Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Darlene's homemade Chicken Pot Pie

 Double crust pie (make one of your favorite or buy 2 premade pastries) for a round deep pie dish

Buy a store cooked Rotisserie chicken.  Remove all skin, fat, and bones. Cut up all chicken into bite sized pieces and set aside in a air-tight container with a lid.  Save drippings from bag Rotisserie chicken came in and put into the container with the cut up chicken.

Slice and chop up a large sweet onion and a couple celery stalks and celery heart with leaves plus 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.  Place them in a large skillet with a couple tablespoons of real butter and a table spoon of olive oil and saute tender.  Stir in a tablespoon of dried Parsley while cooking mixture.  Stir every couple minutes until tender.

In a large microwave glass casserole dish with a lid place a bag of mixed vegetable and a couple diced up potatoes with some water to cook til tender (about 15 minutes) stirring half ways.  Once cooked drain water out and put cooked vegetables in with sauteed onion/celery stir to combine.  Add a cup of Half & Half, a 1/2 cup of Locatelli brand grated cheese and  2 cups of Italian blended sharp cheeses.  Can add some Monterey Jack cheese too (about 1/4 cup).. Your choice of your favorite cheeses.  Stir to incorporate, add cut up chicken and continue stirring.  Should get bubbly and thicken some.  If mixture looks dry add some more Half and Half to be sure it is not dry.  

Place one pie pastry in bottom of pie dish with edges  slightly hanging over edge.  Empty mixture from skillet into pie pastry evenly.  Place 2nd  pastry on top and seal edges together.  Take a knife and put several slits in top crust to vent while baking.   Place dish in preheated 350 degree oven and bake 45 - 55 minutes... until top crust is lightly browned.  Once done baking let set for about 15 minutes on top of stove or counter to rest before cutting to serve.