Standard Tap
Northern Liberties
901 North 2nd Street
(215) 238-0630
Northern Liberties’s Standard Tap was the city’s first gastropub—before we even knew what that word meant and where exactly Northern Liberties was. The dimly lit bar, with a mix-tape-worthy jukebox and no televisions, with all local brews and a brusque chalkboard menu of smelts and duck confit, not nachos and potato skins, quickly became the standard.
“We wanted a place that was unpretentious, as easygoing as your favorite watering hole, that featured great local craft beer and uncompromisingly good food,” says William Reed, who renovated and opened Standard Tap with Paul Kimport. “The renovations took three and a half years. That gave us a lot of time to hone in on exactly what we were building.”
That was two decades ago.
Today the gastropub thrives in Philadelphia. (For a taste: N. 3rd, page 119; Good Dog Bar, page 96.) And once-quiet Northern Liberties is has matured into an established family neighborhood. Standard Tap expanded, and then expanded again. But, thankfully, little has changed behind the bar, which now features a slew of local taps, or in the dining room, whose tables are still populated by fried smelts, chicken pot pie, and duck confit salad, plus additions like Pennsylvania venison loin over creamy polenta and miso-smoked haddock with jammy eggs and sesame-ginger vinaigrette.
CHICKEN POT PIE
“This is like a really good chicken soup wrapped in puff pastry,” says former Standard Tap chef Carolynn Angle. The dish is so popular, it has been on the menu for more almost 20years, but there’s no special trick to making it at home. “It’s all about letting the flavors develop slowly.” Note: Chicken pot pie filling must be refrigerated overnight.
(SERVES 6)
For the pot pie:
1 roasting chicken
1 cup kosher salt
16 cups cold water
Additional kosher salt and black pepper, as needed
Vegetable oil, as needed
4 cups crimini mushrooms, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
3 cups celery, diced
3 cups carrots, diced
3 cups white onion, diced
Chicken stock, as needed (see “Step by Step,” page 102)
2 tablespoons sage, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup quick-mixing flour
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted
For the salad:
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups vegetable oil
Kosher salt and black pepper, as needed
1 head Bibb lettuce, chopped
¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes
To prepare the pot pie: In a container large enough to contain water and chicken, combine salt and water. Submerge chicken and brine for 1 hour. Remove chicken, rinse, and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover chicken with foil and cook until legs and wings pull easily from body, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, pick meat from bones. (Reserve bones, skin, and fat if making stock.)
In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat vegetable oil. Add mushrooms and cook until caramelized. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add celery, carrots, and onions and cook until just tender.
Add chicken, season again with salt and pepper, and cook until all ingredients are heated through. Add chicken stock to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until liquid is dissolved by half. Add sage.
Using an electric mixer, whip butter until it has doubled in volume. Add flour and mix until fluffy.
Add butter-flour mixture to chicken mixture slowly, stirring until no flour is visible and mixture has a creamy appearance. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook completely. Refrigerate overnight.
Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6 even squares and place the squares on the baking sheet without touching. Add a heaping spoonful of chicken mixture into the middle of each square, piling mixture high, like a baseball. Stretch the remaining pastry squares over the mixture, bringing the edges of the top pastry to meet the edges of the bottom pastry. Press edges together tightly to seal and crimp corners. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
To prepare the salad: In a blender, combine apple, shallot, thyme, and parsley. Puree. Add mustard and apple cider vinegar and blend. While blending, slowly add oil to make vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Toss ¼ cup of vinaigrette with lettuce, onion, and grape tomatoes. (Reserve remaining vinaigrette for another use.)
To serve: Serve chicken pot pies warm with salad.
STEP BY STEP: MAKING CHICKEN STOCK
“In a lot of dishes, stock is your flavor base. Your stock can make or break what you are doing,” says former Standard Tap chef (and current Good Dog Bar, page 96, chef) Carolynn Angle. “The better your stock is, the better your end result will be.” Angle’s top stock-making tip: “Don’t boil your stock too hard. It will get murky.”
1. Roast
Chop 1 white onion, 2 large carrots, and ½ head of celery. Coat lightly with vegetable oil and roast in a 400°F oven until vegetables caramelize.
2. Simmer
In a large stock pot, combine bones and skinof a roasted chicken with 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 4 bay leaves, 1 sprig thyme, and ½ cup parsley leaves. Add caramelized vegetables and cover ingredients with cold water. Bring stock to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for at least 2 hours. The longer you simmer it, the more flavorful the stock will be.
3. Skim
As the stock simmers, skim any fat that rises to
the surface. When finished simmering, allow stock to rest, skimming off remaining fat. It is important to remove as much fat as possible.
4. Strain
Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer to remove remaining fat and solids.
5. Store
This method will make about 1 gallon of stock. Stock can be refrigerated or frozen in convenient-size portions.
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