Heather says:
My husband is always asking for chicken pot pie and I realized my avoidance is part of some bizarre personal boundary. (It has to do with the amount of work for a meal in relation to my own general enjoyment). So, both today and next week’s Fearless Friday are about me getting over myself. Today it is openly admitting to using a convenience item; next week will be the pie crust tutorial I have been avoiding for -can it be years already?
Oh, and Tara, here’s a great use for leftover chicken.
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There are many variations of this classic. This is a simple, but flavorful version.
- pie crust
- 1 batch of bechamel sauce
- 2 cups cooked and cubed or shredded chicken (white, dark, or a mixture)
- 2 celery ribs, sliced with the leaves
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas (I was out, so I omitted)
- 1/2 teaspon thyme
- 2 TBSP fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
- salt / pepper to taste
In a large, covered skillet over medium-low heat sweat the onions, carrots, and celery. The celery leaves bring a lot of flavor, so don’t throw them out. You can use a scant amount of olive oil, if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Stir occasionally. Soon your carrots and celery will be bright orange and green. Add the garlic and continue cooking for just a minute or two more.
Add the bechamel sauce and reduce the heat to low. If your chicken isn’t already cubed or shredded, do so now and add it to the sauce. Add the thyme, parsley, and salt and pepper. Give everything a good stir.
Preheat the oven to 400F and prepare the pie crust.
Pour your sauce mixture into the pie crust.
Cover the pie with the other half of dough. Use a fork to crimp the edges closed. Use a sharp knife and cut a few slits in the crust for steam to escape.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until the pie crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it sit for a few moments before slicing and serving.
Enjoy!
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Yours looks delicious. This is going to sound dumb, but how do you recommend cooking the chicken for something that is going to (again) be baked? Do you boil the chicken, bake it, what? I tend to overcook my chicken for any dish that calls for pre-cooked, diced chicken and I just need some guidance.
Thanks!! Debbie
Chicken pot pie is a favorite around here and I have confess to the use of convenience foods since that’s how I learned to make this dish. Cream of chicken soup, frozen or canned veggies however I always make my own crust. It’s a simple recipe of just flour, butter & milk.
Next time I make CPP, I will, at the very least, use the bechamel sauce instead of cream of something soup. I’ll have to mess with the veggies to make it palatable for my picky family!
as an alternative if you don’t already have a batch of bechamel sauce on hand, sweat the onions, celery and carrots in the bechamel making step. Sweat them in whatever fat you’re using for the roux, add the flour and proceed with the bechamel making.
Your pie looks delicious!
We love pot pie using leftover meat – chicken, turkey, pot roast – for the last one we had, we used leftover roast pork.
I sometimes have the same problem as Debbie, though – sometimes the meat ends up dried out if I don’t use enough gravy/sauce.
OOOH….. I am going to have to try this the next time we have left overs. I love Pot Pies, but have never tried making one.
Oooh Imabug can cook!
I used to watch a friend make the easiest looking pie crust for individual pies she made, weekly, on her menu, but honestly.. I don’t feel its so easy.
Debbie – I’ve been buying frozen skinless/boneless chicken pieces (at Sams) and simmering them. I find that they dry out if I boil them.. so I just put them in my large skillet, cover them with water and better-than-bouillon (I know I have to figure out how to get around this stuff.) and gently let them simmer.. little bubbles.. It even works for chicken salad.
I’m very squeamish about de-boning chicken. Its a bad habit. I love the organic roasting hens in the crock pot for this type of meal, too, though. (I bribe my teens to de-bone it, when I can figure out how to trick them into a bribe. 🙂 )
to get not-dried-out cooked chicken, try a recipe I posted on a cooking site ages ago. Google “un-boiled chicken” and you’ll find it. It’s meant for a whole chicken, but people doing reviews have used it on all kinds of pieces.
@heidi I can cook very well thank you very much. I just haven’t been doing much of it the last year or so (something I need to change)
Debbie, If you haven’t already, invest in a meat thermometer and depend on that to figure out when you chicken is done. Err on the low side, normally 165, stop cooking at 160, process, and store immediately. Don’t err too low, you don’t want to provide any icky bacteria with a nice warm headstart, but you’ll essentially be reheating the chicken well over 165, so you’ll be killing bacteria at that time.
Usually I toss extra chicken breasts on the grill anytime I fire it up. I ALWAYS have a use for extra chicken. In fact extra is probably a misnomer, it’s just chicken that has not yet been consumed. 😉
Beautiful pie!!!!
This looks good. I’ll try it soon.
Well, I have to say that my “fearlessness” is demonstrated by simply making new things, that’s obstacle enough for me to hurdle. So today I made Heather’s clam chowder. I’ve never made any clam chowder before, and have made very few soups or stews either. It was really good! My husband, whose favorite soup is clam chowder (although most of what he’s had came from cans), said it was probably the best he’d ever had–that’s a first for us–me making something he thought was the best he’d ever had. Well, it wasn’t my recipe, but I was happy all the same.
Thank you!
I always make my pot pies with baking powder biscuits on top (do not ask me why I find cutting out the biscuits less onerous rolling out dough.) and use left over chickens or various other scraps. There’s no law saying it has to be one kind of meat! I figure its good peasant food, and have even done it with canned tuna (its super yummy!)
oh, my fearless thing this week is going to be attempting to ferment my own sour pickles. My mom loves them and they are difficult to get in stores. Wish me luck!
When I make chicken pot pie, I make a biscuit dough instead of pie crust. I oil and flour (gluten-free: use rice, corn, or oat flour) the inside of a deep steel pot (one normally used on the stove, but can go into the oven as well – about 4 quart size), and press the dough onto the sides, about 1/3 inch thick.
Then I add my veggie and meat filling, which I pre-steam on the stove ahead of time to get the excess liquids to release so they won’t flood my pie. (Save this juice as a base for simmering other veggies later.) The veggies/chicken are best used hot, but you can start with refrigerated, just add more baking time.
Instead of making the white sauce separately, I just combine approximately equal parts of cold chicken stock and cream, a spoonful of melted bacon grease (you can omit or substitute oil or butter), and some corn starch or tapioca flour added to thicken. I also add my spices to this liquid, and pour it over the veggies and meat. Be careful not to use too much liquid. It took me some experimentation initially to get the liquid balance right.
Lastly, I top the pie with the rest of the biscuit dough (leave a quarter-sized hole open in the middle to let steam vent), brush with an egg white, and dust lightly with coarse salt. The pie bakes for about 1.5 hours at 325° F. Since the insides are pre-cooked, your gauge for doneness will be the biscuit dough. Once the top is set and browned, the pie is done.
If your oven runs hot or has uneven heating, set your pot on a wire rack atop a cookie sheet or large baking dish and drape the top of the pie loosely with a sheet of foil (remove near end of cooking to let the top brown).
Serve with a big spoon – plates or bowls will do. It comes out like a cross between chicken pot pie and chicken and dumplings!
BTW, I have made this in a crock pot before, but that was so long ago I don’t really remember the cooking time – I think it was about 2 hours on high. Prop the lid up to let the steam escape or it will be soggy. The top won’t brown, but will still taste good. The result is much more like chicken and dumplings.
#NOM! yummmy Heather, you’ve really outdone yourself! Now since you’ve overcome making this pot pie…I have been trying to make a very English type of pie – Steak Pie – its similar like your chicken but made steak, am not one to do things in the kitchen but i do love to cook (when the urge hits me) which is not often enough, just have too much stress of life lately…but that chicken pot pie – you make it sound so easy to do! I guess we should really give it a go..eh? 🙂 YOU rock girlfriend! 😀
Is this something I can make with gravy rather than the becamel sauce? I can’t use dairy sauces (all white sauces, right?) because of lactose intolerance in the household.
Thanks!
I like the biscuit version, too, but my husband prefers the pie crust version. Sometimes you just have to humor the spouses, right?
@Tara – I don’t see any reason why you can’t use a nondairy gravy as your base. Start with a roux of margarine or oil (maybe a little bacon grease, if that’s within the scope of your diet) and some sort of flour – toast the flour until lightly browned and fully integrated with the oil, then s-l-o-w-l-y start adding some seasoned chicken stock. The thicker the chicken stock is, the better – that means make your own or go for the top shelf organics. The roux should absorb the stock and thicken and then be useful for your pot pie. If in doubt, cool the gravy and see if it sets (gets thick/gelatinous). If it doesn’t, stir in a little cornstarch dissolved in water before pouring over your chicken and veggies and baking. HTH.