Is there anything more warm and homey than a chicken pot pie?  I don’t think so.  And one day back in September, I really wanted that domestic feeling.  But now that it’s after Thanksgiving and I have a pile of turkey in my fridge, it’s the perfect way to dispense with my leftovers.

HFM Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast (2 to 3 breasts)
[Or use a couple of handfuls of shredded turkey]
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 of an medium onion, diced
Flour
Seasoning Salt
Olive Oil
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
Frozen mixed vegetables
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Rubbed Sage
Parsley Flakes
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup Milk
1 Egg
Butter (optional)

Recipe

Cut the chicken breast into cubes.  Or if using leftover turkey, shred it.  Season to taste with seasoning salt.  Coat the meat in a thin layer of flour.  [You can season the flour with more seasoning salt and black pepper before coating the chicken/turkey if you want.]  Put a bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan.  Enough to coat the bottom of the pan, but not deep fry.  When the oil is hot, toss in the chicken cubes/turkey and let them turn golden brown.

You can take the chicken out of the pan if you want, or if you’re lazy like me just push them over to the side of the pan in a pile.  🙂  Next, pour a little more oil into the pan and throw in the onion and celery.  Sweat them until the onions are translucent.  Make sure not to brown them.

If you removed the chicken from the pan, throw it back in now.  Turn up the heat under the pan a bit and add the frozen mixed vegetables.  If you like more vegetables, add more.  If you want less, add less.  Up to the consumer.  😀  As they start to thaw open up your can of cream of mushroom soup.[You could also use fresh vegetables.  But this is the cheating version that doesn’t involve cutting up veggies.  If you do use fresh, make sure to allow extra cooking time for the carrots, etc to soften in the pot.]

Once you can see that the previously frozen vegetables are thawed, empty the cream of mushroom soup into the pot.  Then fill the can with water and add the water into the pot too.  Mix to combine.[You can do pretty much any type of ‘cream of ___’ soup.  I just had cream of mushroom in the pantry.  Or you can mix up your own thickening agent.  But this is my cheating version.  :-)]

Now turn the heat up under the pan [I should probably stop saying pan.  I really mean a pot.  Like a larger shallow pot] and heat until the mixture comes to a boil.  Stir often since you don’t want it to burn.  The point of this is get the mixture to thicken.  [And how thick is up to you.  I like a hearty stew kind of thickness.  If you are impatient and want your mixture to get thicker without waiting for it to boil forever, you can sprinkle in a little more flour.  This will make it thicker almost instantly.] 

Take a moment to taste your mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If you’re using canned soup, it will have plenty of salt in it, so don’t season until after you’ve combined the soup into your mix.

When it reaches the consistency you want, take it off the heat and grab your casserole dish.  I used a round 9″ casserole.  But I’ve also done this in a square casserole.  Both work fine.

Leave the casserole un-greased.  Pour the filling mixture into the casserole.  Tap it on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

In a separate bowl combine the Bisquick, milk and egg.  Once it’s like pancake batter, season with sage, parsley flakes and salt.  You can add a bit of pepper too if you like.  Pour this mixture in an even layer over the filling.  If your filling is thick enough it will sit right on top of it without sinking down.

If you you like, you can cut up a couple of tabs of butter and sprinkle over the top of the Bisquick mixture.  Just adds a tiny bit more flavor to the crust.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Eat immediately or store covered in the fridge.  Or you can freeze it.  I’d say it’ll be fine frozen for up to six months.

If you use this recipe, give me some feedback on it.  What did you change?  What did you like or not like about it?  Comment below.

While I’m on the subject of cooking and freezing, let me tell you about a nifty website I use with my friends.  Crowd Kitchen makes sharing food with your friends easy.  You can simply make a double batch of whatever you would normally cook, freeze the extra portion and then trade it with a friend.  You get something they make in exchange.  For your single effort, you get two meals.

You also get a variety, which for me, is great.  I tend to fall into a rut when it comes to cooking.  I have meals that I have mastered and always taste great that I could make with my eyes closed.  So I stop searching for new and interesting ways to cook.  Trading with friends can increase your culinary repertoire.  I had no idea how to prepare lentils until I started trading with my friend, Tim.

And in case you are worried about keeping things fair, Crowd Kitchen has a way to do that too.  You wouldn’t want to make a souffle and in exchange receive fish sticks from a box.  So you can assign your meal a number of points.  For me, that means if a meal cost $8 to make, it’s worth 8 points on the site.   There’s a lot more to it, but those are the pertinent points (for me anyway.)

You can set up your food allergies or preferences in your account and search for available dishes by these perimeters.  Or if you prefer to only trade with people you actually know, you can make your dishes available to just your friends.  Crowd Kitchen even allows you to use Facebook to log in so you don’t have to remember another damn password.

It’s a great option for me.  Perhaps it would be for you too.  Check out their website and find out more for yourself.