Happy New Year! Back to blogging...

It's a new year and I am eager to pick up where I left off...well sort of.  In a nut shell, on Thanksgiving day, Mr. P and I made dinner for his side of the family.  It consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, lumpia (miniature egg rolls), pancit (noodles), sweet potato, brownies, and pumpkin pie. 

On Christmas day, my side of the family came over.  We cooked chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans and a couple of aunties brought dessert and Peking duck.    

Tonight was my first night cooking in apt 106 in 2012.  I made chicken pot pie.  I was inspired to make this dish after reading a friend's facebook post about her success making chicken pot pie.  Just thinking about it made me hungry.  I read the basic recipe from allreceipies.com and the suggestions to modify flavor and volume.

Here is what I used:
1 box of Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts
1/2 bag of frozen foursomes vegetables
1 pound of chicken, cubed
garlic powder
salt
pepper
paprika
(add any seasoning to your liking)

To make the gravy:
1 3/4 cups of chicken broth
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 large onion
1/2 cup flour

I broiled the vegetables in the chicken broth for 10 minutes.  Then drained the vegetables, saving the hot broth for the gravy.  I used another pot to melt the butter and cook the onions until soften.  Then add flour, milk, and broth, and vegetables.  Meanwhile, cook the chicken in a separate pan.  Next I unrolled the pie crusts, fixing any cracks, then placed one crust into a deep 9in pan.  I pre-baked the crust for 5 minutes in 375 degree oven.  The crust bottom rose a little so I used a fork and poked the crust a few times to release the air.  Then I added the cooked chicken and gravy mix.  There was about 2 cups of leftover gravy which I used as a garnish.  Then I placed the second pie crust on top and used a fork to poke some holes for ventilation.  Cooked the pot pie for 35 minutes.  Then I cover the edges with foil and baked for additional 10 minutes.

I was totally amazed how well this turned out.  The gravy was nice and thick with enough vegetables and chicken.  However there were a few rookie mistakes.  First I did not taste the gravy to adjust seasoning level so it was a bit bland.  Mr. P thought the pot pie was delicious that way and easier to add seasoning afterwards.  Second mistake was not allowing the pie to cool enough before cutting into it.  So all the filling started coming out.  Overall, it was a successful chicken pot pie experience. Oh and it's really good with rice! 

~Mrs. P