Chicken Pot Pie

.... from scratch? Well... it was supposed to be. And there won't be a picture for you... sorry.

I was nervous to make this recipe as I don't make dough... but I was excited to use my handy-dandy food processor my wonderful hubby gave me for Christmas for the first time making this pie dough. The machine did a GREAT job. It was like watching the chefs on TV make their dough...
The dough on the other hand... was terrible. I followed the instructions perfectly, but I could not get it to roll out without sticking to EVERYTHING (even with flour everywhere). And the Food Nanny expected half the dough to be able to fit the bottom and up the sides... ya right. With that dough, I was lucky to get it to fill the bottom of the pan. And for the top, there was NO WAY I was going to be able to roll it out and be able to pick up and lay it across the pan. It just crumbled. I admit, I broke down. I cried. My poor husband had to run to the store to get the refrigerated pie crusts (heaven-sent I tell you!). 9pm and dinner still wasn't done. And when I was grocery shopping I thought I should just go the easy route... should've listened to myself.

So here's my opinion on the matter... if you're really good at making dough and you feel comfortable doing so, go ahead and follow the recipe. If you're like me and don't bake... and certainly don't make dough... go ahead and cheat and go with the already-made stuff. I could've saved myself 2 hours and a ton of frustration.

The insides, however, were DELICIOUS. And this will definitely be something I will make again, just minus the homemade dough.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C flour
1/4 C chilled butter
2 bone-in chicken breasts
2 carrots, sliced crosswise (I used about 1 C baby carrots cut in half)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4C cold water
3/4C shortening
1 tsp salt
4 TBS ice-cold water
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4C flour
1/2C frozen peas

Instructions:

To make the crust, stir the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening and butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with the ice water, a TBS at a time, and stir with a fork to moisten all the dough. Gather the dough into a ball with your hands. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half on a lightly floured surface and fit it into a 9in pie dish. Roll out the other half and set aside.
Put the chicken breasts in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat, cover, and simmer until tender, about 18 minutes. Remove the chicken to a cutting board or plate. Add the potatoes and carrots and return to boiling. Decrease the heat, cover, and simmer until they are tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, tear or cut the chicken off the bones into bite-size pieces, discarding skin, fat and gristle.
Remove the veggies from the simmering broth with a slotted spoon and set aside with the chicken pieces. Measure the broth and add water, if needed, to make 2 1/2 Cups. Return to the pan and simmer, stirring in the bouillon and the salt.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Stir the flour into the cold water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Stir into the broth and increase the heat to medium. Stir constantly until the broth thickens. Add the chicken to the broth along with the potatoes, carrots and peas. Stir to combine.
Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pie dish. Cover with the top crust, seal and flute the edges, and cut a slit in the top for the steam to escape. Bake 40 minutes, or until the crust is light brown.


Here is what I would do instead:
Use refrigerated pie crusts for the bottom, make the filling according to instructions, but add 1 tsp. each: onion salt, celery salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Top with 2nd crust, and drizzle with melted butter and bake according to pie crust instructions on box.