Create your own special for dinner tonight

Heat the oil and melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a high-sided sauté pan over medium heat.  Season the chicken parts generously with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces to the pan, skin side down, without crowding, and cook slowly until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Turn the pieces over and brown the other side, about 8 more minutes.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Set aside.

Add the onion, carrot, and squash to the pan and sauté until softened but still holding their shape, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Pour in the hot stock, return the chicken to the pan, raise the heat to high, and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer until the chicken shows no pink when pierced at the joint, about 20 minutes. Taste the sauce and season it with salt and pepper.

Remove the chicken from the pan and arrange the pieces on a serving platter. Add the walnuts and sage leaves to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, stirring it in to give the sauce a smooth finish.

Spoon the vegetables around the chicken and pour any extra sauce over the chicken.  Sprinkle more sage and walnuts over the dish and serve.

To make the pot-pie tops
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. After the dry ingredients are thoroughly blended, add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of the cream and paddle until well incorporated. Add the cold butter pieces in rapid succession, paddling only briefly, to leave the mixture as mealy as possible.

Scrape the lumpy dough onto a lightly floured board and flatten gently with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 1 inch thick; cut into 6 3-inch rounds.

Brush a cookie sheet lightly with the melted butter, place the rounds on the sheet, and place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the chilled rounds for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are nicely browned. Remove from the oven and set aside. While they are baking, begin the chicken.

To make the chicken and broth
Wash the chicken under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Tie the bay leaves, peppercorns, rosemary, and thyme together in a piece of cheesecloth as a bouquet garnish. Put the chicken into a pot large enough to hold it, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, carefully skimming off any impurities that accumulate on the surface. Add 2 teaspoons salt, the bouquet garnish, onion, half the carrots, half the celery, and the leek. When the water returns to a boil, reduce to a persistent simmer and cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, fill a large bowl with ice water. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and cool it by lowering it into the ice water. As it cools, strain the broth into a 4-quart pot or casserole, reserving two cups of it. (Discard the solids; save the remaining broth for another use.) When the chicken is thoroughly cold, strip off and discard all of the skin. Strip the meat from the bones and shred, using scrupulously clean hands and an immaculate work station.

To make the mushroom and tarragon sauce
Bring the chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Add the remaining carrots and celery, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan set over medium heat, add the shallots, and sauté them. After 3 minutes, add the mushrooms to the pan, raise heat, and cook for 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

To the pot with the chicken broth and vegetables, add the remaining 1 cup cream, then add the sautéed mushrooms and shallots. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, then add the chicken meat. Cook for 20 minutes, add the tarragon, and transfer to 6 crocks. During the last 5 minutes, reheat the pastry rounds in a nonstick pan in a 200 degree F oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Top each crock with a pastry round and serve at once.

Bring a large, heavy-bottomed pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the diced potatoes and parboil them for 3 minutes. Drain them in a colander, refresh under cold running water, drain again, and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until richly browned and caramel-colored, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool at room temperature. Once the potatoes and onions are cool, put them both in a mixing bowl. (The dish can be prepared to this stage, covered, and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

Add the syrup and cinnamon and season with pepper. Gently stir the hash to ensure uniform seasoning, and set aside.

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Add the potato-onion mixture and cook until browned and the potatoes and onions begin to adhere to one another, about 9 minutes.

Transfer the hash to a serving dish and present family style from the center of the table.

Heat a nonstick sauté pan over low heat. Put in the bacon and sauté until crispy, about 8 minutes. Use tongs to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once it's cool enough to handle, crumble the bacon into small bits and set aside. Reserve the bacon fat.

Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a vegetable steamer over medium heat. Put the spinach in the steamer basket, cover, and steam until cooked, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the spinach to a colander to drain and let the spinach cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess water. Transfer the spinach onto a cutting board and roughly chop with a sharp knife.

Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until it melts and begins to bubble. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook together for 2 to 3 minutes.

In a separate pot, heat the cream until steaming but not boiling.

Whisk the cream into the flour-butter mixture and bring it to a boil over high heat. Immediately lower the heat and let simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the spinach to the cream and cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir in the bacon.

Transfer the creamed spinach to a serving bowl and serve hot.

Cook the diced bacon in a sauté pan over medium low heat until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Cover the greens with cold water in a pot and cook until tender, 20 minutes for mustard greens, 90 minutes for collard greens, 10 minutes for broccoli rabe, 10 minutes for escarole, and 15 minutes for beet greens. Drain the greens and set aside.

In a wide, heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat the butter and add the almonds. Sauté until they start to brown, 3 minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup water, then the honey. Stir and cook until the water has evaporated and the honey has caramelized and coated the almonds, about 5 minutes. Before the almonds become too dry, add the cooked greens and bacon, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing and stirring, to evenly distribute the almonds and bacon. Serve at once.