A wonderful neighbor of mine from our Idaho days knocked on our door one day asking me for a baking dish. A few hours later, she brought it back with a cooked homemade chicken pot pie in it. My life was changed. The following recipe is a variation I have come up with, but I must give credit to a friend for giving me the idea to start with. She has a GREAT cooking blog, Nan's Recipe Spot that is worth checking out.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN POT PIE
2 cups carrots (cut up small)
3 cups potatoes (cut up small)
2 cup peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup wheat** flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
pie Crust ( to follow)
Cook carrots and potatoes and drain, and then set aside.
Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat until melted. Saute onion in the butter until it is slightly brown {NOT BURNT!}
and then add flour, salt, and pepper. It is SO important to saute the onion first, so that you don't have slimy onions in your pie. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly until mixture is combined. It will be clumpy. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Whisk together until its a gravy-like consistency. Be patient with this part-it can take a few minutes to turn the chunks and liquid into a gravy! KEEP WHISKING! Once the grave state has been achieved, Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in chicken and vegetables.
Make Crust!
Chicken Pot Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups wheat** flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 TBS white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 lg egg, at room temperature***
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp dry Rosemary
2 tsp dry Thyme
Heat oven to 400.
I throw all the dry ingredients, including the herbs, into my food processor and then pulse a few times. Then I add the egg and vinegar. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture is crumb-y. Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture pulls together. Pour out onto a floured surface (I love using my cutting board for this.) and knead until it all comes together. Form into a flat dish.
Place inside a ziploc bag and keep in the fridge for an hour, to harden a little. When it's time, roll 2/3 of pastry to fit into an ungreased pan. Pour chicken mixture into pastry lined pan. Roll remaining pastry to fit top of filling. Turn edges over and cut slits in top. Use leftovers to cut shapes and place on the top of the pie, if you like that kind of thing.
I did with this one, and the kids kept fighting over the apple pieces when it was cooked....
Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown, and you can see the gravy bubbling up!
**You can either use white flour, or a mixture of white and wheat flours. I grind my own wheat, and do it on the finest so that I have a light wheat flour that doesn't feel heavy or dense like most wheat flours do when not combined with white flour.
***If you forget to think ahead of time and pull your egg out early enough to be at room temp by the time you need to use it, set egg in a bowl and pour warm water over it. Let this set for 5 minutes, and then you have a speedy room temperature egg!
2 cup peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup wheat** flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
pie Crust ( to follow)
Cook carrots and potatoes and drain, and then set aside.
Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat until melted. Saute onion in the butter until it is slightly brown {NOT BURNT!}
and then add flour, salt, and pepper. It is SO important to saute the onion first, so that you don't have slimy onions in your pie. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly until mixture is combined. It will be clumpy. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Whisk together until its a gravy-like consistency. Be patient with this part-it can take a few minutes to turn the chunks and liquid into a gravy! KEEP WHISKING! Once the grave state has been achieved, Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in chicken and vegetables.Make Crust!
Chicken Pot Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups wheat** flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 TBS white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 lg egg, at room temperature***
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp dry Rosemary
2 tsp dry Thyme
Heat oven to 400.
I throw all the dry ingredients, including the herbs, into my food processor and then pulse a few times. Then I add the egg and vinegar. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture is crumb-y. Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture pulls together. Pour out onto a floured surface (I love using my cutting board for this.) and knead until it all comes together. Form into a flat dish.
Place inside a ziploc bag and keep in the fridge for an hour, to harden a little. When it's time, roll 2/3 of pastry to fit into an ungreased pan. Pour chicken mixture into pastry lined pan. Roll remaining pastry to fit top of filling. Turn edges over and cut slits in top. Use leftovers to cut shapes and place on the top of the pie, if you like that kind of thing.
I did with this one, and the kids kept fighting over the apple pieces when it was cooked....Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown, and you can see the gravy bubbling up!
**You can either use white flour, or a mixture of white and wheat flours. I grind my own wheat, and do it on the finest so that I have a light wheat flour that doesn't feel heavy or dense like most wheat flours do when not combined with white flour.
***If you forget to think ahead of time and pull your egg out early enough to be at room temp by the time you need to use it, set egg in a bowl and pour warm water over it. Let this set for 5 minutes, and then you have a speedy room temperature egg!
