Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A craving: Chicken Pot Pie...

It's comfort food season alright. Last week I woke up with a craving for pot pie. I've never made one and there isn't a recipe in my family, so, of course, I looked to the trusty internet for guidance. After browsing several recipes, I liked this one because it had just the right kinda goodness in it-- lots of chicken, yummy veggies and a creamy, buttery sauce. I decided to poach my chicken but you could easily skip that step by buying a rotisserie. I also decided not to make the crust from scratch (gasp); instead I used refrigerated biscuits because of time. I think someday when I'm feeling a bit more ambitious I'd like to make my own but the biscuits worked out just perfectly. This recipe would work great in small individual ramekins as well but I opted for the full dish because that's what I had on hand.
Okay, so I'm not trying to toot my own horn here but this was so fantastic (maybe it was all that butter??). I don't think any one of us had a speck of food left on our plate. Seriously, it's that good.
Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from Annie's Eats

Filling Ingredients:

+ 3 tbsp. salted butter
+ 1 yellow onion
+ 1 lg or 3 small russet potatoes, diced
+ 3 cloves of garlic, minced
+ 8 oz (1 carton) button mushrooms, sliced
+ 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
+ 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
+ 3 lg chicken breasts
+ 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
+ salt & pepper for seasoning

Sauce Ingredients:

+ 8 tbsp salted butter
+ 1 cup flour
+ 1/2 cup heavy cream
+ Dash of hot sauce
+ salt & pepper for seasoning

Crust Ingredients:

+ 1 pkg of Pillsbury Golden layer flaky biscuits

Directions:

Poach the chicken by placing it in a pot that's just large enough for one layer. Pour the chicken stock over chicken (make sure it completely covers the top of the chicken by at least 1/2 an inch). Add a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and cook for about 10 min. Turn off heat and cover completely, let the chicken cook for 10 more min in liquid. Remove chicken and shred into small pieces. Set aside the chicken broth for the sauce.

For the filling, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and potatoes, saute for about 5 min. Mix in garlic and mushrooms and cook for about 15-20 min (or until potatoes are tender). Once vegetables are cooked, add the shredded chicken and frozen peas and carrots and let cook about 2 min more. Stir in red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.

For the sauce, melt butter over medium heat in saucepan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Using the chicken stock from the poaching step, whisk in flour mixture until it becomes the consistency of cream soup. Mix in the cream, hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Next assemble the casserole by pouring the filling in a large baking dish. Next, pour the sauce over the filling and stir to combine well. Lay the biscuit rounds on top of the filling (you may want to flatten the biscuits a bit to fill more surface area) and brush the tops with egg white if desired. Place the pot pie in a 375° F preheated oven and cook for 30 min until bubbly. Serve & Enjoy!

** FYI: The dish in the photos is from night 2 (leftovers are the best) and is smaller than the original one I cooked the pot pie in...which was 13in x 9in.

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