Chicken Pot Pie (with shortcuts!)

I have been seriously craving chicken pot pie for at least a month now and with the cooler weather of fall setting in this comfort food down home dish really hits the spot. After reading the ingredients list of the "good pot pie" at Whole Foods, which included enriched flour and questionable gmo ingredients, I knew I was destined to make my own.

 For being a member of the humble casserole  family, when done right this soul nourishing meal has a high maintenance diva side. In order for it to taste right and for the veggies to keep their integrity each component needs to be cooked separately before whisked away into a oven safe dish and left only to do it's thing. I've been making a crock pot half chicken every week so figuring out another thing to do with the bits of dark meat is a blessing, so that took care of the chicken part.

I used a mix of light and dark meat so it wasn't gamey tasting, around 2 cups of chicken. I pulled it off the bone cold, chopped it up and set aside. A chicken breast would work as well, chop it up into bite sized pieces season with pepper, garlic and cook in the oven (bonus points for using the same dish you will be making the casserole in, plus less dishes!) at  375 for about 30 minutes.

Coming up is the hardest part, and I promise it's easy :)

Make a Rue
A rue consists of equal parts flour and fat. For my pot pie in a deep 8x8 baking dish I used 1/2C butter and 1/2 C flour. Let fat melt completely then stir in flour bits at a time. When it's nice and thick and you're terrified it's going to burn start adding bits of chicken broth (or cream if you're a traditionalist) I like to use chicken broth because it's less fatty and I had the best broth on hand from my crock pot chicken. I used about 2 cups total just keep adding as it thickens, also a little Parmesan cheese goes a long way! Once that's done all you have to do is construct using the shortcut methods!

Mix chicken, rue and about a cup of frozen organic mixed veggies (I like the pea, carrot, corn blend) and place evenly in the casserole dish. Then lay a thawed out prepared crust, the Wholsome whole wheat pie crusts from the frozen department from Whole Foods have 6 ingredients and everything's organic. Don't get me wrong I love me some home made lovealicious crust, but it's just not always practical!

Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, then dance a jig and eat pot pie!!

Easy Chicken dinner

It's a lovely Sunday here in Raleigh, and by mid-September there's a plethora of family friendly activities going on every weekend. The last couple weekends we've went out and by the time we get home it's almost 6 and we still have to make dinner! So after two weekends of chaotic Sunday evenings I've decided to think ahead a little & have the main part of the cooking finished by the time we get home.

I've been getting organic chicken from whole foods but after seeing a terrifying video of how organic chickens were being "processed" in an industrialized manner, I decided to see what my other options were. Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting, Jan Campbell of Homestead Harvest Farms in Wake Forest, NC. She assured me that cooking half a chicken in a crock pot was an easy, painless process. Not only was Jan right about it being easy, she also has the best chicken we've been able to find. I also love, love, love the fact that all her chickens are loved, have great lives and are processed as she puts it "the way grandma raised poultry". Everything about this chicken boasts superiority to its grocery store cousins- it looks, smells, feels and tastes better. My husband who swears all dark chicken meat tastes "gamey" will eat every part of this chicken, win!

Here's what to do:

Place whole or half chicken in a crock pot ad 1/2 C of water for half chicken and 1 C for a whole chicken 

Sprinkle with salt & pepper (or spices of choice)

Turn on low and walk away. That's right, walk away!

Its honestly that easy, the meat pretty much falls right of the bone so disassembling it later isn't a huge chore. Oh and did I mention the delicious and I mean delicious chicken broth you get out of this bargain?!! Whatever we don't eat right away I store in the fridge for salads and quick meals.