Chicken Pot Pie

2 cups diced cooked chicken (2 chicken breasts – I sometimes pan fry them until they are just done and sometimes boil them)

2 cups diced potatoes, blanched (2 medium potatoes)

1 cup carrots, blanched (2 carrots)

2 cup chopped celery (2 celery)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup sweet green peas

6 T butter

6 T flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

Salt, pepper, seasonings (I use about ½ tsp or more of salt and ¼ tsp of black pepper, and about 1 tsp of chicken bouillon.)

Fresh parsley, finely chopped

1. Cook chicken breasts until they are just done, then cover and set aside. Cube chicken into ½ inch cubes.

2. Place diced potatoes and carrots in boiling water and Blanche vegetables until they just begin to soften (about 7-8 min). Remove and rinse in cold water. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in large saucepan. Sauté celery and onions in butter until almost tender (2-3 minutes). Add flour and cook another 2 minutes to make a blonde roux. Add chicken broth and cook until sauce begins to thicken. Add seasonings and milk and cook until sauce again thickens. 

4.  Add potatoes, carrots, chicken and peas to sauce. Pour into a 9 inch pie crust and cover with top crust. Make slits in top crust to vent pie.

5.   Bake pie in 400F oven for 30-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and vegetables are tender.

Hint: The pie will taste better if you over season the sauce just a little because the vegetables will balance out the flavor.

 Double Pie Crust:    

    2 cups flour, 2 tsp. salt, ½ cup cold shortening plus ½ cup cold butter, ½ cup ice-cold water.

Cut cold shortening and butter into flour and salt until it resembles course crumbs. Add enough water until a soft dough forms.   Divide dough into 2 balls and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough until it is chilled, before making crusts, about 30 minutes or more.

(I take my dough out of the fridge a couple of minutes before I roll it out so that it can warm and soften slightly. I then knead it only about 5 times so that it rolls out well but isn’t tough.)

(Esther West - Emeril Lagasse)


18 September 2011