I was going through my old tin recipe boxes the other day and found this recipe for a Chicken Pot Pie that someone had written down for me years and years ago but which I had never tried. I think it may have been the little old lady that I boarded with when I first left home to go out to work, but I can't be sure. I only know that it was tucked away in the old tin recipe box that she had given me when I left her boarding house to get married.
In any case I had never made this . . . I know not why . . . and I had some leftover roasted chicken which I wanted to use up and so the time was right. I found myself wondering afterwards why on earth I had waited so long to make this delicious pot pie? I have surely been missing something pretty wonderful all of these long long years! (I won't tell you how long, lol)
It's quite different than the usual chicken pie. First of all you don't make a gravy. You just make your pastry and line a nine inch pie tin with half of it. Then you begin layering . . . shredded chicken on the bottom, thinly sliced potatoes, mixed cooked vegetables . . . with a mixture of flour, garlic, herbs and seasoning between each layer . . .
Then you pour some chicken stock down over it all, cover it with the top crust and bake it until the whole thing is golden brown and that stock has melded with that chicken and those vegetables with the seasoned flour to make a wonderful gravy that permeates the whole thing. Actually the herbs were my idea. The original recipe only called for seasoned flour. I added the onions, garlic, and other bits. It worked really, REALLY well!
You could just use frozen mixed vegetables if you wanted, but I like to cook my own because I love swede and parsnips . . . and they don't come in a frozen vegetable mix. The whole thing was quite delicious and made a really wonderful pot pie. I am thinking my Canadian friends could use some of their leftover turkey to make it too. That would be fab! In any case, do give it a go, I think you'll love it!
*Layered Chicken Pot Pie*Makes one 9 inch piePrintable Recipe
This pot pie is unusual in that you layer the ingredients in the pie crust, sprinkling a herbed flour mixture in between the layers and pouring some chicken stock over top prior to topping with a top crust. It's delicious and cuts out that step of having to make a gravy or cream sauce.
Pastry for a two crust deep pie8 ounces or 2 cups of leftover cooked chicken, shredded2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into cubes1 small parsnip, peeled and cut into cubesa piece of swede (rutabaga) peeled and cut into cubes(you will want roughly the same amount of swede as carrot)a large handful of frozen corn
a large handful of frozen peas3 small potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced4 TBS plain flour1/2 tsp sage flakes1/2 tsp thyme 1 TBS parsley flakes1/4 tsp garlic powder1 tsp onion powderfine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 450ml of room temperature chicken stock (2 cups)
Place the swede chunks in a pot of boiling salted water. Cook for 5 minutes, add the carrot and parsnips. Cook for five minutes longer. Add the peas and corn, stir well to thaw them out, then drain the whole vegetable mixture in a sieve and run cold water through it to cool it down. Drain well before using.
Preheat the oven to 200*C/4))*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a baking tray lined with foil.
Roll out the bottom of your pastry. Use it to line a 9 inch deep pie dish. Mix together the flour, sage, thyme, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and black pepper to taste. Place the shredded chicken on the bottom of the dish. Cover with a layer of potato and half of the vegetables sprinkling each layer with a portion of the flour mixture. Repeat with a layer of potato, the remaining vegetables and a final layer of potato, again sprinkling each layer with the flour mixture, until it is all gone. Pour the chicken stock over top. Roll out the other half of the pastry and cover the top of the pie with this. Trim and crimp the edges all the way around. Cut a few slits in the top for venting and place the filled pie on the baking sheet.
Bake the pie in the ehated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until golden brown and the potatoes are tender. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve. Serve hot.
