You can make your pie crust as far in advance as you'd like, it freezes really well if tightly wrapped. If you make it the same day, though, it will need at least 30 minutes in the fridge before you roll it out. I make mine in a food processor because my hands are usually really warm and I've had rotten luck making it by hand. If you'd like to make it without a food processor, you will at least need a pastry cutter to cut the fat into the flour. Look up Julia Child's method for a tried and true handmade crust.
Homemade Pie Crust
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 cup shortening, frozen (or to keep it completely REAL, use lard)
2-5 Tbs ice water
Place the flour and cubed butter and shortening into the bowl of your food processor.
Pulse the mixture into all of the fat is incorporated (there are no big chunks of butter or shortening visible) and the flour and looks sandy.
With your processor running, slowly add your water, adding just enough to make the mixture come together into a dough.
Notice, there are still plenty of crumbs left in the bowl, but if you pinch them, they'll stick together.
Turn the mixture out onto the counter and shape it into a ball, then into a disk shape.
Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge or the freezer, depending on how far in advance you've made it.
You're done! You now have pie crust ready to be rolled out on a floured surface and be used how ever you like.
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3-4 chicken thighs
4 stalks celery
2 cups chopped carrots
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 of a bell pepper
1 bag of frozen peas
4 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 tsp rubbed sage
4 Tbs olive oil
1/3 cup AP Flour
5-6 medium potatoes
In a large stock pot, heat your olive oil over medium high heat and brown your chicken. Do it in batches, so you don't over crowd your pot. I like to use thighs as well as breast meat because the thighs will give you some extra flavorful chicken fat. If you want to leave them out, just be sure and add a little extra olive oil or throw in a couple knobs of butter to make up for it. Be sure and salt and pepper your chicken fairly liberally.
Brown your chicken breasts, next.
While your chicken is cooking, chop your veggies. Finely dice your onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper. Chop your carrots into bite sized pieces. I had baby carrots on hand, so I just chopped them in half.
When all of your chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool so you can shred it, later.
Reduce the heat to medium and add your veggies to the pot and stir.
While your veggies soften, peel and dice your potatoes. Be sure and stop every few minutes and stir your veggies.
When the onions look translucent, its time to stir in your flour.
Stir it in thoroughly and allow the flour to cook for a few minutes while stirring to get rid of the raw flour taste, but not long enough for it to develop any color. Then, its time to add your potatoes.
After adding in the potatoes, its time to stir in the chicken stock.
After you've stirred in the stock, add your sage or any other herbs and spices you would like to add.
Let this mixture come up boil, while stirring occasionally. Let it cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes to get the veggies mostly cooked.
Time to shred your chicken and it back into the veggie and stock mixture.
I add my peas last because they will over cook so easily. I just the bag defrost on the counter while I'm making everything else. Frozen veggies are an absolutely acceptable shortcut! Because they are flash frozen, there aren't preservatives added. Also, they're frozen ripe, unlike fresh veggies shipped to your grocery store that are picked before they're ripe to extend their shelf life and survive the shipping process. Especially in the winter, frozen veggies have more nutrition that out of season fresh vegetables.
Turn the heat off of your filling mixture and grab your pie dough from the fridge. Lightly flour your counter top and get ready to roll it out. It's also time to preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
This recipe is enough for one double crusted 8-9" pie, or enough to cover the top of 13x9" baking dish. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape.
Use your baking dish upside down to measure that you've got it about the right size and shape.
Pour your filling mixture into your baking dish and move it over to where you've rolled your dough out for quick and easy transfer.
Carefully loosely roll your crust up onto your rolling pin.
Then simply unroll the crust onto the top of your filling mixture.
As you can see, it doesn't have to be pretty or perfect. Pinch together any pieces that may have torn in the transfer process. If you had a really hard time with it, no worries! This will be just as delicious with a patchwork crust on top! Cut some vent holes into the crust before you place it into the oven, so the steam from your filling has somewhere to escape.
Be sure to place your baking dish onto a cookie sheet before placing it in the oven. This has a tendency to bubble over sometimes and can make a huge mess in the bottom of your oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown and feels firm to the touch.
Let the Chicken Pot Pie sit for 15-20 minutes before serving so it has a chance to thicken back up.
Trust me, this is just as good warmed up as leftovers, but its an amazing dinner for a crowd on a chilly night!
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