Chicken Pot Pie-O-My

A perfect comfort food kind of meal for me is a chicken pot pie. It has everything good - chunks of well cooked chicken, lots of vegetables and hopefully, a well made, tasty crust. After making a roast chicken, I cut the leftover meat off the carcass and stashed it in the freezer for another time.

That other time came today after reading a recipe for chicken pot pie in a Caprial Pence cookbook called Cooking with Caprial-American Bistro Fare. Chicken pot pie is a dish that can be broken down into three components: the filling, the sauce and the crust. For my pot pie, I used the recipe for the crust from Caprial's cookbook and the rest was improvisation. The crust is magnificent. It is so easy to roll out and very flavorful, what with the cheese in it and all. I microwaved my veggies until they were just tender, thus decreasing the time the pie had to cook in the oven. Also, I used leftover chicken that was already cooked and cubed. Another time saver would to use deli whole roasted chickens from the store. This would be so good using leftover turkey too.

Chicken Pot Pie
Crust

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup finely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shortening (I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup lard)
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold water

Place the flour, cheeses, shortening and salt into a medium bowl and with your fingertips rub in the shortening until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add water and mix with a fork just until the mixture comes together. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling out.Filling
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup frozen peas

Microwave all of the vegetables together for about 5-6 minutes until they are just tender. Set aside.
Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried tarragon

Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and tarragon and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. Whisk in chicken broth and let cook, stirring frequently until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil. Add vegetables and cooked chicken.Assembly
Roll out crust to fit the top of a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Add filling mixture to pan. Top with pie crust and flute edges. Brush the entire crust with an egg wash of 1 beaten egg and a little water or cream. Place pie pan on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until crust is a deep golden brown.