Chicken Pot Pie

 

Chicken pot pie - one of my go-to comfort foods. I love, love, love chicken pot pie! Don't you? I mean, what's not to love? Buttery, flaky crust on the outside with chicken, vegetables and creamy goodness on the inside. Who could ask for anything more? It is so delicious and comforting! What's even better is it is fairly simple to put together.

What You Will Need:
2-Quart Saucepan
Deep Dish Pie Plate

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Frozen Peas, thawed
1/2 cup Carrots, chopped and steamed
1/3 Butter or Margarine
1/3 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 1/2 cup Chicken Broth (I use chicken soup base instead of broth to get a richer flavor.)
2/3 cup Milk
4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cut into 1 inch or smaller cubes (I usually cook these the day before; but if you are making the pastry dough the same day as the pot pie, you can cook the chicken while the pie crust is being refrigerated.)
Pastry Dough (See my post from May 18, 2013) (I usually make this the day before as well; but if you have a couple hours, you can make it the same day.)

Update: My hubby thinks I need to explain how to cook the chicken. You can really cook it anyway you want. Leftover chicken would work great in this recipe. But I never have 4 chicken breasts leftover, so I always cook the chicken just for this. I use a covered casserole dish. I spray it with non-stick cooking oil spray; place the boneless, skinless, cleaned chicken breasts in the dish (as I state below under optional changes, you can sprinkle some extra virgin olive oil and seasoning on the chicken at this time); and bake covered for approximately 30 minutes at 350°F. 

Directions:
1. Roll out one disc of pastry dough following the directions in the pastry dough post. Make sure it is large enough to cover your whole pie plate.

2. Roll pastry dough onto your rolling pin and place in pie plate. Shape dough to pie plate. Set aside.

As you can see, I didn't make mine quite large enough.
It should come up over the lip of the pie plate.
But that's OK. I was able to make it work anyway.

3. Gather chicken, peas and carrots.

 4. Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat until melted.

Make sure to watch it closely. You don't want
brown or burned butter.

5. Stir in tapioca starch, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat.

Cooking equal parts of flour and butter 
together = a roux (pronounced rooh). When you
add liquid (stock, broth, milk, etc.) to the roux and 
cook them together, the liquid is thickened. 

6. Stir in broth and milk and return to heat. Cook to boiling, stirring constantly. 

7. Stir in chicken, peas and carrots. 

8. Preheat oven to 425° F. Pour chicken mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. 

 9. Roll out second disc of pastry dough. Roll dough onto rolling pin and place dough over filling. Turn edges under and pinch together. Cut three slits in the center to release steam.

See, even though the bottom crust wasn't
big enough, it still worked out.

  10. Bake in oven for approximately 35 minutes or until golden brown.

There it is, baking in the oven. MMmm.
I can hardly wait to eat it.

Golden brown and ready to be served!

11. Let cool slightly. Cut into slices, and serve.

It is so good that it takes all of my will power
not to go back for seconds. Sometimes I don't win the battle. 

Optional Changes:
1. Add onions, mushrooms or your favorite vegetable(s).
2. Pour olive oil and italian seasoning over chicken breasts before cooking them to add a deeper flavor.

I look forward to hearing what you think. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in   him!" ~ Psalm 34:8 ESV

Sheryl