Chicken Pot Pie

We've had friends in town for the week and we've been very busy doing a bunch of fun things around Portland, like going to the zoo, checking out Mt. Hood and heading to the coast twice. After a long day wandering around the zoo, I picked up a roasted chicken at the store to use in a pot pie - it was much too hot to roast my own. I adapted the recipe for the filling from a Cooking Light magazine and got the recipe for the crust from my dear friend Currié. It was really easy to make and tasted fantastic! My friends have only had frozen pot pies and were excited to try a homemade one. They both really loved it as did the rest of us. We all had seconds and finished the entire pie.

Chicken Pot Pie:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking

Filling recipe adapted from Cooking Light; Crust recipe from Currié

Crust:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup of shortening
• 5-7 tbsp ice cold water

Place one cup of flour in a bowl; next add the teaspoon of salt followed by the second cup of flour then add 5-7 tablespoons of ice water. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently press mixture into a circle and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

Filling:

• Meat from one small roasted chicken, shredded
• 1 tbsp butter
• 8 oz of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4-5 red potatoes, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
• 4 cups of Chicken Broth
• 4-5 tbsp corn starch
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Thyme, to taste

Add the potatoes and carrots to 3 cups of broth and boil for 10 minutes. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add onions and sauté for 3 minutes then add sliced mushrooms. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until softened then add minced garlic, stirring constantly for 60 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the chicken to the skillet along with the carrots, potatoes, broth and peas; bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining cup of broth and mix thoroughly. Once the filling is boiling, add the cornstarch mixture along with sea salt, pepper and thyme. Stir well. Taste and re-season if needed. Remove from heat. Pour filling into a large baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out. Place dough on top of the filling, pressing to the edge of the dish. Cut 4-5 slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape.

Cover the edges of the crust with tin foil to prevent burning. Bake for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net