Saturday, January 26, 2008

My Evolving Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Chicken was on sale at the supermarket for $0.69 a pound. Locally grown, not shipped across the country via a tractor-trailer. I couldn't pass up the bargain.

I poached the meat and made a stock with the carcass. What to do with the chicken now?

Why not make chicken pot pie?
- I have a frozen deep dish pie crust from Thanksgiving that I should use now.
- The weather has been cold and I've been eating very simple.
- I'll make something hearty and sort of healthy.

I usually just use what's in the refrigerator and I don't write down the amounts, but out of curiosity I kept track.

A deep dish pie crust holds 4 cups of filling. Let's see how close I can get.

Chicken Pot Pie

Potatoes - Chopped about 1/2 inch cubes = 3 cups
Peas - Frozen = 1 cup
Carrots - 1/4 inch dice = 1/2 cup
Onions - 1/4 inch dice = 1/2 cup
Celery - 1/4 inch dice = 1/2 cup
Bell Pepper - 1/4 inch dice = 1/3 cup
Chicken - coarse chop = 1.5 cups
Parsley - fresh, chopped = 1 to 2 tablespoon
Thyme - dried = a couple pinches
Tarragon - dried = a couple pinches
Green Onion - chopped = 1
Homemade stock = 1 cup
Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute the potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, bell pepper in butter with the thyme and tarragon.
Add the rest of the ingredients plus the stock to steam.
I used a butter and flour mixture (beurre manie) to thicken up the mixture.
Poured the filling into the pie,
Covered with the top crust.
Baked at 400F for 25 minutes.

The filling mixture turned out 6 cups and I used 4 for the pie.

Overall, my chicken pot pie was more like a potato pot pie. The pie had a nice flavor, but a bit on the mild side in terms of the herbs.

Also, it felt good to eat something homemade that's a little more hearty instead of rice and veggies or sandwiches.

Changes for the next time around.
- Increase the stock from 1 cup to 3 cups so there will be more gravy.
- Decrease the potato from 3 cups to 2. Chop the potatoes a little more smaller.
- Increase the thyme and tarragon. I didn't want to overpower the dish, but a little more would be nice.
- Add Sage. Sage and poultry is a very common combination.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Love reading your blog. I have a comment for the Chicken-pot-pie - as for thickening up the pie; I usually start with butter, chicken stock, onions, and potatoes. I saute the onions in butter, then add the potatoes and stock - just enough to cover the potatoes. As the potatoes boil in the broth, they naturally start to break down, creating a thick soup. Then I add the meat and veggies, etc. along with just enough broth to cover. Once this soup boils down and combines, it gets thicker. I never have to add a starch base. I think the potatoes do the trick. Another trick I use, is adding in left-over mashed potatoes.

Eat4Fun said...

Shawn,

Thanks for the comment and your secret technique. :-) I enjoy your pot pies very much and will incorporate the method you mentioned the next time I make a pot pie. If I remember... lol.

Hey, it's in writing so I can look back to this post to remind me. :-D