I’m doing a grand experiment, making something I’ve never made before. We roasted a chicken on Saturday and decided to do pot pies with the leftovers. I had a pitcher of gravy from the chicken, so am presently simmering potatoes, carrot, scallions, celery, mushrooms and herbs in the remaining gravy plus a can of chicken broth. I’ll add the chicken and some frozen peas near the end. Then I plan to put scoops in ramekins, top them with biscuit dough and bake for about 15 minutes until there’s a nice crusty top. No bottom crust. In other words, I’m totally faking it.
Although I love biscuit-topped chicken pie, I usually do a classic pie crust top, and lace the pastry dough with chopped fresh herbs and parmesan cheese.
I like to put a dollop of cream in the chicken gravy and try to keep the gravy on the soupy side, because it will reduce a bit more in the baking, as well as absorbing some flour from the crust or biscuits. And I’m partial to plenty of fresh-ground black pepper in the sauce, too.
I’m making a pot pie, too! I always wing it- today’s is carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, sweet potato sautéed with bay leaf, poultry seasoning, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Add enough butter and flour to thicken 3-4 c chic broth. Mix in 4 cups cooked chicken and peas. Top with pastry and egg wash.
The only time I’ve had them from-scratch was one time my mother made them from a Martha Stewart recipe. It had a creamy, slightly lemony gravy and homemade paste that was divine. I really don’t want to guess what the nutrition information on those was.
These were about 4" biscuits, cut to fit the top of the ramekin. Oven for 15 minutes at 425 and they come out fluffy and browned. Finished with melted butter. No dough balls here.
They came out pretty good, but needed more liquid. I knew that when I looked at the mix I was spooning in, but went ahead anyway. Turkey would have more flavor, methinks.
Mmm! We love pot pies. Mine are lazy, though…I have a stock of jarred gravies and I used bisquits/etc from the fridge. I usually do just a top crust too…either a pie crust or bisquits. My favorite is to use croissants, but they’re a little sweet so you have to make sure your filling isn’t too sweet as well or it gets weird.
It’s also a nice way to convince the kids we aren’t having leftover beef stew.
I’m with you, Chefguy. Give me biscuits over crust any day. In fact, I don’t even really like chicken pot pie with crust. The biscuits are way better.
My recipe is pretty much the same as yours, but no mushrooms. Blech. Potatoes, carrots, maybe celery, onions (pearl onions are even better), thyme, peas, chicken, in a chicken-stock based sauce thickened with flour. Of course, if I have leftover gravy I’d always use that, but I rarely have it.
I’ve even mixed up the filling and thrown it in the freezer. It freezes nicely and you can pull it out at a later date and just make the biscuits for instant Chicken Pot Pie.
I’ve enjoyed the Calender pies, store-bought, restaurant made, and homemade. Most all of them are decent enough. A bad one is really bad, though. All-in-all, I prefer to choose what goes into what I eat, especially when it’s in something where you can’t see the filling, even more especially when it has beef or pork or something else that may not have the fat all trimmed off. Makes me gag.
I usually use two deep dish frozen pie crusts, one for the bottom and one for the top. This is because I can’t make pie crusts to save my life. I think that I let the dough get too warm.
Anyway, I start with a leftover roast chicken, pull as much meat off of the carcass as I can, and then simmer leftover bones and skin for a while. I might sneak in a quarter cup of white wine. Then I drain and defat the liquid. I cook onions in the fat, and carrots and potatoes and celery in the broth. I use some of the fat to make a roux, then add stock to get the right consistency. Chop up chicken, fight the cats for it, put chicken and veggies and gravy in the bottom crust and slap the top crust over it all. I don’t worry about making it pretty, because it WILL get eaten.
I also make beef pot pie, and my husband has hinted that he does expect this tomorrow, as I made pot roast on Sunday.
I do crusts because I typically make 2 or 3 at a time and freeze the extras. I don’t have any standard recipe, it’s basically different each time depending on what vegetables are in the house.
Drive through Boston Market and say “One Chicken Pot Pie, please! With a side of mash!” I’m a big fan of BM’s chicken pot pie (but not the turkey), even though I know it’s made from yesterday’s leftovers. I try not to think about that too much because they make it exactly the way I would if I can be bothered to cook.
Alternately, I’ll make a stock out of leftover chicken carcass, add bits of chicken and veggies, and then top with a pre-made puff pastry crust, on top only.
I don’t like pot pie with a bottom crust; the crust gets too soggy and then I’m just eating chicken and dumplings, which is not a texture I appreciate.
I’m more likely to do chicken-and-dumplings with biscuit dough, but for a pot pie, I just buy two pie shells (can’t be arsed to make my own). Take chicken, veggies, stir in stock, thicken to desired consistency, spice it up with salt, pepper, thyme and/or rosemary, maybe a hint of lemon juice. Blind bake the bottom pie shell for about 10 minutes or so. Put an egg wash on it if I feel like it. Fill with chicken and veggies, add rolled-out top of the pie shell, egg wash, cut slits, bake.
There’s a place in Santa Fe that specializes in Chicken Pot Pie, and they use puff pastry. It’s really good, but can also be slightly greasy. I’d say it’s close to being as good as biscuits, but not quite. And it’s WAY above standard crust, which I don’t like at all.
The place in Santa Fe also does a version of chicken pot pie with Green Chiles, because it’s Santa Fe and by law all food there has to have a version with Green Chiles. It’s actually really good. Now I want chicken pot pie with green chiles and puff pastry. This thread is making me fat.
I recently started a thread about what it was safe to make chicken pot pies in since I didn’t have ramekins.
The hit recipe was leftover chicken stew (bones of chicken removed) thickened with a little flour roux plus some extra seasonings and homemade broth, topped with store bought pie crust.
