When looking for dinners requiring easy chicken recipes, look for recipes that explain how to make chicken pie. There are few oven-baked items as tasty as chicken pot pie and it is hard to beat the combination of chunky chicken, delicious vegetables like carrots, peas, potatoes and onions and rich, flavorful gravy held together in a delectable crust. The pie can be baked as a serving for many in a baking pan or as individual servings in smaller pans. The aluminum pans recycled from individual frozen pies at the grocers have given way to microwaveable containers.
Homemakers have responded to the challenge of individual servings by using large muffin pans and serving two muffin-sized pies to each guest or family member. Chicken pie recipes are a good way to use leftovers from baked chicken recipes. The advantage of making them at home is having the option of selecting the vegetables you like and adjusting the piecrust for dieters, who are thankful for the circle of pastry at the top and non-dieters, who know that sometimes the gravy-flavored pastry is the best part of the meal.
Fresh herbs add great flavor to chicken pie recipes and sometimes cooks do not have the luxury of having a particular fresh herb in their garden. Crush dried herbs by rubbing them between your fingers. That allows the release the aromatic oils that create the fragrance and taste of each herb. If you have been considering smoked chicken recipes, you will be glad you used this step because it makes an already wonderful chicken taste even better when rubbed with flavorful herbs.
Gravy, Fresh Veggies, Chicken, and Pie
You will need six 10-ounce ramekins or same-sized baking dishes for the individual servings. This is a tasty recipe and very easy to follow.
Ingredients –
- 3 pounds of cooked chicken, cut into chunks
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 celery stalks in one- inch slices
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 carrots, peeled and in 1-inch slices
- 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ½ cup flour
- ¾ cup green peas
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients (Crust) –
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup chilled unsalted butter, diced into half-inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons ice cold water
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
Preparation:
- Combine the salt and flour for the dough in a food processor. Pulse 5 times after adding the chilled butter cubes, then add the shortening and pulse a few more times. You want the dough to look almost like cornmeal.
- Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time. Pulse each time you add water. The dough sticks together when you press it between your fingers.
- Put the dough on a clean surface and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ball to the shape of a saucer, sprinkle with a bit of flour, and wrap it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. The dough is safe in the refrigerator up to 2 days before rolling.
- Preparation (Filling):
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, potatoes and carrots and cook 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook one more minute.
- Whisk the 2 ½ cups of chicken stock and the milk into the mixture. Turn the heat to low, stirring, and simmering for 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken, peas, thyme, salt, pepper, and parsley. Stir to combine. Divide the filling between the six ramekins.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured pastry sheet to just under a quarter inch thickness. Cut 6 circles a bit larger than the ramekin. Put a round on each pie. Fold the dough under so it is even with the edge. Press it down with fork tines. Cut an inch-long slit in the center of each pie.
- Put the pies on a foil lined baking sheet. Put it in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve and definitely enjoy.
