Real Chicken Pot Pie
Totally home made from comfortably domestic.
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe for No Excuses Pie Dough; see recipe below. (OR use 2 store-bought, refrigerated pie crusts)
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 C. freshly minced onion
- 1 1/4 C. thinly sliced carrots
- 1/2 C. thinly sliced celery stalks (leaves OK)
- Kosher salt and black pepper (to taste-I usually use 1 tsp. salt + 1/2 tsp. pepper to start)
- 2 C. boneless, skinless chicken, cooked and shredded
- 4 Tbs. unsalted butter
- 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 C. milk
- 2 C. chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 C. frozen peas, thawed
- Optional: make and egg wash by whipping an egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 C. (12 Tbs.) unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 Tbs. iced water
Filling
No Excuses Pie Dough
Instructions
- Check that dough is fully touching the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
- Make No Excuses Pie Dough and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large Dutch oven or sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery in the pan until soft, but not brown. (About 5 minutes.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- While the vegetables are softening, shred the cooked chicken. Leftover chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken is excellent in this recipe. Set the shredded chicken aside in a large bowl.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables from the pan, placing them in the bowl with the shredded chicken; set aside.
- Heat the butter in the now empty Dutch (still over medium-high heat.) The butter will foam as it melts. Once the foaming stops, whisk in the flour. Cook the flour/butter for one minute…whisking constantly.
- Pour in the milk and chicken stock. Continue to whisk until smooth.
- Add the thyme.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until sauce fully thickens…stirring constantly. (About 1-2 minutes.)
- Taste sauce and adjust salt & pepper, to taste.
- Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables in the large bowl; stir to combine. (Can be cooled, covered, and reheated overnight. Re-warm filling before filling pie.)
- Stir in the peas. Set filling aside while rolling out pie dough. (If refrigerated, allow pie to to “warm” on the counter for 10 minutes before rolling out.)
- Roll half of the No Excuses Pie Dough on a lightly floured surface into a circle, 12-inches in diameter. (Or use refrigerated, rolled pie crust-you may need to roll it a bit larger.)
- Gently roll the dough/pastry around the rolling pin to transfer to a 10-inch pie plate.
- Once dough has chilled, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and use in your favorite pie recipe. OR keep the dough disks tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, and then place them in a freezer bag. Dough can be frozen for up to a month. Just let dough thaw overnight on the refrigerator before rolling out.
- Spoon the warm filling into the pastry lined pie plate.
- Roll the other half of the No Excuses Pie Dough into a 12-inch circle. Roll the circle around the rolling pin, and transfer it to cover the top of the filled pie.
- Trim the edges of the pastry, and then fold & crimp the edges.
- Cut vent slits in the top of the pie. Brush top with egg wash, if desired.
- Bake until crust is fully cooked, top and bottom, and a deep golden brown; about 35-40 minutes. (If edges become too dark, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until pie is done.)
- Let pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Pie Dough Instructions:
- Enough for a generous 9-inch Double Crust Pie, a 10-inch double crust pie or two 10-inch tarts
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and freeze for at least one hour.
- Place the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times (1 second pulses) to mix.
- Add the frozen butter cubes to the food processor bowl, and toss with a fork to coat. Continue pulsing to work the butter into the flour mixture, until the butter is the size of small peas. (‘About 8-12 pulses, depending on the size of the motor on the food processor.)
- While the food processor is running on high, slowly add the iced water through the feed tube, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together and a stiff dough forms. (This process usually takes 15-20 seconds total in my ‘80’s era food processor.)
- Dump dough onto a clean, floured surface. Divide dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a ball, and then pat the ball into a 1/2 inch tall disk. Wrap the disks snugly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out.