Real Food for Real Life

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Yet Another Dreary Day


Yet another dreary day found me still in need of comfort food so the scramble for ideas was on. In my freezer I found grilled chicken legs, the remains of a meal two weeks ago; in the fridge, a package of ready made pie crusts that tell me (yes. I can hear food talk :) that they want to dress a pot pie. So pot pie it is...

Chicken Pot Pie

2 to 3 cups cooked chicken (or turkey, or beef)
1 large onion, chopped
4 to 5 cups mixed veg, chopped (whatever you have)
2 tbs. olive oil
pie crust for 2 crusts, homemade or purchased
scant 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken (or beef) broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. dried rosemary (or 1 tbs. fresh)
1 tsp. thyme
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425; make crust or set the package of purchased crust on the counter to come to room temperature. Dice or shred the chicken and dice the veggies you are going to use (make everything roughly the same size). If using potatoes or carrots, cook until tender in a small amount of water on the stove or in the microwave. If using frozen veg, there is no need to cook, just let thaw.

Dice the onion and place in a saute pan with the olive oil. If using bell pepper or celery, dice and put this in the pan as well. Crumble the rosemary over the veggies, season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute over med-high heat until just softened and beginning to turn golden. Add the scant 1/2 cup of flour and toss to coat all the veggies and incorporate the flour into the oil in the pan. Cook for a minute or two to ensure that the flour does not have a raw taste. Stir in the thyme, stock and milk (cream is nice here if you have it, but I used all of mine yesterday); stir until thickened and the veggies are all coated- this should be thick, not soupy. Stir in your diced chicken and reserved veggies; cook until just heated through, taste and adjust the seasoning; set aside. Place one pie crust into a pie plate, letting the excess hang over the sides. Now pile in the chicken and veggie mix- it will look like a lot but that is what you want.
Place the second crust over the top. Rotating the plate as yo do so, fold the two edges of crust under so that they are even with the edge of the plate. Seal the edge of the crust by fluting (I could never get the hang of this), or by pressing a fork an alternating diagonals around the edge of the crust. Poke the fork through the top of the crust, or cut slits, to release steam while baking. Place on a study baking sheet to catch any drips that may occur, plus it makes getting the pie in and out of the oven so much easier. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned to your liking. Remove from the oven and let rest at least 1/2 hour before serving (we had it with a green salad). This makes 6 very generous slices.


2 comments:

  1. Tracey C. on Facebook said:
    I am still having difficulties commenting on your page, but I did stalk it and the potpie and pasta dish looked delicious. I have yet to try sushi, the real kind anyway. I kind of want to, I am just a bit nervous as to what to order. I have sushi trepidation!
    November 2, 2009 at 10:14pm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary S. on Facebook said:
    Just ret it. you'll be glad you did. I didn't know what to order either, but Nicole eats it all the time and guided the choices.
    November 3, 2009 at 7:11am

    ReplyDelete

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