Chicken Pot Pie

I love this stuff.  

A couple of years ago, we were making Chicken Pot Pie for a lunch at church.  I had messed up on the shopping list and was in full on panic mode.  I combined a couple of recipes to stretch (I was thinking loaves and fishes that day) and the result was this recipe.  It turned out to be a favorite.  It's a homemade/shortcut combo recipe.  Not hard, but so much better than the frozen kind. 

I'm just going to start this post with a bossy-pants statement.  You need a whisk.  If you don't have one, get one.  Just make a list of all the groceries you need for this recipe and add "whisk" to the bottom.  Go ahead and do that right now.  I discovered the value of whisking later in my learning to cook journey - wasted years.  Here's a picture of my little whisk....... Heart. Sigh.

So, let 's get started.  Do not start without a whisk.  Melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan and add the onion, finely diced.  Once the onion starts to get soft, add the flour. Stir it around and let the flour bubble up and cook for a few minutes.  Don't over brown the onions or flour.  Once it is bubbly looking (like at the back of the picture) start pouring in the chicken broth (like at the front of this picture) and WHISK.....whisk it in like crazy destroying any flour lumps.

Once you whisk in the broth, it will start getting really thick like this, just keep whisking and add the evaporated milk.  Keep whisking.

Once the broth and evaporated milk are incorporated I switch to a rubber spoon or spatula and continue to cook until mixture comes to a slow boil and thickens.  (For all those scared to make homemade gravy - you basically just made it and didn't even know).

Here is my whisk standing guard in case I need to attack some little lumps.

Now you add the cream of chicken soup and stir until smooth and then add all the spices.

And all the veggies and meat, stir it all up together.  By they way, you can use whatever assortment and amounts of meat and veggies you prefer. These are just my favorites.

Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray and pour the filling right in.  If you are using refrigerated pie crusts, lay them on top side by side.  I usually trim one with a pizza cutter first so that there is a straight seam in the middle where the crusts overlap.  You can also make any 2 crust pie crust recipe here and roll it out into one long rectangle to cover.  I don't LOVE refrigerated pie crusts (they taste a little bit acidic to me), but they are a great short cut here and seem to work better with savory pies than sweet ones.

One more tip for a smaller family; try splitting the filling between 2 pie pans and top each with one of the crusts.  Bake one as directed and freeze the other.  You can also freeze half of the filling in a freezer bag for another night.

There is no bottom crust in this recipe, so just tuck in the top edges......so that it looks beautiful, but not too perfect.....so it looks homemade.  Since you aren't really sealing the crusts, this part isn't that important.  I do try to press the crust into the sides of the pan so that it won't shrink up while it bakes. Cut a slit in the top so that steam can escape while your pie bakes.

This next part is totally optional; mix a Tablespoon of milk with a tablespoon of olive oil in a small measuring cup and brush across the top of the pie.  Sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Isn't she lovely?

Bake and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

2/3 cup margarine
½ chopped onion
2 heaping Tablespoons flour
1 can chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk

1 can cream of chicken soup
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste (about ½ tsp each)
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 2-3)
1 can sliced carrots, drained

1 can diced potatoes, drained
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed

2 Refrigerated pie crusts

Melt butter in saucepan, add onion and cook until tender.  Stir in flour and cook until bubbly.  Add broth and evaporated milk and stir with a whisk until blended and cook until thickened.  Add other ingredients.  Pour filling into a casserole dish (2-3 qt) and top with refrigerated pie crusts (cut to overlap and fit dish if necessary).  Cut slits in top of crust, brush with milk and sprinkle tops with seasoned salt.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown.