Pot Pie

One of my son's favorite meals is pot pie. I'm not sure why it is his favorite, but it is definitely one of those meals that makes you feel like you are getting a hug from the inside out. There is a reason it goes under the category of comfort food. I have tried many times to nail this dish by using a recipe and have failed miserably. So, this time I decided to make my own version the way I envision a pot pie should be.

When I think of a pot pie, I think flaky crust and a creamy inside filled with chicken and veggies. The filling has always been where I struggle. I have always made it too thick to where the inside turns out dry. To fix this problem I didn't put a bottom crust under the filling. I only did a top crust. Next, I made sure I had plenty of gravy. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

Gravy

1/4 cup flour

1 stick of butter

1/4 cup chopped celery

3 carrot sticks chopped

1 bag of frozen mixed veggies

1 32-ounce box of chicken broth

1 cup of milk (I used whole milk)

1tbls onion powder

1tbls garlic powder

1tbls fresh chopped parsley

3 chopped potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Crust

2 sticks of butter (softened)

2 cups of flour

1tsp salt

water

The first thing I did was get the crust ready to go and resting before I worked on the filling. I combined the butter, flour and salt together using a pastry cutter to mix it all together. I then added a tablespoon of water at a time to get the consistency I wanted for the crust. I did not want it to be sticky like a dough. I rolled it out in a rectangle shape, because I put the pot pie in my Pampered Chef 9" x 13" pan with lid (https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/npurvis/shop/100667?sharedByConsultant=955169). When that was finished, I let it rest while I worked on the filling.

For the filling I first began working on the roux in my Rockcrok Dutch Oven (https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/npurvis/shop/3140?sharedByConsultant=955169) I melted the stick of butter on medium heat. When melted, I whisked (https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/npurvis/shop/100483?sharedByConsultant=955169) the flour and let the roux get to a pretty caramel color. Turning the heat down, I added the chicken broth, and milk to the roux. After combining those ingredients, I added the veggies and spices to the pot. Turning the heat up to medium high I brought the filling to a boil and let it boil until the potatoes became tender. Once I could put a fork through the potatoes, I took the pot off of the heat and added the filling to the pan and covered the filling with the crust. I added slits in the crust to ventilate the pie as it cooked in the oven for 30 minutes in a 400-degree oven.

This pot pie turned out so creamy and had the perfect flaky crust. It was so good that my family ate it all leaving us with only enough leftovers for one person. We had 7 people eating this meal and filled us up comfortably. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Have fun cooking!