When she found out I had to cook for a client yesterday, she wanted to come to the shop to cook with me. I was hoping to finish in under 45 hours so I suggested I would instead go early to the cafe, make food there - and then come back and we could do the same things at home.
She decided on Chicken Pot Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Rice Krispy Treats. Full disclosure: She asked for Salad instead of the Chicken Pot Pie but is snowed over a foot yesterday. I was not in a salad frame of mind.
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| Here she is reading a cookbook while wearing her shirt to show her support for a Bully-Free environment. She pointed out that it was important she wear this shirt on other days too as a reminder that she supports it "not just on the day." |
When I make Chicken Pot Pie, I like to use pie crust. I know some people are fans of puff pastry - but my mom always used crust (as did my Nanny) so... pie crust it is. I'll have to give you the recipe for it another day since we had some already made (Thanks Mom!). If you don't have a crust recipe of your own and/or you REALLY like puff pastry, you could definitely use it here.
This recipe is definitely more "quick cooking" than the traditional way I made it in the past where I poached a whole chicken and shredded it first. I still make it that way sometimes - but now when there's an 8yr old involved.
As for the "insides" of the pie, it is a pretty classic mix of:
Abt 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour**
1 Onion, chopped (If you're really not an onion fan you could use leeks or pearl onions if you want to peel them!)
1 cup Carrots
1 cup Celery
1 cup Potatoes
few handfuls of Peas
Chicken* (Normally, I use the whole chicken but I had chicken breasts and used 4)
about 8 cups Chicken Stock
1 teaspoon dried sage (or 4 or 5 leaves if you have fresh)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 or 3 sprigs if you have fresh)
Salt and Pepper to taste (I find you need less if you're using store-bought stock than house-made)
Sometimes, I use mushrooms and I have used cream in a few recipes too - but not today.
I don't usually measure my ingredients (I know... I know...) this is pretty close to what I would say the amounts were.
In the interest of not boring my 8yr old kid, I started with melting the butter and adding the vegetables to saute before adding the flour. I knew she wouldn't be cool with me making the roux on my own and I was pretty sure she wasn't up to whisking on her first try.
I added the flour next and then the broth. It was perhaps not the way they taught me in culinary school but it worked out pretty well! I cubed the chicken since raw chicken and added it in along with the herbs and let the whole thing simmer about 25 minutes.
Once the filling is done, I spoon it into the container we're using (usually a glass casserole but in the interest of no dishes I totally took some containers from the shop - don't judge me) and top it with the pie crust.
Bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes or until the crust is brown. (This would probably be a few minutes less for the puff pastry.)
If you were making this ahead of time you could either make it to completion OR wait to cook it - totally your call.
**If you are eating this it is assumed you're using the pie crust and are therefore not gluten-free. However, for my gluten-free peeps, you COULD omit the flour and make this as a stew. (For my non-potato eating peeps, switch out the potato for sweet potato but be aware that there is not as much of a thickening that will occur this way. It will still taste awesome but won't be as thick.)
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