Happy National Frozen Food Day! While it may not seem intuitive to make your own frozen food, it is quite easy and there’s nothing like having a real deal, homemade, chicken pot pie on-hand. There are a couple qualities that make these stand apart from store bought. The worst is the time cook. Since you store these in foil loaf pans, you have to reheat them in the oven and it takes a little around 90 minutes from oven-to-mouth. But, the flavor is better, the filling is more luscious, the crust is tastier and actually flaky, and, just like the microwave options, you’ll still get to burn your mouth and make that funny noise when you eat something that’s too hot, too soon. I heard it all around the table as I patiently waited for mine to cool a bit after breaking the crust topping!
The first time I made my fiancé one of these, she said it was way too big and that she’d only eat half. I looked up a few minutes later and she was well through ⅔ of the dish with no sign of taking any break. This recipe, from Cook’s Country, calls for 6, 2-cup loaf pans (these are approximately 6” long). It also translates to 4, 2-pound loaf pans (approximately 8” long).
Frozen Chicken Pot Pies from Cook’s Country
I always seem to forget that rollable pie crusts are usually held in the refrigerator section and not the freezer section, so try the refrigerated section first at your grocer. Also, you’ll need to let the crusts come to room temperature before you unroll them so you don’t tear the crusts.
2 tbsp cooking oil, divided
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
5.5 cups of chicken broth
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
1 celery rib, minced
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp minced fresh thyme
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 15-oz boxed of ready-to-roll pie crust (total of 4 pie crusts)
1 egg for cooking + 1 egg for baking
4-6 aluminum loaf pans (see note in blog entry above)
1.5 cups frozen peas
Plastic wrap, aluminum foil, cooking spray
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven, or other heavy-bottomed pot, over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with kosher salt and black pepper and brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes. Then add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low to simmer, approximately 8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool and strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large-enough bowl and reserve the broth.
Melt the butter, with the remaining tbsp of oil in the empty dutch oven, over medium-high heat and cook the onion, carrots, and celery, with a heavy pinch of salt, until softened, about 8 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the flour until fully incorporated, about a minute. Then wish in the reserved broth, milk and thyme. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
While the broth and vegetables simmer, shred your cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.
When the sauce has thickened, turn off the heat and add the shredded chicken and lemon juice and adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool, then place in the fridge for an hour to completely cool down.
20 minutes before you’re ready to prepare the individual servings, take your crusts out of the box and let them come to room temperature. When at-temperature, carefully unroll the pie crusts onto a lightly floured workspace. Using one beaten egg, brush one pie crust and top with another crust and press them together, lightly, so they adhere together. Repeat with the remaining two crusts.
Using 1 of the empty loaf pans, turn it upside down and run a paring knife around the exterior to cut out the crust tops. If you’re using smaller loaf pans, you’ll be able to get three toppers out of 1 2-ply crust. You may need to lightly roll out the crusts to get all three, but it’s doable with strategic placement of the tins.
Remove the filling from the fridge and stir in the frozen peas to incorporate. Then, divide the filling evenly among your loaf pans. Lay the crusts on top of the filling and use a fork to to seal the filling in and the crust to the side of the pan. Take the paring knife and cut three diagonal steam vents into the top of the crust.
Wrap each pie tin tightly with 2 layers of plastic wrap followed by one layer of aluminum foil and store in the freezer.
When ready to cook the pot pies, preheat your oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the middle. Unwrap the foil carefully and remove the plastic wrap. Beat an egg and brush the yolk onto the pie crusts. Lightly spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray and wrap up the pies with the foil.
Bake for 40 minutes (45 minutes if cooking in 8-inch loaf pans) and remove from the oven. Discard the foil and re-brush the egg wash among the crusts if it has pooled. Place back in the oven and cook until the crusts are golden brown, about 40 minutes (50 minutes if if cooking in 8-inch loaf pans).
Let the pies cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes before serving. Contents will be hot!
___________________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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