Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Warning - May Cause Comfort

Comfort food, who doesn't love it. I live for those comforting yummy foods that fill my belly and my heart. My favorites are Mashed potatoes, Turkey dinner, and today's topic, Chicken pot pie!

The Delicious creamy, yet chunky, filling bubbling away underneath the flaky and warm crust. OH Yeah! It's good!
But how does one get such a yummy dish in a short amount of time. Look, making something that delicious does not have to be hard and taking some short cuts will give you that comfort food you crave without the hours of work you cant afford to sacrifice.

Now I am the first to promote making home made stock and doing things the more difficult way because it will taste better, which it usually does, but we dont always have time for that.
Additionally, I didn't happen to have a turkey dinner's worth of left overs to put together into a pot pie either, so I went for my Quick, Easy, and Tasty chicken pot pie with great short cuts and great taste.

Ok, What do you need for this tasty meal? Some super easy ingredients.

4 boneless chicken breasts (or bone in if you want to spend time taking the chicken off the bone etc)
1 can of cut green beans
1 can of sliced carrots
1 can of diced potatoes
1 can of corn
1 1/2 boxes of chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
3 tbsp of butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tsp of season salt
2 boxes of Pillsbury pie crust. (the kind that is rolled up and when you roll it out it forms a circle)
corn starch slury


Ok, did you see all that easy stuff. The canned veggies? Yes, super easy and here's what you do.

First, take your chicken, put it in a pot and cover it with water. Boil the chicken until cooked through. I like to add seasonings to my water to help flavor the chicken.
Once it's cooked I strain it and get out my Salad Chopper. I chopped up the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Ok, that was the hard part, here comes the easy part.
Put the chicken in a large pot, open and drain your canned vegetables then add them to the pot as well.
Use your chicken stock to add liquid to your chicken and veggi's and then add some salt and pepper.
Turn on your burner on the stove and get that goodness cooking. Add your cream and spices and then add butter/margarine as well and cook until it boils.
Once your yummy pot pie filling mixture starts boiling, you can shut it off and then add your corn starch slury until it's nice and thick. Dont know what a slurry is? Go back and read my other blogs,..LOL. It's simply several tablespoons of corn starch mixed with some cold water until is makes a very thick white liquid, then you slowly add it to your pot and stir until you get the desired thickness. If you need more to make it thicker, simply mix more and do it. Dont be afraid of it!

Ok, so now you have your filling, all you have left to do is to make it a "pie".
I use those pillsbury pie crusts that are already made and rolled into a nice circle for me. In this house, we make individual pies for each person in a little oven safe round bowl, but you can do whatever you want on this part. Make a big one, little ones, square ones, you name it, its up to you. Then simply do a light egg wash on your crust and pop it in the oven according to the pie crust directions. I believe it told me 450 degrees. When it comes out, deliciousness. YUM

Want some variations? You could saute up some diced onions and celery to add to your flavors or for those whom love mushrooms, add them to the mix! All in all, it's a very easy and very quick way to bring home cooking to your faced paced life.
Enjoy and Share!

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