Chicken pot pie (kind of) and a twist!

Last week in San Diego we had a bit of a cold spell.  When I say cold spell I’m talking it got into the upper 50’s lower 60’s, but to me that’s a cold spell.  It almost even rained, which is unheard of in November (actually with the current state of weather affairs its unheard of period!).  This “frigid” fall weather put me in the mood to cook something warm, hearty, and comforting.  I don’t know why, but chicken pot pie popped into my head (lots of stuff pops into and out of my head, but I digress) so I decided it was our cold weather meal for the evening.

Since it was midweek I did take a few shortcuts to have the pie come together relatively easy, but it was still mostly homemade.  I wanted to have enough leftovers for lunch and dinner so in lieu of using a pie pan I made it in a glass baking dish.  Using a baking dish eliminates the need for a base crust since you’re only sealing the top portion of pie.  Honestly I’m a huge fan of crust, but I think the double crust takes away from the filling flavors.  However, if you want to go the traditional route you can always use a pie crust and reduce the filling measurements by about a half.

Ingredients:

Prepared pie crust (2 for a pan pie, 1 if you’re using a base pie) I use Immaculate from Sprouts, but any prepared dough crust works

Two 16 ounces bags of frozen veggies defrosted (I used the cubed corn, carrots, green beans and peas)

One 14.5 ounce can of diced cooked potatoes

1 medium yellow onion chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1/3 cup of butter

1/3 cup of flour

3/4 cup of milk

1 3/4 cup of chicken broth

1 1/5 to 2 lbs. of chicken tenders (you can use thighs or breast, but chicken tenders cook quickly so they’re good for when you want to reduce recipe time)

Olive Oil

S&P

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread chicken tenders on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and S&P.  Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.  While chicken is cooking prepare the roux for the pie by heating a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Place butter in pan and once melted sauté the onions and garlic until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute then add the milk and chicken broth.  Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat to allow sauce to thicken.  Continue stirring until correct consistency is obtained, about 3-5 minutes.  Once thickened, pull off the heat and set aside.

Once chicken is cooked, and cool to the touch, begin cubing and placing it in a large mixing bowl.  Add the defrosted veggies and diced cooked potatoes to the chicken mixture and stir together.  Next add the white sauce and stir to incorporate into the mixture.  Take an 8.5 ” by 13.2″ glass pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray and fill with mixture.  Take the prepared pie crusts and drape over pan.  There is excess crust so you can cut it off or make a pretty scalloped edge (I did a little of both).  Place in oven (that’s already been set at 375 degrees) and cook until thoroughly heated and the crust is nicely browned, 30-35 minutes.

Wine to pair?

This dish pairs well with various wine varietals.  Of course I’m going to say an earthy Pinot Noir or red Burgundy, is the perfect match to the “coq au blanc”, but a nice Grenache or even Beaujolais would pair well without being overpowering.

So where’s the twist?  Well for those of you that don’t know, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means it’s turkey time!  I loooooove turkey, so I also buy a bird that’s probably double what I actually need to ensure there are plenty leftovers.  A great substitute to the chicken in this recipe is turkey.  If you roast vegetables for thanksgiving, like I do, you can even substitute those for the frozen veggies.  There is one thing that is a must; making the sauce!  That sauce really brings the dish together and it’s totally worth the extra effort.  So enjoy the upcoming holiday with food, family, and fun.  Also don’t be a turkey and miss out on this recipe.  Happy Thanksgiving!