Chicken Pot Pie

Once again, because I'm a MidWesterner I guess it's a necessary part of my identity that I make casseroles.  I love the idea of everything mixed together harmoniously, baked in one dish, and something that would feed a hungry crowd of pot-luck or carry-in (as I always say) goers.  This chicken pot pie was very easy, and I will put it into winter rotation.  The only problem was my "brilliant" idea to use the leftover cheese straws from the freezer instead of just making a crust.  The problem was that the puff pastry got soggy and never really crisped up like it was supposed to.  The picture below illustrates that.  I'll just make a regular crust next time.  

Chicken Pot Pie

• Meat from 1 whole chicken, reserve 2 cups cooking liquid (I cooked mine in the crock pot)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stocks, sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 pie crust

1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a heavy pan.  Add flour, whisking the entire time.  Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat.  Slowly add milk, whisking to prevent lumps.  Add broth. Whisk.  Add chicken and season.  You will need quite a bit of salt and pepper for this.  Flour, butter, and milk all have pretty bland flavors, so add some salt and pepper, taste, then add some more until it's where you want it to be.  You have just made creamed chicken.  You could serve this over mashed potatoes on its own.

2. Set creamed chicken aside.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  In a pan, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter.  Add chopped carrots, onions, and celery and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how soft you want your veggies.  I wanted mine crisp, so I only cooked them for 5 minutes.  Add peas, parsley, and creamed chicken.  Stir everything together.

3. Place ingredients into a large baking pan.  Top with pie crust. (I'm thinking mashed potatoes might be a good topping for this too).  Bake for 40 minutes.  Enjoy!

Note: You could also put this in several small pie pans for individual serving.  You would want to bake those for around 20-25 minutes.  They would freeze well pre-baking.