It’s COLD!  And, when it’s really cold, sometimes you just need some real, comforting home food to warm you up from the inside out.  We only make this dish about once a year, but my husband has been campaigning for it lately.  He makes the crust and I make the filling.  Can’t ask for a better deal!

To begin:  stew a chicken

I do this in the slow cooker.  In the morning, I place 1/4 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 lemon and 1 cup filtered water in the slow cooker.  Add a rinsed, clean chicken.  Salt and pepper go on top.  Place the lid on tightly, turn the heat to high and let it go.  In the afternoon, skin and bone the chicken.  Filter the veggies out of the cooking liquid and keep the broth!  You won’t use it all in this dish but, it will be fantastic in soup or any recipe calling for chicken broth.

Once the chicken meat is set aside, begin preparing the filling.  OH MY GOSH!  You’re going to need a crust.  See?  That’s where teamwork comes in.  My hubby makes the holiday pies and any pie crusting that goes on comes from him.  Here’s an excellent resource on the process he uses and the recipe he uses from Cooks Illustrated:

http://food52.com/recipes/24966-cook-s-illustrated-foolproof-pie-crust

NOTE: This recipe makes 1 crust – for a double crust, double the recipe.  You will need to double for chicken pot pie.

It’s now the only pie crust he makes.  Perfect for sweet or savory dishes.  So, get *someone* to do the crust and give it time to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge before assembly.

Back to the filling:

6-7 white, button mushrooms, diced small

1 cup thin sliced celery

1 cup carrot “squares”  – he who makes the crust insists they must be squares like the bought ones he *used* to eat – suit yourself and your eaters

Now, this is chicken pot pie.  Use rendered chicken fat if you have it.  Don’t skimp!  I use about 2 Tbsp.  Heat the pan, add the fat, S&P and cook all the veggies til tender.  It will take 10-15 minutes on medium low heat.  They don’t need to brown and they should not be crunchy in this dish.  Once the veggies are perfect, make a roux.  To the tender veggies, add 2 Tbsp. flour.  Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.  Then, using your saved chicken broth (about 1 cup) turn the filling into pure decadence.  Stir to combat lumpage!  Add in about 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken.  Stir to combine and let the whole mess of loveliness come to simmer.  Now, add in 3/4 cup frozen peas.  Turn the heat off and spoon in 1/2 cup full fat plain Greek yogurt.  Taste it.  Oh yeah.  Correct seasonings, if needed.

Roll out the bottom crust and place into pie pan.  Pour in the filling.  Top with remaining crust, cutting some vent holes.  Into a 425 degree preheated oven it goes!  Let it cook for about 10 minutes then lower the heat in the oven to 400 and cook another 30 minutes or until beautifully golden.  Now, here’s the hard part, it should set for about 10 minutes before you slice into it.  If you can hold off, good for you!  It will pull up all the liquids and make perfect slices.  Either way, enjoy!  

We certainly did!  :0

As you can see, we only have finish pics of this dish.  I’ll do better next time!