Chicken Pot Pie

     When I was little, my parents used to order frozen food from Market Day. While I genuinely liked most of it, I always dreaded the frozen chicken pot pies. For some reason that I can't even remember, I hated them so much it even became a family joke. I think part of the issue was the rubbery quality of the chicken in them, but I still think all frozen pot pie is just generally bad. So just as I have done with many foods I had perviously hated, I sought to reinvent the chicken pot pie. There are a few different ways to do this. You can either use leftover chicken breast or bake some fresh at 375 for about 35 minutes. If you use leftover chicken, it takes about an hour to prepare. Obviously, just add half an hour if you're cooking the chicken at the same time. Also, you have some options for the vegetables. I have found that peas, carrots, and corn are the best combination, so you can either find a frozen mixture of all three or you can cut your own fresh veggies. Today I did a combination of both and used frozen peas, fresh corn cut off the cob, and fresh carrots. Once again, I used one of my favorite inventions ever: pre-made pie crust.

INGREDIENTS:
1 refrigerated pie crust
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
mixed veggies, either 1 bag of mixed frozen ones or 1-2 chopped carrots, 2 ears of corn, and about 1/3 of a bag of frozen peas

DIRECTIONS:
(assuming chicken is already cooked)
1. Preheat oven to 425 and spray a 9inch glass pie plate.
2. Use two forks (or your hands) to shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

3. If you're using fresh veggies, chop them now.

4. In a large frying pan, melt the butter, then stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Next, add the broth and milk and continue to heat on medium-low and stir until it thickens.

5. add the chicken pieces and all the fresh and/or frozen veggies to the pan and continue to heat for about 5 minutes.

6. Unroll one of the pie crusts and place it in the pie plate. Spoon the filling in until the pie plate is full. You will probably use all of it, but its better to have some left over than to overfill it.

7. To make a lattice crust for the top, spread some flour on your counter, unroll the second pie crust onto it, and cut it into 1 1/2 inch wide strips, using a very sharp knife. Only cut 1 strip at a time, because you will need to save some of the dough. Here's the easy way to do this: First lay  3 or 4 strips across the pie in one direction. Then, carefully weave the another 3 or 4 strips into those in an over-under-over-under pattern. If the strips are too long, cut off the extra and add it to the rest of the dough that you haven't cut into strips. Don't worry about finishing the edges yet. If you're not up for this, feel free to leave the top crust whole.

8. Take the rest of the top crust dough, plus the trimmed pieces and re-shape it. I had about 1/3 of the top crust left unused. Roll it into a thin rope, long enough to go around the whole pie.

9. Place this dough rope around the edge of the pie, roll the excess from the bottom crust up and over it, tucking in the lattice strips, and pinch your thumb all around the circumference. 

10. Finally, bake the pot pie at 425 for 35-40 minutes. For best results, don't slice in right away, let it rest for 10 minutes and admire it's beauty!

Enjoy! Come back tomorrow for something sweet!