Chicken Pot Pie

I mentioned it in my post about the currently ongoing experiment, and so finally, here is the recipe for my first-ever chicken pot pie.  As evidenced by this mess of papers and scribbles, I studied many recipes, did some comparing, mixing, analyzing and matching, and then decided on a combination of them that I thought would work well to make the crust:

As for the filling, I basically winged it as I went along.  Here’s what I did (as best as I can remember)….

CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
• 2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1-1/2 sticks of Butter
• 4 Tablespoons of chilled Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)
• 1 Egg
• 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 cup cold water

CRUST DIRECTIONS

1.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2.  Cut in the butter and the shortening.

3.  Add the egg and vinegar, and mix to combine (like you were hand-mixing a meatloaf).  Also add enough of the cold water (up to 1/2 cup), if needed at all, to make the dough not too dry.

4.  Turn the dough out onto a GF-floured board, and knead it for just a minute or two to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.

5.  Form it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and toss it in the freezer.  (If you are making your dough the night before, no need for the freezer – just put it in the fridge.)

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 2 large Chicken Breasts
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Paprika
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Onion
• 2 large Carrots
• 2 Potatoes
• A good handful of fresh Green Beans
• Chicken Stock
• Milk (I used 2% lactose free), probably about 1/4-1/2 cup worth
• 2 Tablespoons Tapioca Flour
• 3 Tablespoons water

FILLING DIRECTIONS

1.  Pre-heat oven to 400-degrees.

2.  Season the chicken breasts using whatever amounts of the above-listed seasonings are to your liking, and cook it in a large skillet until done.  Set the chicken aside to cool and let its juices redistribute.

3.  Chop the onion and start it cooking with the butter, in the same skillet that you used for the chicken.

4.  While the onions are cooking, chop the carrots, the potatoes, and the green beans.

5.  Chop up the chicken into whatever size pieces you desire, or you can even shred it if you want.

6.  Put all the veggies into the skillet, and season with whatever spices you like.  I think I used salt, pepper, thyme and savory.  Cook for a few minutes.

7.  Then, add the chicken and enough Chicken Stock to at least coat the entire bottom of the pan….but probably more like enough to come up a quarter of an inch.  Also add the milk, and then bring it all to a simmer.

8.  Mix the tapioca flour and 3 Tablespoons of water into a slurry, add it to the pan.  Stir, and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

9.  Pour the filling into your deep baking dish, and set aside.

10.  Get the dough ball from the freezer and roll it out to as close a size as possible to cover the baking dish. 

11.  Place it on top, patching any holes or tears with extra bits of dough that were cut off from the edges.

12.  Bake the whole thing for up to an hour or until the crust is golden brown and starting to crisp.

13.  Allow the pie to cool for abut 15 minutes before slicing.

We served it with a side of fresh steamed broccoli:

COMMENTS

For a first attempt, I really liked this chicken pot pie.  But I wish the sauce/gravy was creamier and thicker.  Maybe I should have used a different milk/chicken stock ratio (i.e. more milk and less chicken stock), perhaps some heavy cream (which I didn't have on hand that night), and/or a higher concentration of tapioca starch in the slurry.  In any case, the unexpected dinner guest that we had that evening certainly liked it enough to go back for seconds.  And we would have had seconds too, if we were hungry enough.

The next day, however, wow! -- the leftovers were even better.  By then, the crust had time to soak up some of the juices and get a little bit gooey, moist, and gummy (the way I personally like my pot pie crust).

In keeping with the all-natural road we are currently trying to stay on, I think it should be possible to make this meal again without the xanthan gum, because it’s certainly okay (and some might even say better) to have pot pie crust flake apart and get all mixed into the filling while eating it.  Don’t most people chop it up and mix it in anyways?  I do.  In any case, as I have mentioned in the past, I am venturing to perfect a gluten-free crust (savory, sweet, or otherwise), and now hopefully one without any chemicals or xanthan gum.  If we continue to have to eat gluten-free after the experiment and I ever come up with anything good, I will certainly let you all know.

Finally, there will be no nutritional values given for this dish, because obviously I didn’t measure anything exactly (was just sort of eyeing it) nor did I weigh anything.  Plus with all that butter in the crust, who really wants to know, right?