mini chicken pot pies! — quinn's place

OR one big fat pie!

yum yum yum! homemade chicken pot pie has been one of my favorites since forevaaaaa. my friend's mom used to make it and we'd go over there after school and savor every last morsel. i'd even eat the carrots off her dad's plate that he pushed to the side. i just laaaved it.

THIS was actually my first time making the crust homemade, too! and it was easy peasy, man. just a little bit of planning ahead since it needs to chill, but the actual dough only takes like 5 minutes to put together.

i have many a'memory related to this chicken pot pie. soo many times trying to be the first over to alex's house after school to maybe mayyybe get a tiny slice of leftovers. or even one bite of pea & carrot goop would do!! one time eating a whole entire pie with marisa, even though it was entirely too salty (according to pete - psshh). another time i made a pot pie in one of my old houses with my friends and somehow we shared it with 8 people...how.?

also, those chicken pot pie hot pockets they came out with when i was in high school? i was into em. probably because i didn't know how to make THIS pot pie recipe yet and i was always jonesin' for a pot pie. i was definitely a secret hot pocket/lean pocket eater and would talk smack about how gross hot pockets are later on. i'm sorry but that pepperoni pizza one is pretty good. hottt pocketttttt. (gross name, though, for sure... hot.. pocket.)

so you know its a semi fun and special occasion when the pot pie is a'cooking around here. right now i'm squeezing in just one more cozy wintry meals before spring is in full force, which it pretty much IS! yeeeeee!

^^^ up there is what your roux will look like with the minced onions. and then on the right is what it should look like once you've added the milk and broth. creamy dreamy goopy goodness.

crinkle carrots all the way. sometimes they are hard to find at the store! keep lookin!

MY LE CREUSET MINI COCOTTE DREAMS ARE REALIZED. this was the intention i had for these little delights when i asked for them for christmas. i love them so! :)

how cute is a mini pie?!

answer: so dang cute.

my bff kt got me two other mini dutch ovens too, without even knowing i'd asked for these ones for christmas... she just knowwwwwwws. mwah!

sidenote, pete was doggin on me for adding a glass of milk to a couple of these shots. i guess maybe i am like one out of 3 people that i know who enjoyed drinking milk growing up? sometimes ya just can't beat a cold glass of milk with a big warm brownie or something. but i get it, milk haters. milk is for baby cows and growing fat babies. but my bones are strong as heck, so there. never broken a one.

don't be too frightened by the recipe below. it looks long and complicated, but i've written it out in a more logical step-by-step way so that all the components are ready to go by the time the roux is done. this is a recipe i have made a zillion times, and the first time i did it had a not-so-sensical order of directions. so it seemed like it took absolutely forever since i was bouncing back and forth between prepping different parts. i honestly think the way it is written below will make the process go more quickly.

also, adding crimini mushrooms to this combo is quite scrumptious as well!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

{Recipe for filling will yield about 5 mini pot pies, or 1 regular sized pie (lotso filling!)

Recipe for dough will yield 3 mini pot pies, or one regular sized pie}

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Pie Crust-

1 cup all purpose flour, + 1/4 cup
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold (1 stick)
2-4 TB ice water
1/2 tsp. salt

Pot Pie Filling-

1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup finely minced yellow onion
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3/4 - 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3/4 - 1 cup frozen crinkle carrots, thawed
2 chicken breasts (boiled or cooked stove top), cut into cubes
1 3/4 cup water + 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes (heated and whisked until cubes dissolve)
2/3 cup whole milk

Instructions-

To make the pie crust, cut the cold butter into cubes. In a large bowl, add the 1 cup of flour and salt and stir. Add the cold cubed butter to the flour, and use a fork to mash the butter cubes into the flour. Add a couple TB of super cold water at a time and continue to combine. Once it begins to look crumbly, you can use your * clean * hands to bring the dough together. On a clean, dry surface, sprinkle the extra 1/4 cup of flour. Knead and press the dough here until the butter and flour are well integrated and the dough no longer feels sticky. Add 1 TB of extra flour at a time to coat any sticky parts of the dough.

If you're making just one large pie crust, roll the dough into 2 balls and flatten into disks. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or overnight.

If you're making 3 mini pie crusts, roll the dough into 6 balls and flatten into disks. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or overnight.

Once the dough has been chilled, remove from plastic and set on a clean surface, very lightly floured. Roll out each disk with a floured rolling pin (or wine bottle!) until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Make sure they are wide enough to fit in your cocottes or mini dutch ovens! I make the bottom crust a little bit bigger since it needs to fit all the filling. Spray or grease the cocottes with cooking oil. Gently place one crust into each cocotte, forming it to the inside of the dish and bringing it up the sides and resting just over the top edge. Repeat this step on all your little pie dishes and poke a few holes in the bottom crust with a fork.

To make the pot pie filling, cook the chicken breasts on the stove top until just cooked through. For this step, I usually just boil the chicken breasts in water for about 7-10 minutes until they're just cooked through. Remove from the water or the pan and season both sides (I used garlic salt and pepper this time). Let rest on the cutting board before cubing.

Remember, the chicken is going to go in the oven inside the pot pies, so you don't want it to be overcooked at this point.

Thaw your peas and carrots. I usually put the amount of frozen peas and crinkle carrots I want to use into a strainer and run some warm water over them and toss them around with my hands until softened, but still cold. You don't want them to get soggy.

This is also the time when I would mince the yellow onion, and then chop the chicken into cubes. Make sure you have the water & bouillon dissolved together by now (or you can use chicken broth - I personally prefer the bouillon). I like all these steps to be done by the time the roux or base of the pie filling is ready.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F for mini pies or 425 degrees F for a regular sized pot pie.

Heat a large pot on the stove, and melt the 1/3 cup butter on low. Add 1/3 cup flour and whisk until a thick roux is formed. Add 1/4 tsp of salt and pepper. Add the minced onion (I use a LOT..like 3/4 cup, because I think it adds a lot of good flavor and if its minced fine enough it doesn't seem like you're eating chunks o' onion at all), and turn up the heat to medium. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is sizzling and bubbling a bit.

Remove from heat for a moment, and add the water + bouillon and the whole milk. I've found that whole milk is key here if you want your pie filling to be thick and not runny. Return to the stove, and heat to boiling. Stir constantly so that the milk doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken and bubble. Stir constantly for at least 5 minutes to get the filling good and thick. Once it feels and looks thick, remove from heat.

Add the cooked cubed chicken and thawed peas & carrots to the pot. Fold together until the filling is evenly combined. I sometimes add chopped crimini mushrooms at this point. Delicious.

Fill your cocottes, mini pie pans, or regular pie pan (with bottom crust already in place) almost all the way full of pot pie filling. Add your top pie crust and fold the edges under to connect with the bottom pie crust, pressing down gently. You can do whatever fancy pie fluting you like at this step. Cut a few small slits in the top of the crust with a sharp knife.

Place the cocottes or pie pan on a baking sheet and place on the center rack in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Serve immediately! We found that the cocottes also reheat perfectly in the oven if you don't eat them right away.

Enjoy! :)

{Adapted from an olde tyme Betty Crocker recipe.}