Chicken Pot Pie

I promised one of my fellow bloggers that I would make my favorite chicken pot pie recipe and post it. Well, here it is. I have never thought of myself as a chicken pot pie lover. Maybe it has something to do with working for Applebee's for several years when I was in highschool. You see they served a chicken pot pie and while it was popular, I didn't like it. I thought it basically tasted like your average frozen pot pie dish. Not that I really knew what a chicken pot pie frozen dinner tasted like, but I'm sure it tasted something like Applebee's version. Anyway, so I never really cared for pot pies. Until I tried this recipe from my favorite cookbook The New Best Recipe. Wow. It's super delicious and the pie crust topping is very flaky. I don't add peas to this recipe because I can't stand peas. But, I do boil a couple potatoes and crumble it up into the chicken and veggie mixture. I hope you like it!

Ingredients
1 recipe Savory Pie Dough (see below)
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-large onion, chopped fine
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small celery ribs, chopped
Salt and ground pepper
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 tbsp sherry
3/4 c frozen peas, thawed (optional)
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves (optional)

Savory Pie Dough Ingredients
1 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3-4 tbsp ice water

Pie Dough Recipe
First you need to make the savory pie dough, and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
You will need to mix the flour and salt into a food processor and pulse several times until mixed. Put the shortening into the processor and gently coat the flour over the shortening. Pulse with five 1 second pulses. Now, add the butter and continue pulsing until the flour is a pale-yellow and the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of the ice water into the mixture. Take a rubber spatula, and stir the mixture together while pressing with the back of the spatula to flatten the dough. If you need to add the additional tablespoon of water because it seems to flaky then go ahead. I only needed the 3 tbsp of water. Now, take the dough and form it into a shape of a ball. Then flatten it onto a floured surface and from a 4 inch disk. Wrap with plastic and place in fridge.

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
The recipe indicates that you need to put the chicken and 2 cups of the chicken broth into a stock pot and cook until the chicken is done. I had already cooked the chicken, so I just set aside the chicken and the chicken broth for later. If you cook the chicken in the broth, when you remove the chicken set aside the broth for later.

Chop up your veggies, and set aside.
Take your stockpot and place the oil in the pan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Once the pan is nice and hot add the onion, carrots, and celery. Sautee until tender. It says to sautee for 5 minutes, but I sauteed for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. I transferred the veggies to a medium sized bowl and then I shredded/chopped the chicken and placed in the veggie bowl. I also added the potatoes I had boiled earlier and broke them into little pieces. Take the same pot, and heat the 4 tbsp of butter over medium heat. When the foam subsides, add the flour and cook for about a minute. The flour and butter will look like a large lumpy lump. Just go with it.

Now, add the reserved chicken broth, milk, and thyme. Bring it to a simmer, and keep stirring until thickened about a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper till it tastes right to you and then add in the sherry. I only used about 1 tbsp and a half of the sherry. That's just my preference. Now, I take the chicken mixture and pour it into the pot, and stir to combine it together. If you like peas and parsely add it now. Adjust the seasonings if needed. Pour the mixture into a 13x9 baking dish or 6 12-oz ovenproof dishes. I use a round casserole dish. And, yes, the mixture comes up all the way to the rim of the dish.

Now, take your pie dough from the fridge and placed it on a floured surface and roll it with rolling pin till it's 15 by 11 inch rectangle. In my case, I just rolled it so that it would cover the round casserole dish. Transfer the dough to your dish, and you may need to trim the sides of the dough if it hangs 1/2 inch on the side of the dish. I do trim it some and then I stick the trimmed parts on top of the dough. Tuck the overhanging dough back under itself so the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. At this point you can get creative and flute the edges, or you can just leave it as is like I do. Make sure you gently slice four 1 inch slits in the dough, so steam can escape in the oven. Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Around 25-30 minutes for large pot pie. Or 20 to 25 minutes for smaller pies.

(Click here for printable recipe)