Recipe rut: week 2

This week the new recipe we auditioned was from The Pioneer Woman (no surprise) and it was her chicken pot pie. I make semi-homemade chicken pot pies quite often but never all the way from scratch because of my inability to make pie crust. Mine either feel apart or were tough or were just yucky, but because every recipe of Ree's is so wonderful, we had to give these a chance. 

Her pie crust uses this: Crisco. I know people swear by Crisco. I am sort of repulsed by it. Why would anyone use this when there is BUTTER? I had to put my faith in Ree and proceed. 

Here is her pie crust recipe:

ingredients

• 1-½ cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 whole Egg
• 5 Tablespoons Cold Water
• 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions

In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

Separate the dough into halves. Form 2 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it’s still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)

When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it’s a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it’s about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.

With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.


* it was a good pie crust, but I still need to practice as it was crumbly and not so easy to work with...but it is my best attempt to date. My crust was super wet, so I had either only added 2 cups initially, and I had to add another cup, or I added 3 cups initially and it still needed an extra cup...it's a mystery.
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Here is the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie Recipe:
3 celery stalks
3 medium carrots, peeled (I used baby carrots, about 2 cups)
1 large yellow onion
4 tablespoons butter (I opted for olive oil)
1/2 c frozen peas
2 c cooked chicken
1/4 c all purpose flour
2 c low-sodium chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube (I didn't use one)
1/4 white wine (wow! this makes all the difference!)
1 c heavy cream (I used the fat-free Land O'Lakes cream and it was great)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 recipe Perfect Pie Crust (see above)


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Finely dice the vegetables
3. Melt the butter (or add the olive oil) to a large dutch oven and saute the veggies until translucent (a couple of minutes)
4. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the mixture and stir. Cook for a few minutes, stirring gently.
5. Pour in the chicken, broth stirring constantly. Add bouillon cube (if using) and wine (please, don't skip this step). 
6. Pour in cream and allow to cook over low heat until thickened. Add seasonings. 
7. Pour into a deep dish pie pan.
8. Roll out the crust and gently press onto sides of the dish. I am paraphrasing here because I am typing this out, not just cutting and pasting from somewhere online.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. 
10. Wow! Delish! 

*next time, I am making two at once because the crust recipe makes two servings and you have already done all of the chopping and cooking...this was a great recipe and Matthew rated it a "high, high 9"