Monday, November 21, 2011

Chicken pot pie!


Something I have missed because of the lack of dairy in our lives is chicken pot pie.  I made one the other day that was truely amazing, AND the best part of all?  The crust was store bought.  Now you might be thinking, "Lame," or something similar, but when it gets right down to it, sometimes it's the little things in life.

Needs:
*Crust (pack of 2): Aldi sells a frozen (this is important because the other crust has soy and milk) preshaped pie crust, Whole Foods also sells a frozen pie crust from "Wholly Wholesome" - both are very good, but let's be honest, the one from Aldi is about 1/3 of the price.  HOWEVER, if you are vegetarian, the Aldi one is NOT vegetarian
*2-3 cups chicken stock (I got mine from when I crockpotted a whole chicken earlier in the week.)
*1/2 to 1 lb of shredded chicken (Again, this was made from the leftover chicken from earlier in the week.)
NOTE: I cook a whole chicken, the family eats seasoned chicken and sides, and I then pull all the leftover meat off the bones for a second meal.
NOTE2:  This specific chicken stock had about 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, 4 stalks of diced celery, and 1/2 a coursely chopped onion - if you do *not* have those things in your stock then you will want to saute them in olive oil in the medium stockpot before adding the chicken stock.
*1/4 cup flour
*1/4 cup water
*1/2 cup almond milk (or milk substitute)
*1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (Both Target and Whole Foods have a mixed veggie option that doesn't include lima beans)
*Salt and pepper to taste

Make:
Pull your crusts to dethaw for about 15 minutes, set your oven to the specification on the package (400?), and "set" (place in the oven) your crust (even though it says you don't have to) for 5 minutes.  Divide your shredded chicken between the two crusts, set aside.  Heat your chicken stock in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Mix the 1/4 cup of water with the 1/4 cup of flour,1tsp of salt, and 1 tsp pepper (salt and pepper can be adjusted depending on your tastes) in a small bowl.  Once the chicken stock is boiling add the flour mixture and stir well.  Once the flour mixture is blended add your milk substitute. NOTE3: This will be thinner than you're used to, it's okay.  Let this simmer for about 5 minutes.  Then add your bag of frozen veggies. Bring your pot back to a simmer, and divide this mixture between the two pie crusts.

BUT WAIT, you say?  You have cute little decorations on the top of yours, you say?  Well, yes, I do.  I used  the creative cutters set from The Pampered Chef.  I had some leftover dough from making a pie a few weeks previously, and so I rolled it out really thin and gave my pot pies some garnish.  You could also drop homemade biscuits in the pies OR just made them on the side.  It appears I've never posted my "Ugly biscuits" recipe.  I'll have to remedy that.  ENJOY!

No comments:

Post a Comment