Chicken Pot Pie

I thought I would start this blog with an amazing recipe pulled from Gourmet or Bon Appetite. Instead I am starting with a recipe I have been making for years. Chicken Pot Pie.

I love this recipe because it makes two pies. This is a perfect recipe when I have to make dinner for others. I like pot pie because it is easy to make and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I can't remember where I found this recipe but here it is for your enjoyment.

Chicken Potpies
2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces, 3 medium carrots cut into 1 inch slices, 1 onion chopped, 2 celery ribs diced, 2 TBSP butter, 1 TBSP olive oil, 6 TBSP flour, 3 cups chicken broth, 4 cups cubed cooked chicken, 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. 1 refrigerated pastry crust (15 oz).

In a 12 inch skillet saute the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in the butter/oil until tender. Stir in the flour until the veggies are coated. Add the chicken broth and boil (while stirring) for two minutes. Stir in the chicken, mixed veggies, 1/2 cup milk, garlic salt and the pepper. Put your mixture into two ungreased pie pans. Put your pastry on top of each pie and trim and seal the edges. Cut slits into the pastry. At this point you can cook both pies (if you have a large family) or give one away to someone who needs some comfort food. Cook your potpies at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until your crust is golden brown. Let the pies stand for 10 minutes before you cut into them.

I love this recipe, but it is hard to spend an hour and a half making dinner then seeing your family take 15 minutes to eat it up. The things I do for love. We had a bottle of 2009 Edna Valley Paragon Chardonnay with our pot pie. I am not usually a huge Chardonnay fan, but have recently learned to like the less oaky blends. This was a tasty and affordable (10 dollar range) bottle.

Dessert was supposed to be a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins (not from scratch) but I managed to burn the muffins while I was busy with the pot pies. I decided to try again and made an oatmeal pie I had been wanting to try for awhile. I got the recipe from a spice catalog a few months back. The pie seemed easy to make and I had all the ingredients on hand so I gave it a go.

Oatmeal Pie
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 stick unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp salt, 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 4 oz shredded coconut.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat together the milk, eggs, sugar, butter, corn syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Stir in the coconut and oats. Pour your batter into the pie shell and bake for 40-45 minutes or until it is browned evenly. It will be very liquid like when you first pull it out but will harden after cooling for an hour. Serves 8

I enjoyed this pie, but it was REALLY sweet. I think I will have to save it for those days when I need a quick energy burst. (I liked the pie better the next day, once the flavors had time to meld together).

I hope these recipes inspire some of you to try them out.