Title: Mama's Chicken Pot Pie
(This website has decided not to let me type a title for this post?)
Ok, the truth is, my mother does not have a family recipe for chicken pot pie. But she and I did create our own recipe for chicken pot pie yesterday! So here we go :-)
For the crust, which you could have done yesterday because it needs to refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 24 hours…
1 stick butter, we used Whole Foods lactose-free butter
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp sugar
Approx ¼ cup cold water
This is your basic pie dough. Whisk dry ingredients, cut in the butter, and form into dough by adding water. Check out my strawberry toaster pastries post for more details on how to make pie dough! This recipe makes one bottom crust. We have yet to figure out how to make the top crust.
Chill dough for at least an hour. It will then need to pre-bake for half an hour before you add the filling to it, so really, start this early in the day or even the day before!
For the filling:
Approx 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces
Olive oil for cooking
¼ cup white wine
Chicken stock or homemade soup (about 2 cups, but we were running out and only used ½ cup)
Several pinches of Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic
2 scallions
4 baby red potatoes
Generous several handfuls baby carrots
For the side dishes:
Frozen peas
Crusty bread for serving, preferably warmed up
Roast parsnips and asparagus, or your choice of favorite roast veggies
Directions to create this feast:
Once the crust is done chilling, roll it into your trusty pie plate, prick many times with a fork to minimize puffing up, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden-brown and cooked through.
Sautee the chicken in olive oil with a bit of garlic – brown it on both sides, then deglaze the pan with white wine. Turn heat to medium-high for one to two minutes to cook out the alcohol. Then add chicken stock to form the sauce and simmer over low heat indefinitely (basically until crust is ready). We only had about ½ cup of chicken stock left in our house, but if I had had more, I would have added about 2 cups at this stage. We ended up having to add a bit of water in the end. You will add more things to this pan with the chicken, but let’s briefly transition to your boiled potatoes!
Cube the potatoes into tiny cubes and boil them until perfectly cooked. Do not over-cook, since they’re still going to the oven for a few minutes.
Now, slice the carrots into thin slices. Also slice the scallions. Add carrots, scallions, and a few pinches of Italian seasoning to the chicken mixture that’s on low heat. Cover the pan so the carrots can cook through in the broth. I imagine about 15 minutes of carrot-cooking action is optimal for the carrots to be cooked through, though I admit I forgot to look at the clock yesterday to get a more exact time for the recipe.
Once the crust has come out of the oven, it’s time to pour the potatoes and everything that’s in the pan with the chicken over the crust.
Bake pie at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes just so the flavors marry and everything gets piping hot.
Serve with roast vegetables, boiled peas, and a warm, crusty loaf of bread!
(This website has decided not to let me type a title for this post?)
Ok, the truth is, my mother does not have a family recipe for chicken pot pie. But she and I did create our own recipe for chicken pot pie yesterday! So here we go :-)
For the crust, which you could have done yesterday because it needs to refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 24 hours…
1 stick butter, we used Whole Foods lactose-free butter
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp sugar
Approx ¼ cup cold water
This is your basic pie dough. Whisk dry ingredients, cut in the butter, and form into dough by adding water. Check out my strawberry toaster pastries post for more details on how to make pie dough! This recipe makes one bottom crust. We have yet to figure out how to make the top crust.
Chill dough for at least an hour. It will then need to pre-bake for half an hour before you add the filling to it, so really, start this early in the day or even the day before!
For the filling:
Approx 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces
Olive oil for cooking
¼ cup white wine
Chicken stock or homemade soup (about 2 cups, but we were running out and only used ½ cup)
Several pinches of Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic
2 scallions
4 baby red potatoes
Generous several handfuls baby carrots
For the side dishes:
Frozen peas
Crusty bread for serving, preferably warmed up
Roast parsnips and asparagus, or your choice of favorite roast veggies
Directions to create this feast:
Once the crust is done chilling, roll it into your trusty pie plate, prick many times with a fork to minimize puffing up, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden-brown and cooked through.
Sautee the chicken in olive oil with a bit of garlic – brown it on both sides, then deglaze the pan with white wine. Turn heat to medium-high for one to two minutes to cook out the alcohol. Then add chicken stock to form the sauce and simmer over low heat indefinitely (basically until crust is ready). We only had about ½ cup of chicken stock left in our house, but if I had had more, I would have added about 2 cups at this stage. We ended up having to add a bit of water in the end. You will add more things to this pan with the chicken, but let’s briefly transition to your boiled potatoes!
Cube the potatoes into tiny cubes and boil them until perfectly cooked. Do not over-cook, since they’re still going to the oven for a few minutes.
Now, slice the carrots into thin slices. Also slice the scallions. Add carrots, scallions, and a few pinches of Italian seasoning to the chicken mixture that’s on low heat. Cover the pan so the carrots can cook through in the broth. I imagine about 15 minutes of carrot-cooking action is optimal for the carrots to be cooked through, though I admit I forgot to look at the clock yesterday to get a more exact time for the recipe.
Once the crust has come out of the oven, it’s time to pour the potatoes and everything that’s in the pan with the chicken over the crust.
Bake pie at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes just so the flavors marry and everything gets piping hot.
Serve with roast vegetables, boiled peas, and a warm, crusty loaf of bread!