The Real McCoys: Dinner Last Night

Remember when I said fall weather makes me hungry for yummy food? Last night was a perfect example of this. We had a gorgeous fall day, which I spent mostly outside doing yard work (more on that later), so naturally I needed something hearty and warm for dinner; homemade chicken pot pie! I love chicken pot pie (who doesn't?) but I have never made it myself before. I usually get Marie Calendar's frozen pot pies (I like the honey chicken), which I like a lot. I just felt like being adventurous this time. I started out with this recipe from Food Network:
Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Pot Pie
and then adapted it from there, including cutting it in half (just for two of us) and using frozen puff pastry instead of making my own crust. I also have to admit that I underestimated how long this was going to take to make and I didn't have dinner ready for Kevin before he had to leave for work (he is working nights this week) ... so sorry bud. He had his pot pie this morning and said it was still good.

*Disclaimer: this meal is probably not low calorie, definitely not low fat but it is delicious and has veggies in it, so not all bad right? It also takes some time, although if you had leftover chicken from a previous meal it would be a lot more convenient.

What you need: (For two servings ... double for more)
2 Bone-in Split chicken breasts (or whatever you prefer, could be leftover from a roast too)
2 tbspn Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

2 c. Chicken stock
1 Chicken bouillon cube
3/4 stick of Butter
1/2 Chopped onion
3/8 c. flour
1/2 package Frozen peas
1 c. Chopped carrots (I used baby ones)
1/8 c. Heavy Cream
a little Honey (my addition)

Preheat oven to 350, then, place the thawed chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or spice of your choosing (we love McCormick's Montreal Chicken). Bake for 35-40 minutes until done.

Once chicken is done, allow to cool until you can handle them with your hands. Once cooled, cut meat into small chunks (I tore it with my hands).

Put meat aside. If you are making your own pastry ... do it now. I used 1 package of Wegman's frozen puff pastry and molded half the pastry into the bottom of two oven safe bowls (we have pyrex glass ones) put them on a baking sheet and baked at 400 for about 10 minutes. If you don't pre-bake the bottom crust it will be soggy. You can also not use a bottom crust at all and skip this part.

While your crust is baking ....
Heat chicken stock in a small sauce pan, add bouillon cube and disolve. In a larger saucepan melt butter and saute chopped onions for aprox. 10 minutes on medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly on low heat for 2 minutes. Add hot stock and continue stirring until thick. Add two tsp salt and a little pepper then stir in heavy cream. Add chicken cubes, frozen peas and carrots (the recipe says to blanch these first, I did not and they were a little crunchy but we like that), parsley or herb of choice.
Mmmmm

Pull your finished crusts out of the oven ....

Fill with filling ... I had a fair amount left over, so next time I will make less. This time, I froze the leftovers which should be easy to make again.

Place remaining puff pastry dough on top of each bowl, place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Really all that needs to bake is the dough on top, so as soon as it is brown and crusty you're good to go.