Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Chicken pot pie




What do you do when you have a whole chicken and lots of peas? Well I was in the mood for chicken pot pie!

When I realized I didn't have any butter at home (from all the baking over the weekend) so I had to run to the store to get some. As soon as I set foot outside I realized "chicken pot pie" was a bad idea. It is one of the hottest days of the summer so far!

The chicken was already roasted the night before (lots of salt and lemon for a flavourful tender chicken) took all the meat off the bones and reserved the liquids from the pan in the same container for the meat to soak it up in the fridge, yum!

With fresh peas I shelled them and blanched for a few moments (as soon as they float) I threw them into an ice bath and then put them in the fridge for the next day.

All the vegetables like carrots, celery, onion, small chunks of potato and a few cloves of garlic got boiled in a stock until tender then it was time to make the roux... butter and flour in the pot and milk added to that, some black pepper and a bit of salt in the end.

Veggies and chicken got layered in the casserole, cream sauce was poured over and the oven was preheating on 375-400.

The pastry was made before hand (as soon as I got home with my butter!)
Chopped butter into small cubes and worked it into the flour then some cold milk brought it all together and the dough was shaped into a disk and refrigerated.

At this point it was ready for use so I rolled it out and draped it over the casserole/pan, poked a few holes in it and did an egg wash over.

Baked until it was bubbly and the crust was flaky and browned.











7 comments:

Sashquatch said...

Pie is NEVER a bad idea :) i absolutely adore anything pastry based, and your pie looks down right delicious!

Amy J. and Tiffanie A. said...

Even though it is 97 deg. in GA I want this wonderful dish NOW!! You made this dish look really easy, I ALWAYS thought this recipe would take hours upon hours! THANKS for the recipe.

We just started following you! Cannot wait for more recipes!!

Love,
http://chickswholovetoeat.blogspot.com/

Amatullah said...

Amy, it is pretty simple! You can simplifier it further if you have things already prepared like leftover chicken, boiled vegetables, even a cream sauce or store bought pie crust. It was very relaxing to make, give it a try :) Another idea is to use puff pastry on top, I've done that last time or a dumpling dough (add in some chives or parsley..? and then just place them on top and bake (a scone type of dumpling)

Amatullah said...

http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2011/03/chicken-pot-pie-with-herbed-biscuits.html
here is a recipe for the biscuit topped chicken pot pie!

Unknown said...

ummm... am i missing something? where are the measurements for the ingredients? I really want to make this but don't know how much I need of each thing. thanks!

Amatullah said...

unknown, to be honest I don't cook with recipes, meaning these are components you put together to create this lovely dish.
I tend to assume most cooks know the basics of making a pie crust and a cream sauce, and how to roast a chicken and then you put it all together and add as much boiled chopped veg (in whatever variety) into it.

Here are some basic recipes:

PASTRY
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter, using knives or pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in milk, all at once, and stir to form a dough. Refrigerate in a disk and then roll out when needed.

Cream sauce:
http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-white-sauce-roux-31540

Roasted chicken, or buy a rotisserie chicken or boil some chicken, or use leftover chicken:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/engagement-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html

Vegetables: I used chopped carrots, onions, celery and peas, boil them in your stock or in salt water until they are tender then set aside and use.

Good luck! :) If you need any more help let me know.

Mia @ TheFatLossAuthority said...

I appreciate the basic instructions - I am also one that needs a recipe to follow. If I just start putting it all together there is no telling what the end result will be!! I tried this over the summer and it came out really good. I would love to have some today!!