Chicken Pot Pie (in a cast iron skillet)

Chicken pot pie is an old favorite of mine.  I always remember loving it when I was a kid.  Even if chicken pot pie isn't your favorite I still recommend this recipe.  I've put a lot of effort into the flavor, plus it's very easy to cook.  You can't even compare this pie to something you would buy frozen at the supermarket.

I have developed a "chicken pot pie stew", which uses potatoes instead of a crust, but it's just not the same.  The taste is still good, but the taste of a homemade pie crust, in addition to the texture contrast it offers, is just too good to give up.  So for the time being, I won't be sharing that recipe.

However if you aren't interested in making your own pie crust, I will offer you some tips on spicing up the flavor of the crust so that it's still great.  If you ARE interested in making your own pie crust, I'll provide my recipes in the very bottom of the post.  Sorry but that won't have pictures for now, making dough is just too easy.

I will say that this pie is a little spicy as per my preference, but I only made it a mild~medium spicy to keep in spirit with the savory nature of the dish.  If you aren't good with spicy food at all, then remove the chili powder from the sauce at the end.  The chili flakes on the chicken I recommend regardless as it still adds really nice flavor.

Chicken Pot Pie recipe:


4-5 full meals

PREP
~2 lbs chicken
cut into 1/2"~3/4" cubes
marinate salt, coarse blk pep, chili flakes, and wine as needed to mix

1/2 lg or 1~2 medium onions chopped
~4 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
~4 cups of frozen small vegetables out to thaw

Roll out pie dough and cover with plastic wrap
(when making pie dough for this recipe, knead it 1-2m so it firms up slightly)
(can use store bought pie crust if you find the type without crimped edges)

COOK
* Preheat oven to 400

* cook in 16" cast iron sauce pan
* get pan nice and hot so chicken can sear quickly, then reduce to medium
* heat high heat flavored oil (ghee or gingelly), add only as needed
* once chicken is done, remove to a bowl, leave behind grease
* for white meat, cook halfway. for dark meat, cook 3/4th of the way.

* add oil as needed
* add the onions and garlic. stirfry until just browned
* pinch of salt

* Add 1~2 Tbsp lard (or other fat) and mix it in to melt
* can substitute fat for oil, or remove as per your health needs
(the fat is just to help add body in addition to conducting flavor of the spices)

* Add frozen veg
* return the chicken
* add 1 big Tbsp knorr chicken bouillon
* ~1.75 cups of water, or as needed to reach desired thickness
* Add ~2 Tbsp cornstarch, slurried, stir immediately
* turn off the heat once the contents are all warmed, don't need to cook them yet

* 1 layer fine ground black pepper
* 1/2 tsp chili pdr
* 1/2 tsp cumin pdr
* 1/2 tsp GM pdr
* 1/2 tsp coriander pdr
* 1/4 tsp tumeric pdr
* 1/2~1 tsp dark soy or worchestershire sauce (or both)
* taste test and adjust
* optional: add a layer of onion flakes on top after stirring
(this will help keep the crust dry and add flavor, you can also add other things like garlic powder)

* use arms or board to carefully place crust over skillet
* seal edges and fold big hangovers back over the top
* use some egg yolk, or milk wash to cover the whole crust

   (another trick is to add salt or other seasonings to the wash)
* poke big holes in the middle, moving outwards so the dough doesn't mix in with the filling and re-clog the hole

* bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden
* let cool before eating

Prep for chicken pot pie is incredibly easy.

Rolled out my pie crust.  I'm not very good at it, so I usually have to tear off some pieces from the outside to patch up parts that are lagging behind.  You can just patch them on with water.  Make sure that it's big enough by holding your skillet over it before you finish.

Searing, and partially cooking the meat.  I used light chicken meat this time, so I won't cook it too much, allowing it to keep a juicy texture at the end.

Chicken is done, so I removed it and am browning the onions and garlic.

This is done enough.  Once they are all translucent they will mostly dissapear into the pie.  You can adjust to more or less cook time as per your preference.

Pie filling with all of the water, seasonings, and thickener added.  If you want more filling you can add more water, thickener, and seasonings.  I like doing it with this amount and not too much thickener, because it makes it easy to prevent the filling from boiling over onto the crust.

Throwing down the onion flakes because I love my crust.

Didn't do anything fancy with the crust.  If you have a wetter pie filling, you'll need to seal it much better than this.

Egg washed, got some on the edges too.

Cut holes with a paring knife.

All done :)  The hardest part is resisting eating it while it's too hot.

Pie Crust recipe:

2.5 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
mix

1 cup (16 Tbsp) of butter and/or lard and/or shortening combination
(note, you can round down on lard amount since it contains less water)
cut into small pieces and add
mix until pieces are small peas
(alternative, do all of that in a food processor)

ice some cold water
very gently mix 6-8 Tbsp water (note: the more lard is used, more water is required)
test dough to see if it stays together by squeezing a part of it
add a little water at a time until this happens

optional: if more elastic dough is desired, knead it slightly, 1-2 minutes at most

gently form into rough ball, divide in two
gently form both portions into discs
put into plastic bags and remove air, or plastic wrap
put into fridge for 1 hr

roll out as needed with flour, no harm in moving around dough to maintain a circle

NOTES:
* for making chicken pot pie crust, since it's not for sweets, I like to add more seasonings
* I used brown instead of white sugar, garlic powder, and some extra salt
* I also used a combination of Ghee and Lard for the fat