I love the chicken feet on the napkin sticking out from under the pie. Dual purpose: keep plate from cracking; cracking me up.
One of the lovely things about roasting a chicken is the leftover chicken. Most often it is eaten up in sandwiches or soup, but every once in a while I fancy a chicken pot pie.
3 cups of leftover chicken
3 carrots, diced
1 leek, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 cup of peas
4 cups of chicken stock (I like my homemade version)
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. butter
Sauté the onion, leek and carrots in the butter until softened. Add the chicken. Mix the salt and pepper with the flour and add to the pot. Stir well to coat everything with the flour and then add in the warm stock. Add the cream last.
Pour into six individual pie dishes, or larger ones if you wish. Make a batch of pastry and cut into circles to cover the tops of the dishes. I just freehand with a knife as I don’t mind a slightly rustic look to them. I cut out a hole in the center to let the steam out. Brush pastry with a beaten egg. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes, depending on the size of your pies. You want the filling to bubble and the pastry to get a little bit of colour.
Pastry Recipe
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water, plus 1-2 Tablespoons
Process flour, salt, and butter in food processor until in coarse crumbs. With machine running, add water in a slow stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together. Be careful not to over-process
Everyday Cheer 