PWs Chicken Pot Pie

A week or so ago, I posted a recipe for a whole wheat pie crust. Oh. My. Goodness. It was heavenly. And what made it so heavenly, was the filling. Ahh, chicken pot pie how I love you. I now have three chicken pot pie recipes on this blog, that is how much I love thee! This is now my all time favorite. I'm not sure what it is about it that makes it so much yummier. I think it had something to do with the crust and the cream, and the butter, and the wine, what do you think? Anyway, Ree, also known as the Pioneer Woman, has done it again. If you don't have her cookbook, or you haven't been to her site, do yourself a favor and pay her a visit. She's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I mean, I have a whole recipe section devoted to her. And do me a favor, and make this chicken pot pie, with the homemade crust. It wasn't hard, and it was healthy. Add it to your weekly or monthly menus, I promise you will not be disappointed. And if you can't make the pie crust, then buy the store bought kind, it will still be good. And make sure you use two. Ree's original recipe only calls for one pie crust, for the top, but I think that is just silly! I mean, chicken pot pie is all about the crust isn't it? At least that's what my almost 4 year old thinks. When I make this, he always says, "ooh chicken pot pie, my favorite!" What he's really saying is, "ooh pie crust!" Have I convinced you to make this yet?

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie

slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks

3 medium carrots, peeled

1 large onion

4 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/2 cup white wine (optional)

1 cup cream

1 tsp. ground thyme (mine wasn't ground)

1 tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste

Black pepper to taste

2 pie crusts (I used a homemade whole wheat pie crust)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Begin by finely dicing the vegetables. Slice the celery stalks into narrow strips, then slice in the other direction to create a fine dice.

Repeat this process with the carrots and onion.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and peas. Saute until the vegetables start to get tender and turn translucent, just a few minutes.

Add the chicken and stir to combine. (I used 3 frozen chicken breasts. I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt and ground pepper. I baked them at 325 for about 45 minutes.) Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.

Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube and wine, if using. The flour will combine with the chicken to create a gravy.

Pour in the cream and stir. Allow the mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with thyme, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

Roll out first pie crust and place it into a deep pie plate or small casserole dish.

Pour the chicken mixture on top of pie crust.

Roll out the second crust so that it's 1 inch larger than the pan. Place the crust on top of the chicken mixture and cut small slits in the top. Press the crust gently into the sides of the dish to seal. (As you can see from my picture, my crust doesn't look all that great, but boy did it taste good!!)

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.