I buy a whole chicken and use 3/4 of it on a different meal, Fried Chicken or Chicken and Rice in the oven. I take my 1/4 piece of chicken plus the wings and boil them in water to make a stock. I do this the night before I want to make my chicken pot pie, once the stock is cooled I pull the meat off of the bones and put aside in a separate container.
Cut 2 potatoes and 1 carrot into little cubes and place them in your chicken stock, get it to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, add cut up chicken and thicken it if needed with a rue (butter/flour mixture).
While this is cooking make your pastry base, I use an old family recipe (the family member is not old just the recipe) from my Aunt Jeanie, you can find it here, or use your own. Put it in the fridge to chill while you make the bechamel sauce.
Bechamel Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or untill thickened, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside.
Now for the production:
Roll out your pastry to fit your pan, I used a Pampered Chef stoneware.
Then put in your potato, carrot and chicken mixture (ps you can add other stuff here like celery or whatever you like)
Next spread your bechamel sauce on top. (one time I put a crust on top of the bechamel and my husband thinks it taste better that way, so if you use my pastry recipe, there is enough to do this)
Place your bakeware on a tray, just in case there is juice spillage.
Place in the oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (my husband turned it up on the one pictured above and that is why it is burned, I was about ready to blame the kids, but he told me he did it, the reason why there should only be 1 cook in the kitchen.)
Let it cool for about 10 minutes, the bechamel sauce stays really hot, serve and enjoy.
Let me know if you make this, it is really creamy with all of the yummy bechamel sauce and just a great comfort food.
num, from Greek hexag
