Chicken Pot Pie

Mmmmm.....comfort food. 

This is a great recipe because you can pretty much use what you already have in your fridge or freezer. I had celery and carrots that weren't looking so pretty anymore, so this is what I came up with. 

I don't always measure things out but I think I kept pretty good track with this one. 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut up with my new favorite tool - Pampered Chef's Professional Shears
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 onion (I never chop these by hand. I use my amazing manual food processor)
• Salt and pepper
• Two frozen, deep dish pie crusts (because I absolutely hate making pie crust from scratch). I took them out of the freezer just before I started cooking and they were perfectly defrosted by the time I was ready to use them.
• 1 1/3 cups chicken broth
• 1 stick of butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

You can add whatever floats your boat - peas, potatoes, corn, whatever. I prefer to stick to plain old onion, carrots and celery. 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Chop everything up. Season chicken pieces with some salt and pepper.
• Add butter (1 Tbsp at a time - I think I used about 4-5 Tbsp) to 12" executive skillet  until melted. 
• Sautee onion, carrot, celery and chicken in butter until cooked (add more butter if necessary).
• Once the chicken is fully cooked, move the mixture into one of the pie crusts using a scoop 'n drain.
• I put the pie on a baking sheet just in case anything bubbles out while cooking.  

• In the same skillet, make a rue (this is 5 Tbsp butter plus 1/3 cup flour and whisk into a clumpy mess. See top left picture)
• Add chicken broth and milk to the rue (top right)
• Whisk over medium heat until nice and thick (bottom left)
• Pour the thickened mixture over the chicken mixture in the crust. You may not use all of it - I had some left over that I discarded (bottom right)

• Take the second pie crust and loosen the edges. Drop it on top of the filled crust and let it sit there for a minute or two. I think the heat from the bottom crust will help loosen the top just enough so it falls right out. 

• Using pre-made pie crusts doesn't yield you the most beautiful of creations, but it works. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crust together. 
• Put in the oven for 30 minutes. 
• When it's done, let it sit for 5-10 minutes (my husband couldn't wait and cut into it before I even had a chance to take a picture of the finished product!!! I was putting J to bed. But you get the gist.)

Enjoy!