Chicken Pot Pie

When I was six, my favorite meal was chicken pot pie. At least once a month or more if we could persuade her, my Mom would make us pot pie for dinner. She would line each small pie pan with crust and then fill them with chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and sauce. Then she'd top it off with another layer of crust with pretty decorations cut into the top of the crust.

Her tender flaky crust was my favorite part of chicken pot pie. I'd break it open, eat the filling out of the shell and save the crust for last, because my Mom is a pie crust master. Anytime she'd make pie crust, she'd save the little left over bits for us. She'd lay the left overs on a cookie sheet, sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon. While they were cooking, the sugar would melt and merge with the cinnamon for a crispy treat.

As we grew older and started participating in a wide variety of after school activities, many of the dishes my Mom made were substituted with frozen alternatives. Tasty in the beginning, but over time cost cutting changed the quality of the pot pies she would buy. Eventually, chicken pot pie became one of those supper dishes that was rarely served as we got even older, replaced by new family favorites.

I've been thinking about chicken pot pie for a , how I was going to make it dairy free. Then I noticed that Carrie's (Ginger Lemon Girl) husband Michael created a rustic chicken pot pie for them. I was inspired to change up my family's favorite recipe, the one for Chicken Pie from the Fanny Farmer cookbook.

When I served up the chicken pot pies, my husband was overjoyed. He hadn't had home made chicken pot pie since he had been a boy. My children weren't as sure about the dish as he was, however they were pleasantly surprised by how much they liked it. I was thrilled at how good the pie tasted. Just like when I was a kid, I was the last to finish and saving my crusts for the last bites. This recipe joins the ranks of the keepers at our house.

Recipe

Sauce

3 Tb olive oil
1 1/2 Tb gluten free oat flour
1 1/2 Tb brown rice flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup gluten free oat milk*
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb corn starch
Salt to taste

Filling

3 baked chicken breasts, chopped small
1/4 cup minced onion, cooked
1 cup peas & carrots, cooked
Optional: 1 small peeled potato, cooked & diced

Topping

Pastry for 1 - 8 inch pie shell


1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the ramekins or small baking dishes on the sheet.

2. Warm the butter or olive oil in a sauce pan, then stir in the oat and rice flour. Stir for 2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth, oat milk, pepper and corn starch. Continue stirring and cook for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and smooth. Taste the sauce and then add salt to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside. Begin to work on the filling.

3. In a large bowl, dump in the chicken, onions, peas, carrots and potato (if using). Stir the mixture together and then spoon it into the baking dishes until the dish is 3/4 full.

4. Spoon the sauce over the chicken mixture in each individual baking dish.

5. Lay the prepared pie crust on top of the chicken mixture and decorate with extra pastry pieces.

6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. Makes 12 small individual chicken pot pies.


Pastry Crust

4 Tb brown rice flour
4 Tb chestnut flour
4 Tb arrowroot starch
2 Tb sweet rice flour
1 tsp chia seed meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
3 - 6 Tb cold water

1. In a medium bowl, dump in the flours, chia seed meal and salt. Cut the shortening into the mix with a fork. Continue cutting in the shortening until the mixture looks crumbly and has tiny balls in it.

2. Sprinkle water over the mixture 1 Tb at a time and blend with the flour. Do this 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough can be lightly pressed into a ball. Then place the dough into the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until chilled.

3. Place the dough in the center of a piece of parchment paper and then cover with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it is about 8 inches in diameter. Using your pastry or cookie cutters, cut out dough rounds that will cover the top of your baking dishes. Cut decorative shapes out of the center and use the little shapes to decorate the top of your pastry.

* How to make gluten free oat milk: Use 1/2 cup of certified gluten free oats, 1 Tb agave syrup and 2 cups of water. Dump the oats into your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Then add the agave syrup and pulse. Pour in the water and pulse to blend. Be careful not to pulse too long as the water might leak out from under the lid of your food processor and onto the counter. Store oat milk in the refrigerator.