Today at the store my baby asked me to buy her a Marie Calendars chicken pot pie (things my mom buys her) to which I replied, “I will not, but I’m happy to make you one!” Normally I would not embark on such a task on a weeknight but I was so fed up with the iPad and all things speedy, processed or technological on this day, I was willing to do it. I made her choose her own ingredients… things that she would actually eat instead of just picking out the chicken . She settled on broccoli, carrots, chicken and requested I make it cheesy.
Let me just say right here that I am no recipe writer. …I mean I can when I need to be, but I didn’t use precise measurements and this recipe provides many opportunities to take your own liberties in ways, even if you’re not an expert. I am vegetarian, but I do allow my child a piece of chicken here and there. That being said, I made a very small portion as she would be the only one eating it. The biggest highlight here may be the fact that I knocked this out in just over an hour which was pretty awesome for a weeknight.
Crust
…………………
I used some left over crust I’d made for a peach cobbler over the weekend. If you have some lying around, use that! Otherwise I’m sure any pie crust recipe will do or even the pilsbury ready-made-fold out crust would work if you need to save yourself some time. Line the bottom of your pan with the crust and trim the edges if necessary. Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake at 350 about 10-15 minutes. But if you’re curious, I used the double pie dough recipe from The Black Family Reunion Cook Book
2. Broth………………………
I boiled a chicken breast in just enough water to cover it.
Threw in : olive oil, chopped onion, Bay leaf, basil, salt, crushed red pepper, garlic, parsley, a handful of pear tomatoes and let it boil covered until the chicken was nice, white and done. Remove the chicken and discard the bayleaf, placing chicken in a separate dish with room for you to chop up what you want. I felt pretty confident in my chicken broth seasoning but wanted to thicken it up a taste. Okay so here I’ll give a measurement: I’d say mix about 2 TBSP of flour with a shot or two of warm water or until it’s smooth and there are no lumps. Gradually stir it into your broth while you’ve got a little boil going, but not all at once. Simmer on a low heat but keep up with the consistency. You may not need all of your flour mixture. You want it to be “just thick enough”. Remember, it’ll have opportunity to thicken more once you put it in the oven. You don’t want it to get too thick or “pasty”. If the flour doesn’t dissolve perfectly don’t worry, you’re gonna put it in the blender next. …Well, if you want to.
So i blended mine because of the onion and tomatoes in my broth. My child looks for any excuse to pick out an onion but she can’t pick out what she can’t see! If you have kiddos that don’t wanna eat what’s good for them, this is a great opportunity to sneak in all sorts of veggies. You can create a lovely veggie rich base without them knowing they are eating all the nutritious things. Blend until it looks creamy and beautiful. I like to be able to see my spices and things in there. …Oh wait, may I also add that it could be beneficial to make a lot of broth in this moment? Chicken Broth/Veggie Stock can be frozen and used for so many things later, it’s a great thing to keep on hand as you can use it for many fall and winter delights like soups, gravy, as a marinade… And think of how much LESS sodium is probably in your homemade broth as opposed to what you’d buy off the shelf! Last but not least, it’ll allow to you whip up “scratch made things” in the future without having to scrounge for “scratch made time”.
**Please be careful if you blend this broth while it’s still hot. You may only want to fill your blender up about half way.***
3. Filling…….
In a bowl, combine all of your ingredients of choice. The possibilities are truly so endless here, especially in the vegetarian realm. Mine was fresh chopped carrots, raw broccoli, chicken (boiled), my child requested cheddar cheese, but I took the liberty of adding a little Parmesan too. My portions were a little smaller than a fist sized amount of each ingredient. Mix it dry and set aside. After you’ve blended your broth sufficiently and say to yourself, “Oh, what a pretty broth i made!”, pour a bit into your mixture, stirring until all the contents are covered. Add broth again until your mixture is a wee bit soupy. Spoon into your pre-baked crust and add the top layer. …I got chastised for not decorating it with the “lattice method” (…kids). I used some circles instead. You decorate your crust how you choose.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes on 35o degrees, or as my child would say,” bake it until you smell it” and divine pot pie begins to creep through the house. *If you use the Pilsbury or a ready made crust, I always like to do a final brushing of my crust with an egg wash. It really enhances the texture, the flakey-ness, how well it holds together and gives it a lovely little shine and golden brown tone.
Let me know how this goes. My child loved it and said I should be called “Mama Marie Calendars”. I know it’s a haphazard recipe, but it’s low stress. Be creative and don’t get stressed out by exact-things. Cooking is a creation and experimentation process and I think a lot of people forget that. This is a safe one for you to get comfortable in and if you pace yourself, season all things to taste and add things slow, it’s hard to mess up.
P.S.S. This is also a great recipe because you can freeze some of this broth for later meals, be it pot pie or soup!
“Oh my, chicken pot pie!” …Now showing in Studio5. ~hkai
