Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

When I was browsing cook books and food blogs to make up my two week menu on Saturday morning I came across this recipe for homemade Chicken Pot Pie. I'd never tasted chicken pot pie but it looked yummy and I thought Brad would enjoy it. I also thought it looked like a fun challenge. I always try and make something semi-fancy or at least something that requires a little more work on Saturday's, Sundays and Mondays when I am off work and have the time and energy to dirty up my kitchen. This was surprisingly easy to make. Anytime a recipe involves dough I get a little worried but this was pretty easy. I think I'll definitely make this again. I waan't too sure what to serve this with so I just made a basic chicken gravy to drizzle over the top.

Chicken Pot Pie
Found on http://www.goodeatsblog.com
adapted from The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather

Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounce package frozen peas
8 oz frozen carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 purchased cooked rotisserie chicken or 1 whole stewed chicken, cooled
***Note*** For the veggies in this recipe I just adapted it to what my family likes. I used potatoes, carrots, corn and beans.

Cream Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2-3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dash of hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
Salt and freshly ground white pepper (I used black pepper)

Pie Crust
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
3 cups all purpose flour
10 ounces chilled cream cheese, cut into large pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (I used black pepper)
1 large egg

To make the filling:

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and sauté about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the crushed red pepper and add salt and pepper to taste.

While the vegetables are sautéing, skin the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and shred the meat or cut into bite-size pieces. Stir the peas and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.

To make the cream sauce:
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup. Add the cream, hot pepper sauce, and salt and white pepper to taste. Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine. Fill individual 1/4-cup capacity oven-safe bowls three-quarters of the way to the top with the creamed chicken filling.

To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball. I had to pulse quite a bit before the dough started to form. Don't panic if it takes a little bit.

Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls and cut out dough rounds that are 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pies, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, you can bake this in two 9" dishes or a 13x9" inch dish, rolling out the dough to just slightly larger than the dish and topping it with the pastry, and tucking in the sides of the pastry. I don't have a pie dish so I used my 8X8 glassware dish. I found that I still had some left over mixture and dough so I used a 9 inch cake pan and made a second half-pie as I called it and I gave it to my sister in law. I only had enough dough for a top crust so just greased the pan and put the filling in and then covered it with a top crust. If I were to make this again, I'd just use a 13x9" dish I think.






Tip: You can double wrap the pot pies in plastic wrap and freeze them. When you're ready to eat them, bake them (frozen) at 350F for about 30 minutes. They will keep in the freezer for 2-3 weeks.