Chicken Pot Pie

I'm always at a loss when I'm asked to take dinner to someone for what to take. I know that when I was in bed for months I ate more Chicken Broccoli casserole than I had ever eaten before and I can honestly say I haven't eaten it voluntarily since then...15 years ago. So, I try to figure out dishes that are a little bit different than your standard CB casserole or lasagna but that are still universally appealing enough for everyone.

This is a dish that my family likes a lot. It's filling and homey tasting and it's pretty hard to mess it up. You can certainly make this with store bought pie crusts...I went to buy some today and couldn't find any. Is this a Thanksgiving kind of deal that I wasn't aware of?? At any rate, I made my own crust from my Perfect Pie Crust recipe and it was definitely better tasting than Pillsbury would have been.

If you have lots of time and don't mind chopping veggies you can certainly chop your own but I used a bag of mixed veggies from the freezer section with some hash browns and it worked great. I think I may need a second helping...

Chicken Pot Pie
1 10 inch pie


2 pie crusts

Filling:
2 c. water
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2 in. pieces
1 onion diced fine
1 bag mixed vegetables
1 c. Southern style hash browns
2 T. chicken bouillon granules or soup base
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
4 T. cornstarch
1 T. flour
1 c. heavy cream

In a lg saucepan combine onions and chicken (include carrots, celery etc if you chopped your own). Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 5 min stirring occasionally. Add veggies, hash browns, bouillon, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch and flour in cream. Stir into chicken mixture; simmer an additional 3 minutes until thickened. Set aside.

Assembly:
Put bottom crust in pie pan trimming crust even with the edge. Pour filling into bottom crust. Roll top crust on top, cut slits for steam (if you are Bri write your name). Fold top crust under bottom crust edge. Seal well and flute edge. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 min or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. (I usually shield the pie with tin foil for the first 20 minutes of bake time)

Let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving.