Fall Cooking: Chicken Pot Pie
Let's be real, Fall cooking just screams chicken pot pie and it’s the ultimate comfort food.
This post is actually for my husband. When we met, 10years ago, he was the ultimate bachelor who enjoyed living by himself in his own house. I’m still not sure him being the ultimate bachelor is an excuse for how he ate though.
His fridge was stocked with the normal bachelor suspects, such as: beer, hotdogs, corn dogs, left over take out food, and banquet chicken pot pies. We won’t talk about the furniture in his house at this time….
Well, maybe we will take a few minutes to talk about his furniture and his minimalist take on decorating. It’s 2020, I think we could all use a good laugh…
He had a recliner, 2 plastic chairs, a bed, and a dresser. Being an avid guitar player, he had his guitar amp proudly displayed in the living room corner. It’s important to note that the dresser served as a stand for his TV and Xbox 360. Guys, he owned a house, an ENTIRE 3 bedroom house, and this is all that he had. It would be understandable if he had just moved in, but he was there for well over a year when we met; I guess that’s just how he wanted things.
Well, fast forward a few years and now we are married and have a couch in our living room. I will take credit for making him a semi adult. We do still have the Xbox on our actual TV stand, but hey, he’s growing up.
But back to Chicken Pot Pie….
I actually took the time to ask my husband what he liked about it recently (when I was getting ready to make this post) and he said the following:
“ If food could be a warm hug it would be chicken pot pie.”
“I just like the flaky crust….screw up the crust and you lose points! “
“ It’s the first thing I think about when I think comfort food.”
My husband does so much for our family without complaint. The least I could do for him was make him Chicken Pot Pie and I mean, a real Chicken pot pie.
Lets get started cooking…
Ingredients:
Pie Crust *
2-1/2 cups of all purpose flour or 315grams
1 Teaspoon of salt
6 Tablespoons of unsalted butter or 90grams, chilled
3/4 Cup or 148grams of lard chilled
1/2 Cup or 120mL ice water
Pot Pie:
4 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 Cup of finely diced onion
1/2 Cup finely diced carrot
1/2 Cup finely diced Celery
3 Cups of shredded chicken, or 1 whole roasted chicken shredded
1 Cup of frozen peas
1/4 Cup flour
3 Cups of chicken broth - preferably homemade. Check out Chicken Bone Broth in the Basics
Splash of dry white wine **
1/4 Teaspoon of turmeric ***
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 Cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1 Whole egg
2 Tablespoon of water
Directions:
1. Begin by making your pie dough. You DON’T have to make pie dough. You could just use store bought, but if you have the extra time, make it you won’t regret how it tastes so much better!!
2. If you have a kitchen scale, you’re going to want to pull it out. Whenever I’m making any baked good, I prefer to use grams.
3. Throw your butter and lard in the freezer for about 20 minutes before you get started. We want the butter VERY cold for this recipe.
4. Grab a large bowl and mix the flour and salt together.
5. Next take your butter and lard out of the freezer and cut it into cubes.
6. Add the butter cubes to the flour and salt.
7. Using a pastry cutter OR two forks, cut the butter and lard into the flour. It should resemble course meal and have pea sized bits in it.
8. Next measure 1/2 cup of water in a cup and add ice.
9. Stir it around for about 20 seconds.
10. Then REMEASURE the water so you only have a 1/2 cup. We want everything to be cold for this recipe!
11. Now add your cold water to the flour mixture 1 Tablespoon at a time.
12. After each tablespoon of water mix the flour mixture. You want to add enough water that it forms large clumps. I usually use close to all of the 1/2 cup.
13. Transfer the dough to a floured workspace it should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky.
14. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is incorporated.
15. Divide the dough in half and form two small disks.
16. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 5 days. I know we are making pot pie, but THANKSGIVING HACK! Make this dough early so you are ready to go on the big day! ;)
While your dough is chilling … lets make Pot Pie!
17. Preheat your oven to 375degrees
18. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat
19. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Fun Fact: this is called a mirepoix
20. Cook the mirepoix for 3minutes
21. After 3minutes, add your frozen peas and cook for another 2-3minutes.
22. Next stir in your shredded chicken and sprinkle the flour on top.
23. Stir until it’s all combined and you don’t see any of the white flour in the mixture.
24. You are going to cook this for about 1 minute to get rid of the raw flour taste. Again, keep stirring, you don’t want this to burn!
25. After it’s cooked for a minute, pour in the chicken broth, wine, and stir to let it thicken; this should take about 10 minutes.
26. After it has thickened add the turmeric, salt, pepper, and thyme. Stir it all together! By this time, your house should smell AMAZING!
27. Add in the half-and-half or cream and stir the mixture.
28. Let it cook for about 3 minutes.
29. If it looks too thick, add a splash of chicken stock.
30. Turn off the heat.
Now things are about to get fun!!
31. Take your pie dough out of the refrigerator.
32. To roll out the pie dough, take one disk and place it on a floured surface. Start in the middle and roll out and continue to rotate your pie dough. You’re going to want about a 10in circle. Do this with both pie dough balls.
33. Place one down in a 9-inch pie plate.
34. Using your fingers press it down and form the crust up the sides.
35. Fill the pie dough with your chicken pot pie filling.
36. Next place the 2nd pie dough round on top.
37. Crimp the edges together using a fork.
38. Cut slits in the top of the pie.
This is where you can be creative and make it your own!!
39. Next crack your egg in a small bowl
40. Add a tablespoon of water.
41. Beat the egg and water together.
42. Take a small pastry brush and brush it on top of your chicken pot pie. Don’t worry, you will have egg wash left over.
43. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
44. Let cool for a few minutes and serve it up to your family! You won’t be disappointed!
* You don’t have to make your own pie dough. For years I bought store bought and my chicken pot pie was delicious!! However, I will admit, homemade pie crust is AMAZING, so if you’re feeling ambitious give it a shot!
** You can leave the white wine out if you want - it won’t ruin the pot pie if omitted, but personally I think it gives GREAT flavor.
*** Turmeric gives your pot pie a great color. It also has a ton of health benefits, but again, you can leave this out if you prefer.
