Today, I thought I was heading to jury duty. You know, that thing that comes in the mail saying you been summoned. Last night, I was so thoughtfully informed that it was postponed for one week. I don’t have to wait and wonder what is planned for next Friday though, it’s already been planned. I think that’s so thoughtful.
I’ve been saving this recipe for a while now. I knew if I made it, I would dive in with two spoons and eat it!
This recipe comes from one of my favorite Cookbooks: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. She runs The Best Little Scratch Bakery in Texas. Her famous all sold out Chicken Pot Pies are just that . . . always sold out.
Ohhhh, the cookbook is filled with tempting pictures that draw you in and after reading through it, you’ll find your feet heading to the kitchen. My eyes stuck on page 180 – All – Sold – Out – Chicken Pot Pies.
It reads: I simply can’t make enough Chicken pot pies on Tuesdays, the only day they are served. We have doubled, even tripled the number we make, but the demand grows to meet the expanded supply. No matter how many we make, the line is out the door waiting for these pot pies!
Gosh, that was enough to make me try her recipe. We did not have leftovers . . . enough said!
The good thing about pot pie is that it’s kind of up to you. You really can decide what veggies you want waiting for you inside, as you break open that flaky pastry shell.
The recipe calls calls for cooked rotisserie chicken or 1 whole stewed chicken, cooked & cooled. Ordinarily, that would be fantastic but I wanted to use leftover Chicken breasts from our dinner from the night before. I just sliced it thin, then cut it into small pieces. It worked perfectly. I also grabbed a bag of frozen peas that I had blanched this summer from our garden.
As you can see, I also added some sliced carrots and of course used Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced. You can add green beans, mushrooms, peppers or all kinds of other things. This recipe calls for white pepper, which I have in my spice drawer but I still prefer the taste of black pepper. I like black pepper. You can’t see it can you?
The Cream Sauce with the veggies is very good. It would also be a great soup served with whole wheat bread. See those little bowls in the background though. They are crying for pot pies!
This Pastry has chilled cream cheese in it. That’s just a bit different than the norm, but it’s very good and flaky. Cream Cheese is often used when making dessert pastries. The only thing I did differently, was add 1 teaspoon of granulated white sugar to the dough as well. Even though it’s for a savory pot pie, I think it adds to the taste of the crust. Just saying . . .
I topped those bowls of delicious soup with the pastry dough. I wasn’t going for pretty . . . just rustic pot pies. Make sure that your pastry is nice and cold!
Don’t stretch the dough tightly, just gently drape the dough over the top of the bowl. Cut it off or pinch it anywhere your heart so desires. This recipe will make 4 large or 6 small bowls.
Take a sharp knife and cut a few small slits across the top to let the steam escape. That way, the soup won’t boil all over the place and run down the sides of your cute bowls or ramekins.
Before you bake them, place them on a cookie sheet, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and chill those sweet little pies. Make sure that the pastry is nice and cold again before you bake them. This assures you’ll have a nice flaky crust.
You can also use little round ramekins like these, and simply drape the pastry over the top without pinching, pleating, and crimping. Brush the top of the pastry (lightly) with a beaten egg. This will help the crust take on a beautiful golden brown color as well. I brush right before going into the oven. I’m too slow at taking pictures. If I brushed, then took pictures . . . I’d ruin my pastry!
I served our Pot pies with a nice Garden Green Salad with Homemade Wheat Bread.
Enjoy! Now go run and run and run and run.
All – Sold – Out – Chicken Pot Pies
Adapted from the Cookbook: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main dish - Chicken
Ingredients
- FILLING:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium – size yellow sweet onion, chopped (opt)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (opt)
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced (opt)
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (opt)
- 1 very large or 2 small russet potato, peeled and diced into very small cubes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 purchased cooked rotisserie chicken or
- 1 whole stewed chicken, cooled
- 8 ounces fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (opt)
- 1 (8-ounce) package frozen peas – 1 1/2 to 2 cups (opt)
- 1 or 2 small carrots sliced very thin (opt)
- CREAM SAUCE:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- Note: The recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, however 1/2 cup seems to be sufficient in this recipe.
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken stock (add extra 1/2 cup if needed for nice consistency)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Dash of hot pepper sauce, such as Tobasco
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- CRUST:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 10 ounces chilled cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar (opt)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- To make the Filling:
- Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots (if using) and potato; sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute about 15 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots (if using) are tender. Stir in the crushed red pepper and add salt and pepper to taste.
- While the vegetables are sautéing, skin the chicken, pull the meat off the bones, and shred the meat or cut into bite size pieces. Place the green beans (if using) in a microwave safe bowl and add enough water to cover. Cover the dish and microwave on high power about 10 minutes, until the beans are tender. Drain thoroughly. (You can use this same technique with carrots as well) Stir the beans, peas, and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.
- To Make the Cream Sauce:
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup. Add the cream, hot pepper sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine. Fill individual 1 1/4 -cup capacity oven-safe bowls three-quarters of the way to the top with the creamed chicken filling.
- To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the butter into 16 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.
- Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls – mine are about 4 inches across and cut out dough rounds that are 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pies, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Serve immediately.
- Rather Sweet Variations: Pot pies lend themselves to all manner of vegeatable additions, such as corn, turnips, celery, asparagus spears.
- FREEZE BEFORE BAKING:
- You can double wrap the pot pies in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer.
- Simply pull from the freezer and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the crust is golden and the sauce is bubbly.
by Get Off Your Butt and BAKE
Those look delish. I love a good chicken pot pie. I even like a crappy chicken pot pie. Laughing… but this looks amazing. I love the pictures mom. They look fantastic!
Even if it was postponed, I am still glad you didn’t have to go today. Even if we had it all planned out that your coughing would hopefully get you excussed! 🙂
Looks delicious! I’ve never made chicken pot pie, but you make me want to try it. Oh, and I love your red bowls!
Um…that looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try it, except my house is screaming for those adorable pot pie bowls. Where did you find them?
Hi Kim,
I found the bowls on Amazon. I linked to them on the post.
They come in several brands, so look around. Make sure they are oven safe. I’ve seen some that are only microwave safe.
Jonna
Jury duty…boo! I can see why these pot pies are always sold out. They looks wonderful. Oh, and that crust–yum!
Oh my goodness, these look more than delicious. They are going on the menu this week. I love the individual serving ideas–I can take them around to a few widows in the area. These look wonderful.
Thanks for sharing. If I blog about them I will let you know and link back to you!
Made these last night. Tasted good, however the sauce was extremely thick. More like a solid mass… Had to try and thin it out. Could there be a typo with half a cup of flour instead of the whole cup? Thank you
Hi Jennifer,
Thank You for letting us know. I didn’t have this problem, but after reading your comment, I though; “1 cup…that sure does sound like a lot!” I checked the cookbook, and sure enough, it’s 1 cup.
I added a note to the instructions, that 1/2 cup of flour might just be sufficient, or adding extra broth or cream or milk might be needed to make it the consistency of a nice thick soup before adding it to
your serving bowl. Not solid however!
Thanks so much Jennifer, we sure appreciate your comment.
Jonna
Oh my! I’ve been searching for a long time on the perfect pot pie recipe, and specific directions for freezing. I am so happy I found your website, it’s so amazing!! Just one question though, if I were to make them in those tin foil type boils (the kind that you buy from stores, though not the carboard type, the actual tin foily..) do I put crust on the bottom as well, or just have crust on top? Thank you 🙂