Chicken Pot Pie

I like the IDEA of Chicken Pot Pie but rarely the execution. A lot of the recipes call for soooo much chicken, which I guess for some people is a good thing but I’m not such a lover of poulet. I guess I could choose the Vegetable Pot Pie option but I want a bit of chicken.

My other problem with Pot Pies is the amount of calories and fat. It always grosses me out when recipes say that one serving has over 600 calories in it… I fully never eat a “proper” serving so the idea of likely eating a 1000-1200 calorie slice of pie freaks me out.

All that boils down to the fact that I pretty much just wing it when it comes to chicken pot pie. My favourite recipe to start out with is from Whole Foods . There’s nothing all that special about it but I like that it’s easy to adapt.

I never used homemade pie crust. I just don’t have the energy for that at all… and some brands of pie crust are really good (Whole Foods or Our Compliments).  I also don’t use heavy cream.  I think that the flour thickens things up sufficiently so I use 2% milk instead.

Sometimes I find CPP bland so I make my chicken from scratch rather than use rotisserie and season it with salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic powder. For the recipe below I only use one cup of chicken instead of 2.

Since I love veggies I use an assortment totaling about 6 cups. For this particular CPP I used Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Celery, Parsnips and Peas.  I may have used mushrooms too but I’m totally blanking right now.  This pie was super yummy.  Next time I may try a Vegetable Pot Pie and add potatoes and corn… yum!

Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 6 3 tablespoons butter, divided 1 medium onion, diced 2 large carrots, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced 1 pound button mushrooms, quartered 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour 2 cups rotisserie chicken meat, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon dried thyme sea salt, to taste ground pepper, to taste 1 9-inch whole wheat pie crust 1 prepared pie top

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy skillet. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook over medium heat until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Add remaining butter to skillet and sauté mushrooms over medium high heat until they have given off their moisture and are tender, about 10 minutes.

Combine with vegetable mixture in skillet. Over medium high heat, stir the flour into skillet and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock slowly, while stirring, and bring to simmer. Stir until nicely thickened. Add the chicken pieces, cream and thyme and season with salt and pepper.

With a slotted spoon, fill pie crust with filling. Pour in any remaining liquid until crust is almost filled to the top.

Moisten edge of pie crust and place pie top on top, sealing the edges with a fork. Cut slits into the top of the pie. Bake for 30–40 minutes until pie crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

(From Whole Foods)