What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

There’s nothing like a good sinus cold to make you hungry for simple foods! Such was the case this past week when the parson and I were both sneezing, coughing and blowing our noses. After several meals of chicken noodle soup, I decided that something a  little more substantial sounded yummy – particularly a Chicken Pot Pie.  I’ve been making this recipe for years and it is so simple to put together. Let me show you, then I’ll share the recipe at the bottom of this post.

I start by roasting chicken breasts with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. 

While they’re in the oven, I made my pie crusts.You could, of course, buy a store bought one.   I like crust on the top and the bottom – why not?!

Now it’s time for the roux.  Place a couple tablespoons of butter or margarine in a pan and add the same amount of flour once the butter has melted.  Mix with a spatula for about one minute. 

Slowly add about a cup of milk, then a cup of chicken broth, whisking thoroughly to remove any lumps. You can add more liquid to ensure a moist pie.

Place second crust over top and trim edges, pinching to seal.  Make slits in the top of the crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until golden. It’s wise to put a pan under the pie plate to catch any of the sauce that may seep out, unless you enjoy cleaning out the oven!  Then…

To accompany the pot pie, I served a salad with lettuce, strawberry slices, red onions, almonds, and blue cheese.  I found this really good dressing – Litehouse Pear Gorgonzola in the produce section of my grocery store to top it.  If you can get this where you live, you need to try it!  It’s especially good with a salad that contains fruit. 

One advantage to making your own crust is that you’ll have some extra dough to make a little treat! I cut the leftovers into strips, put them on a baking sheet, and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and baked them for 10 minutes in the 400 degree oven with the pot pie.

Chicken Pot Pie
1 lb. cooked white meat chicken, diced
2 Tbl. butter
2 Tbl. flour
1 cup milk, plus maybe a bit more to make it creamy
1 cup chicken broth = maybe a bit more
1 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
pepper to taste
1- 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 crust pie shell

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add flour and whisk.  Cook for 1 minute.  Slowly add milk and stir with whisk until smooth.  Add broth and stir.  Cook until thickened.  Add seasonings.  Add peas and cooked chicken.  Pour into pie shell.  Top with second crust. At this point you could freeze the pie and save it for later.  Bake at 400 about 30 minutes.

Our colds are better.  Hmmm, was it the pot pie?  Maybe I should have another slice to see.  =)

What was cooking in your house this weekend?  What do you eat when you have a cold?

From my parsonage kitchen,