Pellston’s Famous
Chicken Pot Pies
Two days’ loving care goes into Pellston Market’s chicken pot pies. The gourmet grocer up near the tip of the mitt on U.S. 31 fills a savory sea salt-laced crust with house-roasted chicken, vibrant carrots, celery, onion, potato and sweet peas, rich stock and fresh thyme (lemon thyme from the garden in the summertime), parsley and tarragon. Usher one home and bake an hour at 350°F for a simple and sumptuous winter supper.
Tricks
One Blackbird Baked in a PiePot pies are notorious for bubbling over; have this darling little peeper let out some steam. Plunk the pie bird in the middle of your bottom crust, fill, and drape the top crust over the beak. By Norpro. $3.95 at Isabella’s Copper Pot, 118 N. Otsego Ave., Gaylord, 989-731-9700.
Special DeliveryGood Hart Pot Pies
A lot of Good Hart love goes into each pot pie dispatched from this quaint Lake Michigan outpost. The folks at the little red 30’s-era Good Hart General Store have perfected their famous chicken pot pies during the last two decades with all white meat, carrots, peas and creamy homemade gravy. The beef pies are lavished with sweet onion and hand-carved prime chuck roast. Pick one up at the vintage glass-front counter or have a few shipped anywhere across the Midwest, Monday through Wednesday (orders may be placed anytime). 1075 N. Lake Shore Dr. (M-119), Good Hart, 231-526-7661, goodhartstore.com.
CravingsSummer Pie
Worth waiting for: Puff-pastry-lidded pot pie with hunks of succulent spit-fired chicken and crisp-tender root vegetables, at Mary’s Bistro on Mackinac Island. Find it at the foot of the Star Line dock once the ferries are at full-steam for the season. 906-847-9911, mackinacmarysbistro.com.
Emily Betz Tyra is associate editor at Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine.etyra@traversemagazine.com
Interview with Nancy Kelly, Pellston Market This article was first published in February 2008.