Foodie Friday is here!

Happy Friday!  I am a self professed "foodie" so I am excited to start what I hope will be the first of many posts about one of my favorite subjects:  food!!  I am particularly excited because we are heading into such a great season for food.  Granted, I find reasons to celebrate food throughout the year, but fall and winter menus are especially appealing.  The weather has finally cooled and fall is officially here which means I start craving hearty, belly-warming meals.  Soups, stews and the like are all great this time of year, but chicken pot pie is near the top of my list.  It fills the house with a heavenly aroma, tastes delicious and is a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies!  The recent cold weather was excuse enough for me to whip up the first pie of the season.  Levi and the kids loved it which unfortunately didn't mean much in the way of leftovers, but I guess that just means I will have to make another one soon.  I hope you enjoy it as much as our family does!

Chicken and Vegetable Pot Pie:

1 cup sliced carrots
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 red potatos, diced
2 heads of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 c. chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
 1 crust for savory pie - recipe below

Savory Pie Crust: 

2/3 c. shortening - I use whole foods brand which is non-hydrogenated and organic!
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
6 tsp ice water

Directions:

Crust:
Homemade pie crust sounds like a much bigger project than it really is and it tastes so much better.  To begin, mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add shortening and mix, preferably with your hands, until mixture is grainy and the shortening has been completely incorporated into the flour.  Add ice water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough starts to come together into one ball.  Continue vigorously kneading and adding water until dough has a moist (but not wet) consistency and then pat it into a round ball.  Cover with foil and place in refrigerator for half hour.  You can always make several of these in advance and freeze them if you want to shorten your prep time.
To roll out:  Take a piece of wax paper, roughly 12-13 inches long and place it on counter.  Dust it lightly with flour and do the same to the rolling pin.  Place cold (but not too hard) dough in middle of wax paper and lightly flour it.  Begin to slowly roll dough, rotating it on wax paper to get an even circle.  Continue to roll and rotate until crust has formed a 12 inch diameter circle.  Place crust in buttered 9" pie dish and trim edges with kitchen scissors or knife.  Roll second half of dough and leave on wax paper until pot pie filling has been added to the dish.  I like to reuse my wax paper, so I shake the excess flour off of the wax paper when I am finished cooking and wipe it clean with a sponge.  I let it dry and then store it in a bag for the next time.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a large saucepan, combine onion, garlic and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Saute on med-high until onion is soft and then add chicken.  Continue sauteing for 5 minutes and then add the rest of the vegetables.  Cook until vegetables are softened and chicken is browned, stirring constantly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.   Remove from heat and set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine butter and flour over medium heat.  Add salt and pepper and slowly stir in chicken broth and milk using a whisk to break up any flour clumps.  Simmer until thick.

Place chicken and vegetables into bottom pie crust and then pour flour mixture over it.  Cover with top crust and seal edges with your fingers, forming an indent (as best as you can) in the edges with your thumbs.  My crusts aren't always pretty, but they taste great! Make several slits in top crust for ventilation.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.  Let cool for at least 20 minutes (especially if you have kids....that filling can be molten!) and serve. 

What is your favorite cold weather recipe?

- Jen