Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

Have you ever looked at the nutritional value of one of those itsy-bitsy little frozen entrees we used to buy when we were in university? I mean chicken pot pie, that’s got be loaded with vitamins and good for us, right? Wrong. Those cute little pies are no better for you than a big mac, a big mac! I mean two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun; in fact the big mac has less fat and carbs and is higher in protein. I don’t know about you but I’d rather have a big mac or the chicken pie recipe below! Tons of protein and veggies in low fat sauce with a whole wheat biscuit that tastes insane.

Serves 4

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Medium onion chopped

1 Stalk of celery chopped

1 Small carrot diced

2 Cloves garlic, crushed

1 227 g package of sliced white button mushrooms

½ Cup white wine

1 ½ Cup sodium reduced chicken stock

2 Large chicken breasts, cleaned and cut into small chunks

1 Cup frozen peas

1/2 Cup frozen corn

2 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp cold water

5 – 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

– In a large sauce pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.

– When the oil is hot (it will ripple)  add the onion, carrot, and celery; season with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes until the veggies are soft and the onions are translucent.

– Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are slightly browned and are starting to sweat out, season with salt and pepper.

– Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, careful not to burn the garlic.

– Add the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to release any flavours (deglazing).

– Add the stock, chicken, peas, corn, and thyme sprigs; season with salt and pepper.

– In a separate bowl mix the cornstarch and water until there are no lumps then add this mixture to pot. After the cornstarch mixture has been added and the pot comes back up to a boil, drop the heat to low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

– Season with salt and pepper.

–  Preheat your oven to 400.

Meanwhile prepare the biscuits:

2 Cups whole wheat flour (plus extra for rolling out)

1 tbsp of baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup salted butter diced finely

1 Cup cold milk (I drink 1%)

– Combine the dry ingredients and then combine the butter.

– Add the milk to bowl and mix with a spoon or your hands.

– When the ingredients have come together pour out onto a floured surface and flatten with your hands.  Then roll the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is about ½ an inch thick. Careful not to over mix the dough otherwise the baking powder will lose its magic touch.

– Use your ramekin (you should use 8 ounce ramekins here) to measure out each disc to top you chicken pie with.

– Pour the chicken pot pie filling into 4 ramekins (you should use 8 ounce ramekins here), there should be about 2 ladles per ramekin; make sure to remove the thyme stems.

– Top each ramekin with a biscuit

– Bake at 400 degree for 13 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are browned and the chicken pot pie filling is bubbling.

– After you take the pot pies out of the oven let them stand for at least 5 minutes… hot, hot, hot!

Notes:

1. You are going to have extra biscuit dough left over so just roll the dough into half cup portions and flatten into one inch thickness and bake the rolls with the pot pies.
2. You can use Buttermilk in place of regular milk.
3. If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken stock to thin it out.
4. If you want to use buttermilk in place of regular milk then use 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup butter, diced; 1 cup buttermilk.