A Tale of Two Chicken Pot Pies

My mother in law makes this awesome chicken pot pie that she gives to new neighbors and people with family in the hospital. She's slightly ashamed to have me eat it because it consists of chopped cooked chicken breasts, Pillsbury pie crust, and a can of Veg-all (canned mixed vegetables) and a can of cream of chicken soup. She obviously hasn't heard of my torte in a box recipe (make a box of Rice a Roni, a box of Hamburger Helper, and a box of Mac 'n cheese. Layer in a loaf pan and bake until warm and bubbly).

Inspired by my Mother-In-Law's chicken pot pie and far to lazy to go to the store to get ingredients, I decided to make my own version. Everything was homemade and it tasted crazy good, especially considerin the cold snap we've been going through. When I say homemade, I mean homemade, I made my own stock. Here's a couple of tips on stock making. Usually when I make stock it's because I have roasted a chicken and wanted to use up the carcass. This time I felt too lazy to roast a chicken and had earlier bought chicken backs and necks at Safeway. It made equally tasty stock! Also, I had a head of celery going bad and threw a whole bunch of it in. Surprisingly enough, celery makes a HUUUUGE difference.

Here's what I put in stock:

2 pounds of chicken backs and necks
4 stalks of celery (with the inside leaves if possible)
2 carrots
2 onions quartered
8 cloves of garlic, whole
1 tablespoon of salt
enough water to cover the whole mess

Anyway with that awesome based the pie was a snap.

The Pot Pie
1 recipe double crust pie crust (look in the archives)
2 chicken breasts, 2 chicken thighs cooked and coasrely chopped (I perfer roasting them because I am completely incompetent at poaching - Sorry Jon at Ihatebroccoli)
2 carrots, diced
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup of frozen peas (this is by no means an exact measurement, I just pour the bag of peas in until I get the amount I like)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

In the butter, saute the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic until the carrots and celery are translucent. Add the flour and stir so that the flour coats everything. Add the
stock and stir until the stock is thickened. Added the chicken and peas and simmer until the mixture is warm and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Roll out pie crust for the top and bottom layers. Place bottom layer on the pie pan and add the chicken filling. Place the top layer on top and crimp the sides together. Cut slits on the top crust to release steam. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until crust is a light golden brown.