Made from Scratch Chicken Pot Pie


Just a little preview of a scrumptious, made from scratch chicken pot pie
Awesomesauce!





I use PictSweet Vegetables for Soup frozen veggies.
I bought a large 1 lb bag because I am planning on a homemade veggie soup this week. This chicken pot pie uses about 2 cups of veggies and you can use canned if you want (just drain the liquid off).
If you use frozen veggies, set them out to thaw prior to cooking.




I also use skinless boneless breast meat and I prefer to cook mine in the crockpot with chicken broth. I think the chicken is much juicier and easier to shred. You can chop chicken into bite size pieces and brown if you prefer. I just think it's easier to throw it in the crockpot (even if it's still partially frozen) and let it simmer on low all day. Plus it smells good.




Let's make crust!
This is all you need:
Flour
Shortening
Salt
Water

**crust is not an exact science, so just follow closely**
***you can use butter instead of shortening, but for a chicken pot pie, I prefer shortening***

Preheat oven to 425 degrees




I'm using an 8 1/2 x 11" oblong pan, so these measurements are for a "double deep dish" crust.

Start with about 2 2/3 cups flour and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl.

This is going to take *about* 1 cup of shortening.
I start with a large spoonful and go from there




Take a pastry cutter and "cut" your shortening into your flour.
Basically keep smushing your shortening in and around your flour. I do a large spoonful at at time. 

When my mom taught me to make pie crust and I asked "how much?" she always said "till it's enough".

So, there ya go. Use shortening till it's enough.

If you don't have a pastry cutter, a fork works, too.




It's "enough" when it looks like peas or little crumbles and clumps.

Like this...




Then, you start adding water. This should take 5-10 tbsps of cold water.

Mix the water and flour mixture with a fork.

The number of tbsp of water will vary depending on how much flour and shortening you started with.

I started with 5 tbsp of cold water and it looked like this...




That wasn't quite enough, so I added 2 more tbsp and it looked like this...
Still too dry.




That wasn't quite enough either, so I added 1 more tbsp of water and it looked like this....
Perfect.

**another way to "test" is if you pick a small amount of the flour mixture out and can easily make it into a dough ball, that's "enough".
After 5-6 tbsp of water, add 1 tbsp at a time. It doesn't take much to be too much and you can't take it back out.




Spread some flour out on your counter to roll your dough out on. Coat your rolling pin and hands with flour.

Then place your dough on your floured surface. 

Again, I am using an 8 1/2 x 11" oblong pan, so my bottom crust needs to be a little larger than my top crust, so I used about 2/3 of my dough for my bottom crust.




Roll out your dough into a somewhat rectangular shape.




Roll your dough into an oblong roll so you can pick it up




Unroll in your pan. Either trim or tuck the sides in.

We like crust, so it's okay if it's a thick crust.

Roll out your top crust the same way and set aside.




Take your chicken out of your crockpot, if that's how you made it, and shred with 2 forks.
This is so easy I highly recommend it.




Melt 1/3 cup butter in a large saucepan.
I used my Earth Balance dairy free - soy free spread.
AKA fake butter. 
It worked very well!




Add 1/3 cup flour and mix well.

Sorry for the kinda crappy pictures. This is like making gravy and you don't have a lot of time to stop, pick up the camera, spot focus and shoot a decent pic.

Unless you have extra arms.
In which case, you would be really good at this!




Next, gradually add 1 3/4 cups chicken broth.
Stir and allow to thicken.
Again, this is like making gravy...




Then add 1/2 cup milk and stir till it thickens.
I used almond milk and there was absolutely no difference in the taste or texture.

So, my chicken pot pie is completely dairy free!

Yay! I can eat a whole bunch....




Add about 2 cups of your mixed veggies.
Again, if you use canned veggies, drain the water off first.




Add your shredded chicken and mix well.




Pour your chicken and veggie mixture into your pan.




Roll your top crust out on top of your chicken and veggie mixture. Press the edges together and cut a couple small holes in the center to allow steam to escape.
Bake in 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes.




Pssss, here's a little secret.
Sometimes the edges of your crust start getting more brown than you would like and you've still got some cooking time left....




Just take strips of aluminum foil and cover the edges of your crust/pan for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time.
It helps to keep the edges from getting too brown and/or burning.
You're welcome.




Here it is, fresh out of the oven.
Yum!
Notice the edges of the crust?
Just perfect.




This was soooo good!
Absolutely a Bossman favorite.





Another photo...
Is your moth watering yet?




How 'bout now?
C'mon try it!


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