Roast Chicken Pot Pie

I made a chicken pot pie once. It involved a can of creamed soup and a bag of frozen veggies. The results were not appetizing. I gave up. The End.

Even loving classic comfort food as much as I do, to be honest I have never had a chicken pot pie that knocked my socks off. This has always made me a little bit sad. The elements for greatness are all there!! Flaky pie crust, tender chicken, creamy gravy, great use of leftovers... Was I just horribly picky?? Perhaps. It's been known to happen. :) Finally I decided to find a few recipes that looked like they just might suit me. I found three; one from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, and two from The English Kitchen, where I got the ideas of using puff pastry, and not having to include vegetables! They are all very different, but had elements that appealed to my pickyness. I'm combining them all into My Favorite Chicken Pot Pie, crossing my fingers, and diving in.

To Be Continued...

IT WORKED!! Not only did it work, it is good enough to cause my manly husband to close his eyes, drop his fork, and heave a large, loud sigh of satisfaction. And little Stephen said "Oh my gosh Mom... I love this!" And all of my chicken pot pie yearnings have been fulfilled. And we all lived happily ever after...The End.

Roast Chicken Pot Pie
Printable Recipe

3 cups of chopped or shredded roasted chicken (my favorite recipe here, if you need one)
1 1/2-2 cups juices from chicken
3 Tb butter
3 Tb flour
about 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced/pressed
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten

First! Pull your puff pastry out to thaw (or make it, if you are more awesome than me) and roast your chicken. You can roast the chicken a day or two ahead, just make sure you keep the juices. You want plenty, as they pretty much ARE your gravy. Add some extra celery and onions if your method doesn't yield much liquid. I love my recipe because it makes LOTS of juice. Yum! Don't worry, I will do an official post on it soon.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Saute your onions in a bit of butter or oil. I diced mine pretty small to hide them from my boys. You can make big yummy chunks if you want! Saute them on medium to medium-low heat until they are translucent and soft. (You could add some diced carrots and celery to soften if you'd like) Stir in garlic and let cook about a minute. Set onions and garlic aside.

Gravy:
Melt the 3 Tb of butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the 3 Tb of flour and whisk together.

Cook this (a roux!) until it starts to darken and smells "toasty". Trust me, you'll know it when you smell it!
Slowly pour in your chicken juices, whisking quickly and constantly the whole time! It will thicken up FAST.
Once the juices are whisked in and the gravy is smooth and bubbling, taste it.

Add salt and pepper if it needs any. Stir in the shredded chicken and cooked onions, cook till heated through. (At this point you can stir in some veggies if you want. We really liked it without, mostly because we can never agree on which veggies we want to add!)

Choose your pie dish and place it upside down on the puff pastry, so you can trace a circle the exact size you need.

Pour mixture into your pie dish, and place the puff pastry circle on top. Crimp the edges, or fold them over like I did (my dish was too deep!) This doesn't need to be sealed, it can just sit on top. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk and cut a few little vents. (I forgot my egg yolk and had to brush it on halfway through baking. Silly me!)

Place your pie on a baking pan/cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown. Remove, let cool a few minutes, and serve!

Let's all just take a moment and admire that crust. I actually think it might be a bit underdone... still. All I had to do was thaw a chunk of dough and cut it in a circle! I tend to sneer at baked goods from a box, but I repent. This is awesome.

Mmmm, perfectly cooked chicken, perfectly thickened and flavored gravy... You could use a pre-cooked bird from a store (they are useful! By no means am I disparaging the rotisserie chicken!) but I think it is SO worth it to roast your own, if only for the gravy. I love gravy. You could definitely do this with Thanksgiving leftovers, but who ever has extra gravy?? Not me!! If you do, I'll come eat yours.

Perfect Bite! Chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes and peas. I like adding veggies this way a LOT!!

Stephen said "You could make this again as soon as we get home. I'd be okay with that." High praise indeed! Yup, this is going on the Meal List.

PS- Recognize the plates? We're back at the cabin! That's why I didn't post yesterday. We had to come back to get Bracken's collar... oh darn. :) And this time, I remembered my laptop! See you tomorrow, from up here in Hummingbird Heaven!

Pssst, Mom... we brought up 10 pounds of sugar and I cleaned and refilled the feeders first thing. See?

*UPDATE: By the way, the first time I made this, the crust turned out a little gummy underneath. I have done some research and discovered that puff pastry is best used COLD, you don't want it warm! So I would suggest thawing in the fridge. Or if you are in a hurry, stick it in the fridge once it starts to soften. Then pull it out, cut it, stick it on, and in the oven, lickety-split! Hope this helps :) *

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