Chicken Pot Pie

As the fall season rushes by too quickly and winter looms in the close future... I begin to turn more to the comfort that food brings. Theres nothing like a good, hot bowl of soup.

Or how about a good ol' chicken pot pie?

Filling
2 cups water
14 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cubed (about 1 cup)
2 ribs celery, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup frozen peas

For the crust you've got a few options.... you could buy some frozen puff pastry or pie crust or you could make your own basic pie crust. Or, you could try this simple pie crust recipe! I thought it was the perfect texture and taste to top off this tasty pot pie!!!

For the crust:

• 1 stick butter, cut into pea-size pieces
• 1 (8-ounce) container cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water

Egg Wash: 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of water

To make the crust:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, cream cheese, flour and salt. Pulse to combine. Pulse, pulse, pulse until the ingredients start to come together and resembles Parmesan. Add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water. Pulse a couple of more times until the ingredients start to form a ball. If the mixture is exceedingly wet, add some more flour. Or conversely, if the mix is dry, dry, dry, add in a few more drops of water.

When the mixture has come together into a ball, turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead it a couple of times to help it come together. Dust it with flour, form it into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use. This can be done a day ahead.

Cook's Note: When ready to use the dough, remove it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before rolling, to allow it to warm up and soften.

To make the filling:

In 4-quart saucepan combine water, chicken, carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken bouillon, pepper and butter. Dissolve cornstarch and flour into whipping cream and stir into chicken mixture. Simmer 3 minutes stirring frequently until thickened. Add peas and set aside.

Making the Pie:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using this crust recipe, I made my pie with only a top crust. If you use a different, basic crust recipe, you could do a top and bottom crust if you want. (It might even work to do a bottom crust with this recipe as well, I just didn't want a bottom crust.)

You can use little ramekins or casserole dishes if you want to make individual pot pies. I used a 8x8 glass baking dish and that was about the perfect size for the amount of filling.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into the shape of the casserole dish or large enough to cut circles to cover the individual casserole dishes. (For my 8x8 dish, I think I used just over half of the dough.) Whichever dishes are being used the dough needs to have generous overhang of dough on the edges of the dish. Pour the filling into the dish/dishes. Brush the outside edges of the dish with a little of the egg wash to help "glue" the dough to sides of the dish. Fold the edges of the dough under and press it onto the edges of the dish. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining egg wash. Cut a couple of vents in the top of the dough to allow the steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven until the dough is golden brown and the inside is hot and bubbly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so then serve!