Chicken Pot Pie

There is really nothing easy about making a decent Chicken Pot Pie -- I'll just say that flat out!  That is if you want a delicious homemade cream sauce that doesn’t come from a soup can.  The hardest part about this recipe (for me) was getting the sauce to come out just right.  The recipe I adapted my dish from, I didn’t follow closely because I am a picky eater and I didn’t care much for all the stuff they put in theirs, but I followed their recipe for the sauce.  Problem: Their recipe called for 1 cup of flour which had a very floury taste to it, so I added more broth.  When I added more broth (and I had to add a lot more to get the floury taste fixed) the gravy was too thin.  Then I had to add some cornstarch to thicken it back up.  So this you will have to work with….I’m just sayin’.  It wasn’t the easiest recipe I have ever had to follow, but using the canned vegetables was a  huge time-saver and they are good.  Fresh carrots take an unbelievable amount of time to cook, so canned carrots are a must. 

Three 2^nd shift officers came for dinner Saturday night, and six 1^st shifters came for lunch leftovers on Sunday.  I happened to buy three extra pie crust tops so I replaced the crusts (nothing but the best for the best) for the leftover pot pies for 1^st shift lunch, and they were perfect!

(click on picture to enlarge)

Even with the gravy snafu, this dish was well worth making – everybody absolutely LOVED it!  And after the adorable comments I received from both my dinner and lunch visitors, I would not hesitate to make this again!  Police officers have a stressful and, often times, thankless job.  They earn, many times over, every meal I will ever have the pleasure and honor of making for them.     

Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe adapted from this one
Makes 6 individual servings

Filling

3 tbsp. butter

1 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced)

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

1 can carrots, drained (I used the sliced round ones – not diced)

1 can peas (or) 1 can of green beans, drained (or) you can do half  and half  

1 can niblets corn, drained

1 rotisserie chicken

Sauce

8 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2½ cups chicken broth (buy one of those 6 cup broth cartons – trust me on this)
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Thyme (not much….just a quick shake)

Note:  I doubled this recipe to ensure I had enough sauce for all the vegetables.  I was able to spoon extra sauce on top of each filled pot pie before placing the crust on top. 

Crust
3 boxes Pillsbury ready-made pie crust (or you can buy two boxes – which I will do next time – and use the scraps of leftover dough from the cut-out rounds and roll out 2 extra dough rounds)

2 eggs / 3 tbsp water (for the egg wash on top)

To make the filling,  melt 3 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and potato to the pan, and sauté for about 15 minutes or until tender. My potatoes actually browned, which is fine. While the potatoes are cooking, remove the skin from the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and shred or chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a very large bowl or pot, gently toss or mix together the chicken and vegetables. 

To make the sauce, melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add the flour and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in the chicken broth and cook over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup.  Mix in the cream, salt and pepper, and dash of thyme.  Once you get the cream sauce fixed to your liking, pour the sauce over the chicken and veggie mixture and stir to combine well.  Spoon the mixture into 6-8 individual oven-safe dishes (such as ramekins).

For the crust, unroll the pre-made Pillsbury pie crust rounds.  Find a plate around the house that is approx. 1” larger in diameter than the top of your ramekin (or whatever you cook our pot pie in.)  Lay the dough round on top of each ramekin.  Use a fork to seal the edges (refer to picture).  In a small bowl, add eggs and 3 tbsp water and beat with a whisk or a fork.  Brush the tops of each dough round lightly w/ a pastry brush.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  

Place the pot pie dishes on a baking sheet for easy transfer in and out of the oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated over, or until golden brown.  I let mine sit for about 10 minutes before serving – the filling was extremely hot.

If you have guests coming for dinner, I recommend you make the sauce and debone the chicken the night before.  You could even sauté the potato and onions the night before also.  This will be a huge time-saver for you the day of your event.  

Oh, by the way, I purchased my ramekins at Target for $2.99/each (great price).  They come in three colors (blue, red and yellow.)  They also have white, but the white ones were I think at least a dollar more -- go figure.