Chicken Pot Pie

I recently traveled from Kingston to Hamilton to spend Christmas with my family, leaving Anders behind, at our apartment, where he is studying for exams until next week. Before I left, I wanted to make sure he wouldn't have to resort to eating cookies and granola bars until he gets home. This is not to say he can't cook. He can! It's one of many reaons he's a great man. But cooking (and cooking well) takes time, time that could be better used studying and preparing for exams! So before I left, I set to work making some chicken pot pies!

Naturally enough, I started with some chicken breasts!


I drizzled the chicken with olive oil, and seasoned it with salt, pepper and rosemary and baked it.


While the chicken was roasting, I prepared some potatoes, carrots, celery and an onion.


And then the chicken came out of the oven, smelling super delicious. Even though I don't eat meat.


I set the chicken aside to cool and started on the pie filling. The recipe called for oil and butter in the pan, but elected to use the remaining oil and chicken drippings from the pan and some butter.


In that, I sauteed the onion and celery.


Next, I added a bit of flour...


And blanched the potatoes and carrots in some chicken stock.


After blanching in the stock for three minutes, I removed the potatoes and carrots and set them aside.


And then added both the chicken broth and some cream to the onion and celery and whisked until smooth.


Once it had thickened a bit, I added the potatoes, carrots, and some frozen peas and corn.


And I mixed it all together again, and then cut the chicken up into chunks (which I added later and didn't snap a photo of, apparently).


I turned to my trust olive oil pie dough for these little pies, and rolled the dough out to fit into little pot pie tins.


Next, I stuffed shell full of the chicken filling. Let's face it, if I made it any smaller, it wouldn't be filling enough for Anders!


Then, I put on a simple top.


I put four pies on a tray (two of these are actually beef!) and put them in the oven to brown up.


Anders heated up a pie the next day for dinner.


And enjoyed it!


I was personally just happy they turned out so well! I'd seen so many photos of chicken pot pies with completely liquid fillings, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this nice, thick filling. I can't say anything about the flavour, but it all looked really good!

Recipes

Olive Oil Pie Crust

2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup ice water
1 tablespoon of vinegar

×××

Place olive oil in the freezer until it solidifies, approximately 3 or 4 hours.
Combine flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl and mix. Add remaining ingredients and blend with a pastry blender. Place dough in an air tight container or plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for an hour or so to chill.
Roll ball out to 1/8 inch thickness and fit into a pie plate(s). Use as you would a regular pie crust.

Chicken Pot Pie

3 cups cooked chicken (three to four breasts)
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or the chicken drippings)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken broth made with one extra boullion cube
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas

×××

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and rosemary. Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
In a large, deep pan, sautee onion and celery in chicken drippings and butter for about 5-10 minutes. Be sure to stir every few minutes to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pot.
Heat up the *chicken stock in a medium sized pot, adding one extra cube of bullion. Blanch the carrots and potatoes in the stock for 3 minutes, remove and set aside.
Add the garlic to the onion and celery and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the flour and cook out the starch for about 2 minutes. Stir constantly, to avoid burning. Add the hot chicken stock and allow to come to a low simmer as you stir to thicken. Once the mixture has begun to thicken add the salt, pepper, and cream, and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, corn, peas and chicken and stir until combined. Allow to simmer for a few minutes before removing from the eat.

×××

Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. To assemble the pie (or pies), roll out the dough and fill the pie dish, leaving a little extra dough around the edges. Fill the pie with the desired amount of filling, and place a vented top over the filling. Pinch the edges to seal. Bake for up to 45 minutes, or until the filling bubbles and the crust browns. After removing the pie(s) from the oven, allow to set for a few minutes before serving.


*For the stock, I used OXO broth boullion powder.

Guten Appetit!