // Using a 5-inch ramekin as a template, cut dough into eight circles. Refrigerate dough rounds at least another 30 minutes, preferably longer or overnight. (Dough rounds may be frozen, well wrapped, up to two months.) // Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Arrange dough circles on 1-2 baking sheets, brush them with egg yolk mixture and bake until golden, about 20 minutes. (If baking frozen dough, increase baking time by 5 minutes.) Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. (Pie tops will keep 2-3 days at room temperature.)  —Adapted from "The Brown Derby Cookbook"  Total Time: 1 hour Serves: 12  3½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or a combination)  Several sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme  2 pounds white button mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper  6 large shallots, thinly sliced  5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced  4 large carrots, thinly sliced crosswise  3 ribs celery, thinly sliced crosswise  Several sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme  Salt and freshly ground black pepper  1 (10-ounce) bag frozen pearl onions, thawed  1 (10-ounce) bag frozen green peas, thawed  6 tablespoons brandy or Sherry (or a combination)  ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg  1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper  ⅓ cup minced chives or fresh parsley (or a combination)  1½ recipes Brown Derby Pot-Pie Pastry Tops  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  2. Poach chicken: Place chicken, garlic and thyme in a large, lidded saucepan. Pour stock into pan, making sure chicken is covered. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken and garlic to a large platter. Reserve 4 cups broth in saucepan.  3. Meanwhile, cook mushrooms: Melt butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are very tender, about 15 minutes. If dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Set mushrooms aside on platter with chicken.  4. Cook vegetables: Wipe skillet clean. Add butter to skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Add shallots, onions, garlic, carrots, celery and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft and beginning to color, 15-20 minutes. Add pearl onions and peas and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Set aside on platter with chicken.  5. Meanwhile, make béchamel sauce: Bring reserved broth to a simmer over high heat. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add flour and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add hot broth to butter, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps, and cook 1 minute. Add milk and any accumulated juices on platter with chicken and simmer, stirring, until sauce fully thickens, about 3 minutes. Add brandy and cook 1 minute more. Season with nutmeg, lemon juice, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste.  6. Add everything on platter to sauce and cook gently over medium heat until heated through, about 2 minutes. (Don't let sauce boil or it may curdle.) Adjust seasonings if needed. Off heat, add herbs. Keep warm. (Cooled mixture can be refrigerated up to 2 days.)  7. Place pot pie covers on a baking sheet and warm in oven 5 minutes.  8.To serve, divide warm chicken mixture among ten to 12 (5-inch) ramekins. Cover with warm pastry tops.
When the filling is luscious and perfect but the pastry is sad and soggy, here's the solution: Subtract the bottom crust. Try this trick in recipes for classic chicken, vegetable and saffron-spiced seafood pot pies.