Hands down the best chicken pot pie I've ever had. I just can't say enough good things about it. It was super easy, it used up leftovers, and it was delicious! S.D., who doesn't even like chicken pot pie, said "It's really good!!! Definitely the best pot pie I've ever had!!!" Ok, so maybe he didn't say it with quite the enthusiasm that the "!"s suggest, but he did say it.The crust is really what made it extra delicious: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pie-Crust-IV/Detail.aspx. I took a cooking class in college and one of the only things I remember is making a pie crust. The #1 trick is to handle it as little as possible when adding the water. I usually buy a Pillsbury refrigerated crust, but I don't know if I can go back after making this one. It only took me 5 minutes to do - definitely worth it!
Look at that pie... It looks so rustic! (haha... I love the word "rustic". It's makes something that is sloppy and thrown together at the last minute seem better than it really is)
Do you ever use the Tofutti cream cheese? Sweet Boy will eat it plain. I always put it on crackers or bagels for him, but he just licks off the cream cheese and leaves the rest behind. Of course, he also eats ketchup plain, so I guess cream cheese isn't that bad. Well, I added a little to the sauce to thicken it up a bit and it was a great addition.
Another wonderful thing about this recipe is that it's so easily adaptable. I divulged quite a bit from the original, but here it is: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Pot-Pie-IX/Detail.aspx. I think it would be good with whatever vegetables you have on hand. I happened to have some leftover carrots that I had cooked with butter and brown sugar - they were awesome in this! That recipe is below.
The Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie
1-1.5 c. cooked chicken (I had cooked a whole chicken in a crockpot earlier in the week and I used the leftovers)
1 c. cooked carrots (recipe for brown sugar carrots below)
1.5 c. frozen peas, thawed
1/3 c. vegan butter
1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 T. dried onion flakes (I would have used a real onion had I had one)
1/4 t. celery seed
1/4 t. celery seed
1 3/4 c. chicken broth
2/3 c. soy milk
seasoned salt and pepper to taste
1/4-1/3 c. Tofutti cream cheese
Preheat oven to 425 F. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Add salt, pepper, onion flakes, and celery seed. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk. Stir over med-low heat until slightly thickened (mine had a hard time thickening much). Whisk in cream cheese until melted.
Put one pie crust in bottom of pie plate. Add chicken, carrots, and peas. Shake some pepper and seasoned salt over chicken mixture. Pour sauce over chicken mixture. Add top of crust (cut slits if not doing lattice top). Bake on next to lowest rack for 35-40 minutes. Spray top with cooking spray 5-10 minutes before finished cooking to get a golden color (take it out of the oven first before spraying - just seems like a good idea).
Brown Sugar Carrots
2 bags carrots
1 stick butter
1/2 # brown sugar
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice (I forgot to add this, which is probably better since I used them for the pot pie. But usually I do and it's wonderful!)
Put carrots in large saucepan and cover with water. Boil until partially cooked (very slightly tender). Drain carrots. Melt butter, add brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Add carrots to sugar mixture and simmer until coated. (Don't feel like you have to make as much as this calls for. I usually just partially cook however many carrots I want and then cook them the rest of the way in a little brown sugar and butter.)
