I love me some good, hot comfort food.
And one of those foods is Chicken Pot Pie. Not the little frozen ones in the silver pie tins, but homemade, stick-to-your ribs Chicken Pot Pie. The kind like mama used to make.
(Even my own mom, the-cereal-for-dinner gal, made pot pie to die for!) Years ago she found a really easy, really good recipe and we've been making it ever since. She even used to make me one, freeze it, and bring it to me and my roomates at college. I make for all my friends who have babies because it's yummy and kids love it! The recipe is so simple that I have it memorized and often I grab the ingredients at the store just to have on hand if the need arises.
Just Like Mama's Chicken Pot Pie:
2 pie crusts
(I should mention that I usually make homemade pie crust because it's so easy and delicious and since the store bought crusts are perishable I don't always have one, but a store bought one will work just fine.) 2 cans cream of potato soup
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
(I usually boil three chicken breasts in heavily salted water...like 1/4 cup of salt. Once you cool and shred them, they have a nice hint of salt without being too bland or too salty.) 1 small can green beans, drained
1 small can sliced carrots, drained
1 small can corn, drained
1 small can peas, drained
(I should also mention that mom always used a bag of frozen vegetables instead of canned vegetables. You just thaw them out under running water and throw them in. I HATE frozen vegetable mixes because everything tastes the same and the veggies tend to "squeak" in your teeth when you eat them so I don't use them. Using cans also allows me to only use the vegetables I like.)1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Combine soup, veggies, milk, thyme, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place one crust in the bottom of a pie plate and spoon soup mixture inside. Cover with second crust and crimp the edges. Cut slits in the crust to allow steam to escape. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes (or until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles). Cool for 10 minutes to let it "set". Slice and serve.
But every once in a while I get to watching the Food Network and
Ina Garten makes pot pie a little differently. In ramekins. With puff pastry crust. Or
Paula Deen put broccoli and homemade stock in hers. Or
Rachael Ray uses mushrooms and white wine. And I get to thinking that maybe my little pot pie isn't fancy enough or different enough or just plain good enough. I think I should try out some of these other famous pot pies.
So last night I decided to do an experiment. A Pot Pie Experiment, if you will, striving for Pot Pie Perfection. I adapted a Rachael Ray recipe that I got from her show. Rachael's
(that's right, we're on a first name basis) made a HUGE amount and we just don't need that much pot pie. I also used chicken from a rotisserie chicken instead of boiling my own bone-in chicken breasts
(I didn't want to boil and bone a chicken on a Tuesday).You can find her recipe
here.
Fancy Chicken Pot Pie
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 onion, diced
a handful of sliced mushrooms
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
chopped fresh tarragon (I went easy on this because I don't love tarragon.)
two handfuls of frozen peas
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1 egg mixed with a little water
Take puff pastry out to thaw. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil in large skillet and add onion, mushrooms, celery, and carrots. Salt and pepper. Cover and brown until tender about 7 to 8 minutes. Scoot veggies to outside of pan and melt butter in the middle. Add flour to butter and let cook a minute or so. Whisk in milk, wine, and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken, peas, and dijon mustard. Simmer for another couple of minutes. Taste to check for seasonings. I ended up adding quite a bit of salt and some pepper. Transfer to a casserole dish and cover with puff pastry. Brush the top with the egg/water mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.
Oh my goodness gracious, was this a pretty pie! The puff pastry had puffed nicely and curled over the edge of my
Corning Ware baker and the filling was bubbling up through the cracks. Just the right juxtaposition of elegant and rustic. I was so excited to serve this and both my children ooohed and aaahed appropriately.
(Brad's performance is usually disappointing in this area.) I waited with bated breath as they tried the first bite.
The consensus?
Kids like pot pie. Any and all kinds. They couldn't remember Just Like Mama's Chicken Pot Pie, but ate Fancy Chicken Pot Pie with gusto (as they do all pot pies).
Brad likes Just Like Mama's Chicken Pot Pie better if it's made with homemade crust. He did clean his plate...except for the mushrooms he left sitting lonely and cold. I had to eat them out of pity.
I like both kinds for different reasons. Fancy Chicken Pot Pie is certainly pretty and I love the mushrooms, celery, and carrots. Next time I make it, I'm going to use the neglected ramekins I have sitting in the top of one of my cabinets collecting dust. However, the crust to pie ratio is better in the Just Like Mama's Chicken Pot Pie and I do love me some pie crust.
Does anyone else "experiment" with food? Have any good Chicken Pot Pie recipes or tips? Wonder why I get so passionate about pot pies and devoted an entire post to it?
