Chicken Pot Pie

It's cooling off outside, which means it's safe to return to some recipes that have been on the shelf since February or March.  The season for grilled bratwurst and pasta salad is winding down, but the time for soups and stews is coming back.  And what is pot pie but a delicious stew inside pie crust?  Yes, I said pie crust.  If it's in a ramekin with nothing on the bottom: not a pot pie.  If it's covered in biscuits?  Not a pot pie.  Not in my book.

Pot pies can have two problems: they can be bland, and they can be dry.  This pie avoids both issues with aggressive spicing and plenty of liquid.  Is it pretty?  No, it's not the prettiest.  Is it fancy?  No, it's not the fanciest.  But will that stop you from devouring more than your fair share of tender chicken and vegetables in delicious, savory gravy under just the right amount of crisp, flaky crust?  No, no it won't.

Since it's a pot pie, you'll need some pie crust.  Making your own would be wise, but frozen will do.  It's a chicken pot pie, so you'll probably want some chicken, too.  The rest of the filling is mixed frozen vegetables and sweet onion sauteed in butter in a sauce of chicken broth and cream.  It's all spiced by generous portions of thyme, basil, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper.

First, chop that onion.

This recipe is ideal for leftover chicken, but if you're like me and don't generally have leftover roasted chicken floating around, you can cook some fresh.  It just needs some salt and pepper - the rest of the seasoning will happen later in the process.

While the chicken cooks, melt some butter in a dutch oven and get the vegetables in there.  Cook over medium until the vegetables soften and the onions become translucent, 5-6 minutes.

As soon as the chicken is cooked, chop it down into nice, bite-sized pieces.

Throw the chicken in with the vegetables, then add the chicken broth and all of the spices.  Start conservatively with the spices - there'll be another chance to doctor up the filling before the final product.  A little white wine wouldn't go amiss here, either, if you have some on-hand.

Let the pot simmer a few minutes to marry the flavors, then add some flour and stir to thicken things up.  Just about a quarter-cup should do it.  Again, start conservatively and add more as needed.

Once the filling is thickened by the flour, add the cream and stir.  Cook another minute or two, then you're ready to fill some pie shells.  Now is the time to check your seasoning.  Taste the filling, and if it's at all bland, add more spicing.  Chances are you'll need more salt unless your chicken broth was far too salty.

So fill some pie shells!  If you follow the amounts of ingredients I've listed, you'll have enough for two deep-dish pies.  That's a lot of pie.  But then, you'll need it.

Store-bought pie crust is not pretty.  In fact, the holes I cut to vent make the topped crust look a bit like an angry face.  Can you see it?

In any case, top your filled crust, seal the edges, and poke some holes to vent steam.  Don't be discouraged if it looks like the above.

You don't need to be discouraged by ugly raw pie crust because it comes out golden brown and pretty!  All it needs is a half hour of 400 degree temperatures.  You'll know it's done by smell - you'll smell it across the room.  As soon as you open the oven, you'll be gripped by a terrible need to devour all of the pie immediately.

Don't do it!  Let it cool 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices, otherwise you'll have a terrible mess on your hands.  Not that pot pie is generally the neatest thing in the world, but you can count on slices to at least think about holding together if you give things a little time.

When the time comes, slice and serve.  This is a self-contained meal, so no particular need for sides.  Just eat plenty of delicious pie.  All you need is pie.

Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie
Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 2 pies; 10-12

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 2 frozen deep-dish Pie Crusts (top and bottom)
• 2 lbs Frozen Vegetable Mix (peas, carrots, corn, green beans)
• One large sweet Onion
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 1 can Chicken Broth
• 8 oz. Heavy Cream
• 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp Basil
• 2 tsp Fresh Thyme
• 2 tsp ground Black Pepper
• 2 tsp Salt

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Chop onion.

Cook chicken in a skillet or grill pan seasoned with salt and pepper.  Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.

In a large dutch oven, melt butter.  Add onion and frozen vegetables and cook until softened, approx. 5-6 minutes.

Add chicken, chicken broth, garlic powder, smoked paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper to dutch oven.  Stir to mix.  Simmer 3-5 minutes.

Add flour and stir well to thicken.  Once thickened, add cream and simmer an additional 1-2 minutes.

Fill deep dish pie shells with chicken mixture.  Add top shell and seal edges.  Cut holes to vent steam.

Bake pies 30 minutes at 400 degrees until top crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Cool 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Lemon Chess Pie

Now I don't know where you stand on the question of "Cake versus Pie."  Frankly, it doesn't much matter to me.  What does matter is this pie.  This pie is good.  Is it better than cake?  Who cares.  Just make the pie, and eat it.  Trust me.  When there's pie, everyone wins.

So what the heck is a "Chess Pie?"  Well...nobody really knows.  As a class of pies, they're generally sweet and custardy and often involve a bit of corn meal.  This particular chess pie covers sweet and custardy, but I stick to flour, since the cornmeal can give a bit of odd grit to the smooth custard of our particular specimen.

The name "Chess Pie" is the real mystery.  Theories abound, but nobody knows why it actually applies.  Experts generally agree that it has nothing to do with the game of chess, but that aside, nobody really knows.  Is it related to cheese?  To chests?   To the poorly pronounced word "just?"  Could be.  You should ponder this while you eat the pie.

It's a simple pie to make, especially if you cheat like me and use pre-made crust.  You'll need a pair of 9" pie crusts - frozen are fine.  Lemons, naturally - both for juice and for zest.  The rest is comprised of milk, sugar, flour, butter, and a whole bunch of eggs - it is a custard, after all.

First, throw your butter and sugar into a bowl and beat into submission.  It should be nice and fluffy.

Now add your eggs and milk and mix well.  The consistency will start to look quite unpleasant, as seen in the terribly-lit photograph above.  Fear not.

Now for the fun tedious part - lemon zest.  The pie gets a whole lot of flavor from fresh lemon zest, so we can't skimp here.  You'll want 3-4 tablespoons, which involves a whole lot of zesting.  You might consider promising a significant other or small child a slice of pie in exchange for taking a turn in the zesting process.

Once you've got your zest, halve the lemons and squeeze out a good 1/2 cup of juice.  No need for a special uni-tasker juicer - just squeeze each lemon half between the handles of your tongs.  It's really easy and quite speedy.

With the lemon juice and zest added, throw in two tablespoons of flour and give it one last good mixing.  You'll find that our custard still looks...well, about the same.  Trust me, it will be delicious in the end, and baking will do its appearance a world of good.

Pour your custard into the pair of pie shells.  If you're using frozen shells with wimpy pans beneath them, you'll probably want to put the pair on a baking sheet.  Safety first!  Split the filling evenly between them, and it's time to bake.

40 minutes at 350 does wonders for a formerly-homely pie.

It's worth noting that baking time on this recipe can vary quite a lot - I've had one pie take as long as an hour to really set up.  When the custard is nicely set and starts developing some cracks along the top, it's done.  A knife poked in should also come out clean.

After letting them cool for a few minutes, refrigerate your pies a minimum of 1-2 hours before serving.  It goes particularly well with coffee.

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Recipe: Lemon Chess Pie

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes   |   Cook Time: 40 minutes   |   Difficulty: Easy   |   Servings: 6-8.

Ingredients

• 2 9" Pie Shells, frozen
• 4 whole Lemons, which will become:
• 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
• 3-4 Tbsp Lemon Zest
• 1 1/2 cups White Sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 5 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose Flour

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add beaten eggs and milk and mix well.

Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and flour.  Mix until smooth.

Pour filling into two 9" pie shells.

Set shells on a baking sheet, and bake 40 minutes until custard is set, golden on top, and beginning to crack.

Refrigerate 1-2 hours before serving.