Farmer Food: Chicken Pot Pie

First of all, sorry about the pictures that are all off-center. I added them from my phone, and then did the rest of this entry from a computer and they wouldn't cooperate. I'm also not smart enough in HTML (who are we kidding...I don't know a bit about HTML) to get them centered and where I wanted them. So you get them at the beginning of this post :)

I love trying new recipes, and I tried a lot of them when I was off on maternity leave. I have a craving for chicken pot pie once in awhile, so I went to the Pioneer Woman to try out her recipe. As always, I found a recipe and changed it to fit what I wanted. To her recipe, I added peas and corn-the peas, corn and carrots were all out of my garden, which I had in the freezer.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 cup Finely Diced Onion
• 1/2 cup Finely Diced Carrot
• 1/2 cup Finely Diced Celery
• 1/2 cup corn 
• 1/2 cup peas
• 3 cups Shredded Cooked Chicken
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 3 cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth, Plus More If Needed
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Chopped Fresh Thyme To Taste
• 1/4 cup Half-and-half Or Cream
• 1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust (I made my own crust)
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 Tablespoons Water

Preparation Instructions

-Preheat the oven to 375 F.
-Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat, then add the onion, carrots, corn, peas and celery. Stir them around until the onions start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
-Stir in the chicken  and then sprinkle the flour over the top and stir it until it’s all combined with the chicken and vegetables. Cook for 1 minute, then pour in the chicken broth and stir it around and let it cook and thicken.
-Once it starts to thicken add the salt, pepper, and thyme.
-Add the half-and-half or cream, then stir the mixture and let it bubble up and thicken, about 3 minutes. If it seems overly thick, splash in a little more broth. Turn off the heat.
-Pour the filling into a 2-quart baking dish. Roll out the pie crust on a floured surface and lay it over the top of the dish. Press the dough so that the edges stick to the outside of the pan. Use a knife to cut little vents here and there in the surface of the dough.
-Mix together the egg with 2 tablespoons water and brush it all over the surface of the crust. (You will have some egg wash left over.)
-Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly. To prevent the crust from getting too brown, you might want to cover it lightly with foil for the first 15 minutes of baking time.

Overall it was a hit! The recipe is a bit much for two people, so to make use of the whole thing, you could make two 8x8 pans of the pot pie and stick one in the freezer. I usually have a couple extra Reynolds foil pans with lids laying around for this specific purpose. Next time I would also use a little less onion-it had a really strong flavor and Patrick and I aren't huge fans of onion stuff. But I will definitely be making it again!