Chicken Pot Pie

Oh yes everyone, I got a great, hearty meal for you here. I had some smoked chicken breast left from my last post and wasn't sure how to use it. Then I saw the commercials for a national chicken chain's version of this and knew what I was going to make.

I pulled the chicken breast out of the fridge, and starting gathering the other ingredients. Here's what you need:

1 lb chicken breast, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 t parsley
1/4 t black pepper
1 bay leaf
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2 T corn starch
2 T water
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1 egg yolk beaten
1 T milk

1 can cream soup (I used cream of celery)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 pie crusts (I am not fond of making this so I buy pre-made, but if you're better at making them than I am, a double crust recipe is what you need)

To start out, put the chicken and the onion in a pot and cook on medium heat until the onion begins to soften. The smokey flavor from the chicken breast I used created a great aroma! The kids started coming in the kitchen asking what smelled so good.

Add the celery, carrots, water, parsley, black pepper & bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the corn starch and 2 T of water, then add this to the chicken mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil again, stirring often. Once it begins to boil, remove it from the heat. At this point, add the canned soup, cheese and sour cream and mix thoroughly.

Grab a 2 qt casserole dish and line it with the first pie crust and spoon or pour in the chicken mixture. Top with the remaining crust, then crimp and seal the edges. Cut several slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Add the milk to the beaten egg yolk and brush the top of the crust. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes. You can line the edges of the crust with foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking to prevent over-browning.

After you take it out of the oven, let it sit a few minutes, then serve. Now, while I was preparing it, I kept thinking I should add a potato, which I had originally intended to be in the pie, but realized I didn't have any. After sitting down and eating though, it was plenty filling without the potato, and the smokey flavor the chicken added was awesome. I love a hearty recipe and this one hits the mark. I hope you get a chance to try it out.