Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie

While I certainly do enjoy a nice meal out, I prefer to prepare most meals for my family at home.  Here is one of our hearty, comforting favorites. 

Chicken (or turkey) Pot Pie  

Ingredients

• 2 to 2.5 c of cooked and cubed chicken (or turkey)  Note: If you are new to working with a whole chicken, check out our, "Whole Chicken How-To"
• 1/2 c finely chopped onion
• 1/2 c thinly sliced carrots (rounds or half-rounds)
• 1/2 c thinly sliced celery
• 3/4 c cubed (~1/2") potatoes (peeled, if you prefer) 
• 1/4 c butter
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp dried rubbed sage
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 c milk (2% or whole work well)
• 1 c chicken stock (which you will have on-hand if you reserved it from making a whole chicken) Note: if you are using homemade stock, you will need to add some salt; around 1/8-1/4 tsp, depending on your tastes for 1 c of stock.
• 3/4 c frozen peas
• Either 2 store-bought or homemade pie crusts (I'll include the recipe for this as well)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 TBSP cream or whole milk

Directions

1. In a stockpot or large saucepan, melt the butter and add the onion, celery, carrot, potato, and peas, cooking until tender (approx. 12-15 minutes or so), stirring every so often.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour and seasonings (salt, pepper, parsley, rosemary, and sage) and then gently combine with the cooked vegetable mixture.
3. While gently stirring with a rubber spatula, add the chicken stock and milk to the vegetable and seasoning mixture; bring to a boil, stirring and cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until thickened.
4. Add in the cooked chicken.
5. Place one of the prepared pie crusts in a standard pie pan, fill with the potpie mixture, and then top with the remaining pie crust. 
6. In a small bowl, combine the egg and cream.  Brush this mixture all over the top crust, so that the finished pot pie has a glossy, golden appearance. Note: it only takes a small amount of this mixture, so plan to use the rest in another dish, such as an omelet, scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc.
7. Then, using a fork along the outer edge of the pot pie, seal and crimp the edges and using a knife, make four vent slits in the center.
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is hot and bubbly and the crust is golden-brown.

Pie Crust 

Ingredients (for 2 crusts)

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ~7 TBSP COLD water (I put a the water in the freezer for 15 minutes or so)
• 14 TBSP butter (grated and well-chilled)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.  Add in the grated, cold butter and mix either with your hand or a fork until well blended (this can take a few minutes to achieve).
2. Slowly add in the water and mix until you are able to form a disc.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan and chill again for another 30 minutes.

Note: I typically make this pie crust in my Kitchen-Aid mixer, using the paddle attachment (because it is much faster, especially when it comes to making multiple batches at one time). Follow the same steps as above, just adding ingredients to the bowl of your mixer, instead of a regular mixing bowl. 

Lastly, this crust freezes well, so I like to make several batches at one time to have it on hand in the freezer--simply roll out the dough to the desired size and then roll it up and place the rolled-up dough in parchment paper.  I then put the parchment paper rolls in a freezer bag.  When you need a pie crust or two, simply pull them out of the freezer, thaw, and unroll (it takes ~30 minutes at room temperature or put them in the refrigerator the night before).