Chicken Pot Pie

One of Martin's favorite places to eat when the kids aren't around to complain about his taste is "The Chicken Pie Diner" in Poway. The restaurant is small and really nothing special (unless you like cheesy 50's decor) but they do serve a tasty chicken pot pie. Which is exactly what Martin orders every single time we go.

Every once in awhile I try to duplicate the Chicken Pie diner pot pie. Sometimes I'll make the smaller individual sizes like they do at the restaurant and sometimes I'll go for a big pie, based on whatever recipe happens to be striking my fancy at the time.

Tonight I tried a new recipe that I found on Pinterest. I really don't remember if the link was directly off that site or more of a "click this and see where it takes you" kind of rabbit chase. I think it was the more circuitous route.

Ideally, I would've waited for a crisp fall day to start making my pot pie but since I had the ingredients and since it seemed like something Martin would like, I decided that our recent cool-down from the sweltering heat wave (Southern California style..as in we got to 90 degrees) would have to do for pot pie weather.

Everything went together easily. What I really loved was when the directions said to keep stirring until the sauce thickened...and it did! Sometimes I'll get an instruction like that and feel like I've been stirring away for hours with no discernible difference in whatever mixture I'm trying to turn into a nice thickened state. How gratifying to watch tonight's sauce take on a hearty, thick form in just a few minutes.

Martin really liked this pie and for that matter, so did I. Next time I might add some potatoes but, other than that, the recipe is great just as it's written.

Chicken Pot Pie

(courtesy of http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/)

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup frozen green peas

(Or use 16oz bag of frozen carrots and peas. Much easier.)

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

32 oz. carton chicken broth for boiling (reserve 1 3/4 cups chicken broth for sauce)

2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Instructions:

Recipe Notes: I like to slightly bake the bottom crust before filling the pie so it isn't soggy. Just bake for 5-6 minutes at 425 degrees.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

In a pot, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add the carton of chicken broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain (reserving 1 3/4 cup chicken broth for filling) and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and combine with the chicken, carrots, peas, and celery mixture. Here you can add more chicken broth if you like depending how runny you want your filling.

Place the chicken filling in bottom crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.