Chicken Pot Pie

I have always wanted to make up my own recipe, but most of the dinners I make are basic things that I've picked up from my mom and dad: gumbo, spaghetti sauce, red beans and rice. Granted, I've changed some things around and made them my own - but I still don't feel like it's MY recipe.

All of that was a really long way of saying, "I've done it!" We had 10 chicken "fingers" defrosted in the fridge that needed to be used. Anthony, Ben and I were at the grocery store wandering through the frozen foods when I saw a frozen chicken pot pie dinner. So I decided to try to make my own.

I used:
2 store bought pie shells that you fit into your own pie pan
1 bag frozen vegetables (I grabbed one that has peas, green beans, corn, carrots and lima beans)
1/2 of a white onion, diced small
1 handful thinly sliced celery
Chicken stock
Flour
Salt and pepper
Chicken (about 1 pound, I guess)

I browned the onion and celery in some olive oil and then added some flour to make a roux-like paste. When that turned an off-white color, I added enough chicken stock to make a thick gravy. I tossed the veggies in next to defrost them a bit. I salted and pepperd the mixture at this point and let the mixture bubble for a few minutes and then tasted. At the same time, I browned the chicken in a separate pan. When the chicken was just browned, I added it to the other mixture. I laid one pie shell in a greased and floured pie pan and spooned the filling in. On top went the next pie shell, I crimped the edges, cut off the excess and made a few vent holes. If I had had an egg in the house, I probably would have made an egg wash for the top, but alas - no egg. I baked the pie covered with foil for 45 minutes and then for 15 minutes uncovered at 375 F. The top didn't brown like I wanted it to at the end of the hour so I turned on my broiler and took care of that problem!

I have to say that I was VERY satisfied with it. AND Mark and Anthony ate it, too! Mark even choked down the lima beans (no such luck with Anthony on that one). This is definitely a recipe I'll repeat!