It was a rainy day here and some of us are a little under the weather so I decided to make some comfort food and chicken pot pie seemed to fit the bill. This was actually quite easy to assemble and I thought it turned out pretty well. I am still struggling to make a good gluten free pie crust. If you have a good recipe, please post it. As it was, the crust turned out to be about as good as I have made but while it tasted OK, the texture was not right and it was a bit gritty. Still, I didn’t mind particularly when mixed with the broth from the pie but my kids did not like it and we had to remove it for them.
The recipe looks long but it was actually easy to make. For the crust you can use those Pillsbury crescents in a can and just unroll them over your pies if you can eat wheat.
Also, the ingredients below can be altered to omit or include any veggies that you like. I almost added some mushrooms.
This made a lot of food. Enough for at least six people so we have leftovers for another night.
Filling Ingredients:
Three boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
3–4 carrots chopped
2–3 stalks of celery chopped
One medium or large onion chopped
One can of corn
Four white rose potatoes peeled and chopped
Four chicken bullion cubes
One Lipton onion soup mix
3/4 cup cream or half and half
10 ounces frozen peas
1/2 cup flour (I used all purpose gluten free flour)
One stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste
One egg white
Pie Crust Ingredients:
One stick butter
1/2 stick shortening
3 cups flour (I used gluten free as follows—1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of a pizza crust/French bread mix with Xantham gum in it)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon flour
Little cold water
As I mentioned, this crust wasn’t great. It did, however act like dough. I have had other attempts melt to liquid on me so it was a rousing success in that regard.
Chicken:
This just needs to be cooked. Anyway will probably do but I baked mine in an oven at 375° F from about 45–50 minutes. The chicken breasts were quite thick. I sprinkled them with some seasoning and oil. Once the breasts are cooked, let them cool and then chop then into bite size pieces.
Dough:
I used a basic dough recipe.
1. Mix salt, baking soda, and flour together in large bowl
2. Cut butter and shortening in to small cubes.
3. Hand mix butter and shortening into flour until smooth.
4. Add a little water until dough can be formed into a cohesive ball. I probably added about 3 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time until it all held together nicely.
5. Refrigerate dough for at least thirty minutes
Pot Pie Filling:
1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the onions for about ten minutes until they are translucent.
2. Dissolve the bullion cubes in 4 cups of hot water.
3. Add the Lipton soup mix to the bullion mixture.
4. Add the flour to the onions and cook for another couple of minutes over low heat.
5. Pour the bullion/soup mixture into the saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes until it thickens.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon each)
7. Add the cream (or half and half) to the saucepan.
8. Add all of your vegetables and the cubed chicken to the saucepan
Finishing:
Ladle the pot pie filling into the oven proof dishes that you intend to use. Roll out the pie crust to about 1/4-inch thick and cover your pot pie with crust. You can crimp the extra dough around the edges to make a thicker edge to the crust. I used some oven proof soup tureens that we have to make individual pot pies but it should work in a larger dish just as well. Brush the crust with the egg white. Poke some holes or cut some slits into the crust to allow steam to come out. Bake the pie at 375° F for about forty minutes.
