Last night I made a FANTASTIC Chicken Pot Pie.
Although after doing a little research I guess technically I made a Chicken Pie, since I used a double crust. All of you who are already rolling your eyes because you don't know what the hell "double crust" means... don't skip this post... intriguing insights into Mrs Furious past are about to be revealed...
Okay back to the Chicken Pie.
When I was thinking about writing this post and about pot pies I was forced to bring up from my subconscious the childhood memory of eating Rabbit Pot Pie. MMMM... bunny. No seriously, for a while my mother and her 2nd husband went through a little "let's live off the land" phase which involved raising rabbits for food. They also raised pigs and chickens. I can still remember hiding by the side of the house not wanting to watch the chickens running around with their heads cut off... and yet being drawn to it like a bad accident. So why didn't we have
Chicken Pot Pie I wonder? During this strange, albeit fascinating, time my stepfather shot a squirrel and we HAD to eat it for dinner. I am currently almost crippled with a fear of squirrels... coincidence?... I think not. I also have a pretty strong "memory" of seeing a UFO under our mulberry tree at about this same time... so I might not be an accurate reporter ;)
No seriously the eating of bunnies and squirrel did happen.
Anyhoo my Pot Pie is not made of rodent... so enjoy!
Chicken Pie
I made a double crust using a basic pie crust recipe, except I tried out some new White Wheat Flour (not worth the extra $.. still tastes like regular wheat, and isn't exactly white anyway)
I roasted a pack of chicken legs (400 degrees for about 35 minutes)
I melted 3 T butter in the bottom of a saucepan then added 3 T flour and stirred this over a low flame for about 2 minutes then slowly added 1 & 1/3 cups of Chicken Stock to this. I seasoned this with salt, pepper, ground sage, ground thyme & a little onion powder and simmered this. (I didn't measure but not a lot 1/4t each maybe.. salt to taste)
I pulled the meat off the roasted Chicken Legs and added it to the "gravy".
To this I added one bag of Trader Joe's Vegetable Melange (this stuff is fantastic and I use it in Shepard's Pie as well). If you don't have a Trader Joe's this is a mixed vegetable with a seasoned butter (5 servings 70 cal each... if you need a butter sauce factor to keep in mind while you look at other brands).
Anyway I added the veggies to the chicken and gravy and poured it into my pie crust and then covered it with my top crust.
I baked that at 375 for 40 minutes.
Oh yeah brush the crust with some egg that has been beaten with a little milk or cream.
This makes 8 servings at 375 calories a piece
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UPDATE:
Mr F thinks I need to explain what double crust does mean.
A double crust is simply enough crust for the bottom and top crusts of a pie. A typical "pot pie" has no bottom crust and is really filling inside of a casserole dish with a top crust. Homey don't play that way. I want my filling encased in crust.
basic recipe:
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2/3 c shortening (FYI shortening makes for a flakier crust!)
6-7 T ice cold water
Blend the flour and salt together with a fork in a large bowl. Use two knives to cut the shortening into the flour until it is in pea sized bits (this is really easy.. but of course you can use a food processor... personally I don't think it is worth the clean up). Sprinkle the mixture with the water a Tablespoonful at a time while using a fork to press & mash it into a dough. It should still be a little crumbly when you are done. Divide the dough into two circles. Roll one out on a floured surface (you'll need more for rolling) and place in the pie plate. Trim edges to a little past your plate. Roll out top crust. I roll the edges off my bottom crust and crimp. Then for a pot pie I place the plate on top of the top crust and use a pizza cutter to cut around the bottom of the plate. This makes a circle slightly smaller than the pot pie. Place this top crust on top... it will not meet the edge just center it in the middle of your pie... this looks great when you are done. I also roll out the scraps and cut out some decorative leaf shapes with a cookie cutter (what.. just because we eat pretty food doesn't mean we aren't furious!). Beat an egg with a splash of milk and brush your top crust and the edges of your bottom crust. This also acts as glue for your decorative pieces... brush the tops of those too! The egg wash gives your crust that shiny golden color.
