I'm Back

For those of you who wondered where I have been or why I have not posted any new recipes in four months, let me update you. I had a baby boy in August and then we moved when he was only a month old. Life has been crazy since he was born, but we are now settled a little more. There is never a dull moment around our house with three boys. Hopefully I will be able to give you some great recipes in the upcoming weeks.

Chicken Pot Pie

One of our wonderful employees brought us a yummy chicken pot pie meal when the baby was a week old and it was absolutely divine. So, thank you Lisa for this recipe and I know that everyone will enjoy it. This is definately time consuming to make, but well worth the time and effort. I suggest making the pie crust dough a day before you make the recipe. This saves you some time.

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
***or 2 ½ cups gluten-free all purpose baking flour & 2 tsp. xanthan gum***
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Instructions:
1. Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes.



2 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

*bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees

5. Add filling.

6. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Bake pie at 350 until edges begin to brown and pie is heated through. If the edges are browning but the filling is not hot, put foil over the pie to protect the crust from burning.

Tips: I find it helpful to roll the crust on wax paper with a little flour and once its ready to put in the baking dish, roll the crust on the the rolling pin. Then unroll the crust on top of the pie filling. The gluten free crust can be crumbly and this helps keep it together. You may need to piece it together if it tears or falls apart.

Filling:

Ingredients

2 large carrots-diced (apx 1 cup)

1 large potato-cubed (apx 1 cup)

1 cup frozen peas

2 ears of corn (apx 1 cup)

5-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs or 3 chicken breasts-cooked

1 1/2 cans of organic cream of mushroom soup or organic cream of chicken

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Peel and dice carrots. Peel and cube potato. Boil potato and carrots until slightly tender. Cut off the corn from the cobb. Lightly coat the chicken with olive oil or grapeseed oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake chicken at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until done on cookie sheet. Combine corn, potatoes, peas and carrots into a bowl. Add cream of mushroom/chicken soup, salt, and pepper. Stir together. Pour in dish with already cooked pie crust. Top with second pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Tips:

* This recipe tends to be a little runny when you first cut into it. After it sits for a bit, the juice absorbs into the filling.

*you can use 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch with 24 ounces of chicken broth instead of cream of mushroom/chicken soup. You can simply heat 3 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet and then add the cornstarch. Wisk together and add chicken broth. Stir until it thickens.
*As I said before, this recipe is worth taking the time to use fresh vegetables. You can use frozen veggies, but the flavor and taste is totally different. If you have little ones running around the house and getting owies every 30 minutes, and you are changing diapers, potty training, and wiping runny noses all day...(as this is my life right now) I suggest working on the recipe through out the day. You can make the pie dough one day and refridgerate it. Then the next morning you can cut up the veggies. Then later cook the chicken etc. I know that you will enjoy this yummy home cooked meal this week.