Creamy Chicken Pot Pie ~Sunday Dinner Worthy, Weeknight Ready

 

When the frigid chill of winter has set in and we are no longer basking in the glow of the Christmas season we crave comfort food to get us through until the spring thaw.  Unfortunately for some of us the wish for sun and spring starts on December 26.    This creamy chicken pot pie is Sunday dinner worthy, but with a little planning it’s easy enough for a weeknight dinner.  The only do ahead I would recommend is to make the pie crust on the weekend and have it ready in the fridge.  If the thought of even attempting homemade pie crust just made you want to write this recipe off, then by all means buy some Pillsbury pie crust and have it in the fridge. Have a nice salad with it and you are ready to go.
 

Flaky Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

 1 teaspoon salt

 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

 1/2 cup chilled non hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

 5 tablespoons (or more) ice water

You can mix this by hand, but I prefer the ease of using a food processor. 

Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in food processor. Add butter and shortening, then pulse until the butter and shortening resemble the size of peas.  Add ice water one or two tablespoons at a time and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Do not over mix (dough turns into a ball); it should resemble loose small clumps that stick together when squeezed in your hand.  Turn dough out and squeeze into ball, then divide into two pieces.  Flatten into two saucer size discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge up to three days ahead or freeze to use later. 

Chicken Pot Pie

One two crust pie recipe prepared

One large (two halves) boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces

1 to 2 T butter

1T extra virgin olive oil

2T flour

1 cup porcini mushrooms sliced

1 medium carrot sliced

¾ cup frozen corn

¾ cup frozen green beans

½ cup onion diced

1 garlic clove minced

½ cup white wine (I used Riesling)

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken stock

1T fresh Thyme chopped


1/2t dried sage
 

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter and add olive oil to large sauté panover medium heat.  Sauté chicken for five minutes then add mushrooms, garlic, onions, and carrots. Continue to sauté for another five to ten minutes until tender.  Add green beans, and corn and combine well.  Add flour sprinkling over entire mixture then stir add salt and pepper and cook for approximately five minutes then pour in milk and stir scraping up bits from bottom of pan.  As mixture starts to thicken add chicken stock and wine and allow to simmer until it thickens to a gravy type consistency (you can add more or less stock/wine if too thick).  Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.  Set aside.  Roll out pie crust between two sheets of parchment paper to desired size and place large deep dish pie pan.  Pour chicken mixture into pie crust.  Roll out second crust and place atop mixture. Turn the top crust edges under the bottom crust edges and pinch together using a fork or fingers and thumb forming edge around the rim of the pie.  Bake until crust is flaky and golden, approximately 20-25 minutes.

Just as a side note these can be made in individual ramekins or crocks and you can use different vegetables if desired.