Chicken Pot Pie

I've never made a chicken pot pie, believe it or not. Maybe it's because of the amount of shortening I have to use (mmm transfat!), I should invest in the transfat-free kind. But the kids loved it. They even wanted leftovers at lunch today. (They usually complain about leftovers) I think it was really good too.

I looked for a recipe that didn't call for heavy cream. It was pretty simple to put together. I even made the pie crusts, now that I've got the hang of it. I would have followed the recipe exactly if I had all the right stuff. I only had one carrot (about 1/2 cup), and no frozen peas. So I made up the difference by using frozen mixed veggies (peas and carrots and more) in place of the frozen peas. And I didn't have celery seed, just celery salt. Oh and my chicken broth is the left over water from the boiling with some chicken bullion added. It it turned out great even though I added the onions to the boiling veggies instead of sauteing them -oops, and I forgot to up the temp to 425 and instead baked it at 350 for 25 minutes and wondered why it wasn't browning!!! It took it up to 425 for 15 minutes and it was fine. But I would recommend starting it at the right temp!

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.