Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie... it conjures up images of trailer parks and t.v. dinners. I loved pot pies as a kid- we always had Swanson; my brother and I would inevitably sustain 3rd degree burns over our tongues and the roof of our mouths from eating it straight out of the oven.  I loved! how the bottom crust was always a little gummy. I have seen many recipes for fancy pot pies involving things like snow peas and chanterelle mushrooms but by golly, what I really wanted was a GOOD version of a Swanson pot pie with uniformly diced carrots and potatoes. This is absolute comfort food- get your sweat pants on, park yourself in front of the t.v. and dig in!

I save the drippings from when I roast the chicken, refrigerate overnight and take the fat off the top; this pan jelly, as it's known, is a delicious flavor boost for the pot pie which would otherwise be bland. If you don't roast your own chicken for this recipe, you will have to use something else-- I've seen these flavor boost products near the chicken stock so something like that might work. Maybe one of those concentrated bouillon products would be o.k.

1/2  pie crust recipe (leave out the sugar)
6 T butter
1 medium onion, diced
6 T flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
2 cups diced potatoes, boiled or steamed for about 10 minutes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup peas
2 cups leftover roasted chicken, cubed

3 T de-fatted chicken drippings
2 T chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter and cook the onions in it over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium and stir in the flour -- cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 or 5 minutes to make a very light brown roux. Whisk in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until it is thickened. Stir in the milk and remaining ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and adjust seasonings. Put the filling in a lightly greased, deep-dish ceramic pie plate. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400º; while oven is preheating, roll out your pie crust to fit over the top of the filling, cut slits in the top and bake on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet for about 30-40 minutes, until crust is nice and brown and the filling is bubbling.