Chicken Pot Pie for a snowy day

The snowpocalypse hit today. We got 30 cm last night (and even more today…) and I was awakened at 7 AM to a knock on my door as my brother was stuck in our alley and needed help. I spent the first hour of my morning pushing and shoveling. Consequently, I decided to hibernate for the remainder of the day.

So I made chicken pot pie. On days like today, you shouldn’t have to do anything besides curl up in your favorite sweats and watch movies and eat chicken pot pie. However, if you happen to get laundry done and your Christmas decorations taken down, so much the better!

Chicken Pot Pie
This recipe is more like a casserole with a top crust as Matt isn’t a fan of savory pies (being the pie-lover he is, I don’t understand this in the least) so I had to trick him into thinking it was a casserole. You can still make this pie with a bottom crust as well though.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 bay leaves
3 cooked chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

pastry for a single crust pie
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion and about a 1/4 tsp salt, and cook until softened (about 6-7 minutes).

Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant. Stir in the flour, then slowly stir in the broth, cream and bay leaves. Simmer until the mixture is thickened (about 10 minutes).

After the mixture has thickened, discard the bay leaves and stir in the chicken, peas and parsley. You can add any additional salt & pepper to taste here as well.


Pour the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roll out pie dough, drape it over the dish and trim. Bake at 425 F until the top is golden brown and bubbly (about 20-25 minutes). Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.


P.S. My good foodie friend Lindz also has a yummy chicken pot pie recipe here. Check it out!

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie

I did a show a little while back called, Perfect Pie. In it, my character was known for making amazing pies and pastries. Because of this, I made it my own little personal mission to learn how to make great pies – especially pastry from scratch.

I’m very picky about pies. I love fruit pies but I hate it when they’re too sweet. I especially hate it when apple pies are too sweet. My mom makes an AMAZING apple crumble pie and I have always been a little nervous to try to make one myself in fear that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as hers.

Sarah and I were at the farmer’s market on Saturday and I noticed that one of the vendors (specializing in gluten-free items) had gluten-free pie dough. I decided to buy some along with some fresh granny smith apples and embark on a gluten-free apple crumble pie adventure! If it was bad, I could always cheat and blame the dough, right?


Thankfully, it wasn’t. It actually turned out really good. So good, in fact, that I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the final product before it was devoured by my family. So yeah. It was good.

I will also definitely do a post in the future about my own pie dough as I do have a killer (and very not-gluten-free) recipe, but for now, enjoy this wheat-free alternative :)

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie
Pie is another thing I don’t tend to have a set recipe for…I’m always adding more of this or that to suit it to my tastes. This recipe is kind of just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 gluten-free pie crust (bottom crust only)

Filling:
6-8 coarsely chopped & peeled granny smith apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat-free rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions:

Topping: In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Using pastry blender (or your fingers), cut in butter until crumbly; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to a generous 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness; fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Trim to leave 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang; fold under and crimp edge. Set aside.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to combine. Scrape into pie shell. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F; bake for about 50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and thickened. Let cool on rack.