Chicken Pot Pie

Today was the first time I tried a recipe from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I got the book almost a month ago and have been dying to try some of the recipes. So with the long weekend and the fact we had a huge pack of chicken breast in the freezer I decided to give her chicken pot pie recipe a go. I thought this recipe would be a challenge for me given the fact that I bulk at making pie dough since in the past I have not had the best of results. I figured if I botched the crust I could easily top it with biscuits and make Chicken and Biscuits. The mixing of the crust was fairly easy, especially since I purchased a pastry cutter to work in the shortening. My biggest fear was in rolling out the dough and over working it, thus making it rubbery. But the crust remained very soft. I will admit that I had some trouble with the dough sticking to my work surface, but a pastry scraper really helped in lifting up the dough. The recipe actually recommends making the dough ahead of time and freezing, and I think I will try that to see if it handles differently. But overall I was really pleased with the recipe. The filling was flavorful, creamy, and rich and the crust was so flaky and delicious. (My husband loved it!!!!!!) This is definitely now on my recipe rotation and I am going to use this dough recipe for pies and tarts (now that I found an easy dough recipe that renders good results I can now perfect my pie making).

Chicken Pot Pie (Courtesy of Pioneer Woman)

• 2 pie crusts (Pioneer Woman Perfect Pie Crust recipe) - I used one to line the casserole dish and one for the topping
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 large onion finely diced
• 3 carrots diced
• 3 celery stalks finely diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas 
• 2 cups diced chicken
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Frozen peas (optional)
• thyme, salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

• Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, peas, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
• Add chicken and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
• Pour in chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. 
• Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
• Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
• Optional - line casserole or pie pan with one of the pie crusts. (I like my pot pie to have double crusts)
• Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan
• Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
• Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.