Chicken Pot Pie: Take 2

Hey, it’s Katie again, cooking up the second of my recipes! It’s always a bit of a surprise what I’m going to make for dinner, since I don’t usually know until about 3pm the day of. The last time I made Chicken Pot Pie I was in college, and trying to mimic my then-boyfriend’s mother’s dish. What a dumb idea. Granted, it was good, the taste wasn’t bad, but let me tell you something, it was DRY. More so than the dough itself. The filling didn’t have the usual creamy inside with the gravy that you can dip the crust into and love right off. It was more like “chicken with veggies topped with a crust” with nothing else to it.

This time, after taking the recipe from The Duo Dishes on Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie I thought I’d give it another go, since the first time in cooking can either be A. a disaster, or B. fantastic. In which case I’m more like my Step Daddy and forget what I did the first time, and have to start all over again. So , this whole writing down the recipes thing may actually work out for me.

Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie – Serves 6 to 8

2 white potatoes, parboiled and cubed
2 red potatoes, parboiled and cubed
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chicken broth, warm
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon thyme, minced
1 tablespoon rosemary, minced
1 tablespoon basil, minced
1 teaspoon mint, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sage
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
1/2 tablespoon dill, minced
2 bay leaves, whole
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Zest of 1 lemon, minced
6-7 chicken breast tenderloins
2 pie crusts (frozen or prepared)

Crust (from Simply Recipes)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup Crisco, butter flavor
6-8 tablespoons ice water
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons milk

1.  Start with crust.  Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add chilled butter and combine with a pastry blender.

2.  Add shortening and combine to cut into flour and butter mixture.  Mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal.

3.  Slowly add ice water by tablespoons.  Mix well after each addition until dough begins to stick together.

4.  Place dough on a flat surface and divide into 2 even pieces.  Roll into balls, dust lightly with flour and wrap in plastic.  Place in fridge for at least an hour.

5.  As dough chills, drop chicken tenders into boiling water.  Cook until no longer pink inside, approximately 2-4 minutes.  Set aside in a small bowl.  When cool, tear into pieces–a mixture of large and small.

6.  In a deep, wide skillet, melt butter and oil.  Add garlic, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes and bay leaves.  Cook until carrots have softened a bit but aren’t mushy, approximately 10 minutes. Pour in chicken broth.

7.  Mix cornstarch and flour into milk.  Mix well.    Add to cooking vegetables.  Toss in peas.

8.  Cook until mixture begins to thicken, approximately 8-10 minutes.  Stir in remaining herbs, spices, chicken and half of the cheese.

The filling, After I scooped out half of it into the pie crust, and realized I'd forgotten to take a phot

9.  Remove bay leaves and take off heat.  Allow to cool.

10.  As chicken filling cools, take dough out of fridge and roll one ball for bottom half of crust.  Drop in 9-inch pie dish and trim edges.  Place into fridge as you roll out second piece of dough for top of crust.

11.  Pull out crust and pour chicken filling into dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Top with top crust and trim edges a bit.  Roll top crust edges over bottom crust.  Press together all around with a fork.  Cut slits into top crust.*

Cheesy goodness before I closed the pie

12.  Whisk egg and milk together.  Brush over top crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

*This is totally a make in advance meal. Let the filling cool completely (pop into the fridge to speed that up and keep crust in fridge as well). Pour filling into bottom crust, top with upper crust, cut slits and keep in fridge until ready to cook. Brush with egg wash and bake.

Alright. So I changed a bunch of things…per usual.

-I added broccoli that we had in the fridge that HAD to get used up, and only one potato. I mean, this was one HUGE potato. After I diced it, this is the amount it yielded:

One really huge potato

Well, okay, looking at the photo it doesn’t look like much. But I swear, it was about the amount of three regular potatoes.

-Next, seasoning: I added Italian to the mixture, instead of all of the spices listed. I did that because the kicthen isn’t fully stocked, so I use what I have on-hand instead of going out and spending $30 on spices in one afternoon. I also added some generic “Chicken Spice” mix to it. Proof that, even 11 hours away, I still cook like my Step Dad who just adds things in hopes that it will be good.

-I threw in frozen corn, because I thought it needed more color. And, I added A LOT of cheese. We really like cheese in the house.

-I defiled their recipe. If you go to the website, it’s all about how important it is to use a homemade crust, and yadda yadda. I’m sorry, Duo, but I just don’t have the motivation for that. I bought a store-brand crust out of the cooler (not freezer) section and used that. The kind that unroll into a perfectly flat circle. Ryan was so pleased with it, he said “I believe I could eat just the crust by itself!”

-I did add more gravy stuff, out of fear that it was going to be dry. I added a half a cup of chicken stock, and then a quarter cup of milk. Turns out, I actually had too much. So that was “nice” in a way.

-Secondly, I had enough to make two pot pies, but only had expected to make one. I guess that’s what happens when you tend to not actually measure things. instead, I had to frantically call my poor just-out-of-work sister and ask her how to substitute something for shortening…so I could make and freeze a second pie with a biscuit topping.

Anyway, I found this dish to be just about right. I think a spice was missing, perhaps pepper, because I didn’t put a lot of that into it, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. Oh, and for the record, this drink goes well with a glass of milk.