Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
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Chicken for me is a common dish for dinner, it could be chicken and broccoli, chicken and mashed potatoes, the possibilities are endless. Fortunately for me, I spotted this Dutch Oven the other day and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to finally have one. The first actual meal I made in it is a Chicken Pot Pie Recipe with homemade puff pastry dough.
This meal works best splitting the prep between the night prior and the day of. Making my own chicken stock the night prior, I should’ve also made the puff pastry the night before. I’ll post another article on creating puff pastry from scratch and making chicken stock, but lets get into making the chicken pot pie.
First things first you’ll need a dutch oven
I purchased this great cast iron dutch oven from the store the other day, I am more excited to take this camping this year over my skillet because now I can do baking over a campfire! who doesn’t love campfire meals?!
I will create a post on seasoning a cast iron and taking care of one later on but I recommend taking a paper towel with some olive oil and rubbing down the entire thing when you first get it. Even if the box says it comes pre-seasoned I don’t think they do a great job. After that you’re pretty much ready to go!
If you have to use soap to clean your cast iron just re-season with more olive oil and leave upside down in the oven till next use.
I’m really interested in the enameled dutch ovens that are coming out now my neighbor got one for Christmas and I am totally jealous. The only reason I didn’t buy one, is that they run incredibly expensive!
You will also want a Blonde Roux to thicken the chicken pot pie filling.
To make a roux it is only two ingredients; 1 part butter or oil to 1 part flour. There are millions of different ways you could thicken a soup. I’m just not worried about gluten and dairy (although I am becoming lactose intolerant). You could try olive oil and almond flour if you don’t want to mess with the other two.
You could even make a slurry from corn starch; which is also a 1:1 ratio. I prefer making a roux because it adds a great flavor to the dish. It’s considered a blonde roux because it is in the earlier stages where you don’t darken the mixture in the pan. When you cook the mixture longer you start to create a brown roux and you’ll get a nuttier flavor from it. A brown roux is really good when making darker soups like tomato based.
You can make a big batch of roux if you plan on making a lot of soups in the near future, just keep your roux in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
If you decide to dice some potatoes for this recipe the starch will actually thicken your soup up over time. It will just take a little longer to thicken, plan accordingly. I completely forgot to put potatoes in this recipe and I was actually pretty upset.
The Chicken part of the Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
I actually used 2 different chickens for this recipe. 1 was a rotisserie chicken from Walmart for the chicken stock. The Chicken stock I reference in this recipe is from the Soup book, The Professional Chef also has GREAT guidelines when making stocks. Stocks are a second nature to me now with how many sauces I make. The next were a few frozen chicken breast that I grilled up the night prior.
I’ll give you a quick run-down on the chicken stock I made. Just cover the rotisserie chicken with water in the stock pot. Add veggies and herbs such as: rosemary, thyme, onion, celery, and carrots. Bring to boil, then simmer for 2 hour. Strain the stock, place back on medium heat so that it is not at a roaring boil. Simmer again for another 3 hours to reduce. This technique also builds up the collagen from the chicken bones, turning that stock into a gelatin like substance.
Use 4 small chicken breasts. slice them up into 1/2 slices then slice them again in half. Just throw them right into the chicken stock. I used a 12 quart stock pot that I was gifted, it was a little over-kill for size on this recipe. I figured its better to have more then enough room plus who wants to clean up the mess.
Also what I love about this Chicken Pot Pie Recipe is that is really just a throw together. As long as you do most of the prep the day before this is a really easy meal for the family.
The rest of the ingredients throw into stock pot an simmer for an hour:
- 2 carrots (small diced)
- 1/2 C frozen peas
- 1 C fresh or frozen spinach
- 1 yellow onion (Julienne cut)
- 3 ribs of celery (Bias cut)
- 3 russet potatoes (small dice) (optional)
- Salt and Pepper to taste (more or less 1/8 C equal ratio of each)
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
- pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
I know I mentioned earlier to make the roux, add it after every has simmered for an hour. bring the soup to a boil before adding.
Mix Well!
Puff pastry
The puff pastry I used was a cheater puff pastry that I whipped up in about 3 hours using grated frozen butter. So, it wasn’t a real french puff pastry but I didn’t have time to make anything too fancy. The hardest part about the puff pastry was using too much butter while rolling it out and it slipped out the sides of the folds. You will need a heavy duty rolling pin, check this one out!
That’s besides the point. I am surprised how well the pastry worked. Cut 1/3 of the pastry to use as the top. Roll out both pastry’s into the best circle you can, 1 obviously larger than the other. Cut slits in the top to vent and bake the lid on the cast iron lid in the oven at 425F for 15 minutes.
When the Topper is about halfway done, line the dutch oven with the other 2/3 of the pastry. spoon the filling into the pan. When the topper is done carefully flip out onto a clean surface. Using two spatulas carry and fit the topper onto the filling, pinch the sides to connect the two. Cover with the dutch oven lid, and bake for another 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
Let the pie rest for 5 minutes to let the pastry settle and cool enough to cut so it keeps its form.
Serve and enjoy a great meal with a loved one or family!
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