The first few days home it didn't much matter what was in the house to eat because I had no appetite whatsoever. In those first three days post-surgery, I think I had one small bowl of canned soup to eat. That's about when Dr. Emily got involved and decided I needed more nutrients than I was getting. When her father messed up the order for Odwalla drinks, Emily decided to bypass him completely by having Vons deliver all kinds of good healthy foods to keep me going. That girl of mine earned some MAJOR points for managing to stock my kitchen with healing foods, even from three thousand miles away.
Friends also brought food and that was greatly appreciated. When I felt well enough to brave the kitchen I realized how much I'd been craving a good solid pot pie so I decided to make one. I'm not a fabulous cook but I do know my way around a kitchen and can, like my mom, whip up something to eat in a fairly short amount of time. Making this pie was different, however. With little strength and a still very achey stomach, going through the paces of putting together the components of my pot pie began to feel like I'd signed up to dig a trench. A really deep and long trench. In hard, unyielding soil.
Yea. I wasn't quite myself and everything felt hard and very, very tiring. That said, the pie turned out great. Maybe it was just sickey me feeling enveloped with healing with every wholesome bite - whatever the magic, I know I ate a piece of that pie every day for almost a week, eagerly anticipating the smell and taste of the next best thing to Mom's chicken soup.
Chicken Pot Pie
Recipe Courtesy of The Girl Who Ate Everything
Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen carrots and peas
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
(Next time I make this I'll add potatoes.)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
Place one of the crusts in the bottom of a pie pan and prick with a fork. 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.
In a pot, combine the raw chicken, carrots, peas, celery. Add the carton of chicken broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain (reserving 1 3/4 cups 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. (NOTE: One thing I loved about this recipe is the way the sauce thickened up so nicely. You know how you have those recipes that tell you to stir until thickened and you just keep stirring and wondering if the sauce is ever going to thicken and, then when it does, you can't really figure out if it's thickened ENOUGH or are you just imagining the thickening because your arm is about to fall off from all that stirring. I hate that. And on a day when remaining standing for any length of time was a bit of an accomplishment, I appreciated a sauce that had the good sense to thicken right up in a quick and very noticeable way.)
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.
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