A long time ago I posted a recipe for chicken pot pie "better than store bought." I still like that recipe, but since then I have gotten lazier about making it and now I have a much faster and incidentally somewhat cheaper version that is still delicious enough to serve to company.
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 bag frozen peas and carrots
1/2 bag frozen pearl onions (NOT in sauce, just plain onions), or more to taste
Breast meat of 1 rotisserie chicken
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup white flour
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon or equivalent broth mix
Topping:
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup pastry or cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 stick butter or stick margarine
2/3 cup milk
First, make the topping. Preheat the oven to 450. Also put a large pot of water on to boil.
In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir. Chop the butter into small pieces and drop into the dry ingredients. Then, use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until the pieces are no bigger than peas. Add the milk and stir gently until a dough forms. It will be stiff.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead carefully 8 times. Kneading a biscuit is not the same as kneading bread dough; each time you knead the dough, you will press it out flat to about an inch thick, then fold it in half. This creates the nice tender layers in the biscuit.
Roll the biscuit dough out into a shape that will fit into whatever container you're going to use for the pie. Basically, the topping is going to be one giant biscuit. You can use a pie plate or a rectangular Corningware, whatever you like that is about the right size. It doesn't have to be oven-safe.
Lay a sheet of tinfoil on a baking sheet that is safe to use at high heat. Most nonstick baking sheets are NOT SAFE at high heat. If all you have is nonstick sheets, then just use a double thickness of tinfoil.
Grease the tinfoil and then laay the giant biscuit on top. Carefully fold up the edges of the tinfoil to make about a 1/2 inch lip all the way around. This will catch any butter that melts out of the huge biscuit, so it doesn't drip onto your oven and smoke.
Bake the biscuit for 12 minutes or until golden. You will want to bake it a tiny bit longer than you usually bake biscuits to be sure it's cooked all the way through.
While the biscuit is cooking, make the filling. The water should be boiling now so just dump in the frozen veggies. Set a timer for 5 minutes and start working on the gravy.
For the gravy, whisk the flour directly into the cold milk until smooth. Then pour the milk mixture into a saucepan and add the water and bouillon and (optional) any herbs you want to add, such as a pinch of thyme, parsley, or sage. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.
By now the veggies are probably done. When they are done cooking, dump them into a colander to strain out the water, then pour them into the pie plate (or other serving container that you're going to serve the pie in).
If you haven't already chopped the chicken, do it now, and then add the chicken pieces to the veggies.
Pour the gravy over the veggies and chicken, and stir gently.
By this time the biscuit is probably done baking. Carefully, using two large spatulas or pancake turners, lift the giant biscuit off the tinfoil and place on top of the gravy mixture.
Ta-daaa! Your chicken pie is done, and it is PERFECT. Eat it!
Variations:
You can use the whole chicken including dark meat if you like dark meat. I don't, so I feed the legs to Ariel (hubby). Or, you can cook your own chicken, but rotisserie is really really good so I don't recommend this unless you don't have access to rotisserie or it's too expensive.
You can use frozen mixed vegetables instead of peas and carrots, but you must pick out the green beans. They make the filling soggy.
You can also make drop biscuits instead of the giant biscuit if you don't want to bother rolling it out and kneading it.
You can save calories and carbs by making a half recipe of the biscuit topping. It will be thinner and bake in much less time, so check on it after 7 minutes.
Can't find frozen pearl onions? You can use frozen chopped onions instead of pearl onions. The pearl onions are nicer, but the regular chopped onions are fine if that's all you can get. Don't use the kind that comes in a sauce or your gravy will be too salty.
Don't have pastry flour? Substitute an additional 1/4 cup whole wheat flour plus 1/4 cup cornstarch.
Don't have whole wheat flour? Use 2 cups regular flour and leave out the pastry flour.
Don't have cream of tartar? Use an additional 1/2 tsp baking powder, although you should try the cream of tartar sometime. You might find you really like biscuits made with it.
Can't drink milk? Replace it with water. It will still be good. DO NOT use a milk substitute, because they will all make the gravy come out wrong. Lactaid milk is fine.
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Brandy Chicken
A variant on something the recipe book called Drunken Turkey.
Ingredients:
4 bone-in chicken breast halves
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion, about 3 medium
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp chicken bouillon
5 garlic cloves, sliced
Optional: 1/2 tsp Penzey's Boquet Garni (sp?) herb mix, 6 whole allspice berries
Saute the onions in a wide Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat until beginning to soften.
Make room for the chicken breast to touch the bottom, pushing the onions aside, and lay the breasts skin-side down. Cook, occasionally pushing the chicken around in order to keep the onions from sticking, for 6 minutes or until the bottom of the pot is showing golden-brown bits stuck to it.
Add the spices and garlic. Combine the bouillon and the broth; pour over the chicken. Add the brandy.
Raise the heat to medium-high and boil, uncovered, until the steam no longer smells like alcohol. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the meat is tender and fully cooked, turning occasionally.
If the liquid is watery at this point, then you can remove the chicken and boil the liquid to make it more concentrated. It will never become thick like a gravy; it's more like a very rich and concentrated broth.
To serve, pull off the skin and cut the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and skin, and slice the meat. Plate the meat and spoon the pan sauce and the onions over it.
If you're worried about fat, you can peel the skin off BEFORE cooking the meat, in which case you need to be more careful about the meat burning. Alternatively, you can pour the pan sauce into a bowl and place it in the fridge until the fat rises to the top, then skim it off. That is more flavorful but also rather time consuming. The usual method of pouring off the fat doesn't work well because of the onion chunks.
Ingredients:
4 bone-in chicken breast halves
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion, about 3 medium
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp chicken bouillon
5 garlic cloves, sliced
Optional: 1/2 tsp Penzey's Boquet Garni (sp?) herb mix, 6 whole allspice berries
Saute the onions in a wide Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat until beginning to soften.
Make room for the chicken breast to touch the bottom, pushing the onions aside, and lay the breasts skin-side down. Cook, occasionally pushing the chicken around in order to keep the onions from sticking, for 6 minutes or until the bottom of the pot is showing golden-brown bits stuck to it.
Add the spices and garlic. Combine the bouillon and the broth; pour over the chicken. Add the brandy.
Raise the heat to medium-high and boil, uncovered, until the steam no longer smells like alcohol. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the meat is tender and fully cooked, turning occasionally.
If the liquid is watery at this point, then you can remove the chicken and boil the liquid to make it more concentrated. It will never become thick like a gravy; it's more like a very rich and concentrated broth.
To serve, pull off the skin and cut the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and skin, and slice the meat. Plate the meat and spoon the pan sauce and the onions over it.
If you're worried about fat, you can peel the skin off BEFORE cooking the meat, in which case you need to be more careful about the meat burning. Alternatively, you can pour the pan sauce into a bowl and place it in the fridge until the fat rises to the top, then skim it off. That is more flavorful but also rather time consuming. The usual method of pouring off the fat doesn't work well because of the onion chunks.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Authentic-tasting and delicious. I don't know why I keep making enchiladas, they're about the most annoying food in the world to make. It must have something to do with how good they are. Budget at least 90 minutes to make these. They aren't challenging, just time-consuming.
Sauce:
6 anaheim chile peppers
6 tomatillos
2 yellow onions, chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 cup chicken broth
Filling:
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, or 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or fat free is fine)
4 scallions, white and firm green parts, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (low fat cheese works well)
Also:
About a dozen 6-inch corn tortillas
Corn oil
More cheese
Cut the anaheim chiles in half, lengthwise - WEAR GLOVES while handling the chiles! Scoop out the seeds and membranes. Place the chiles, skin-side-up, on a broiler-safe baking sheet or a sheet of tinfoil, then place under the broiler. Broil for 6 minutes or until the skins are blackened and blistered. DO NOT leave the broiler unattended. When chiles are done, remove to a heat-safe bowl and cover tightly.
While the chiles cool, prepare the tomatillos. Peel off the husks and rinse most of the stickiness off the skin underneath, then chop the fruit. Tomatillos taste like a cross between a cucumber and a pineapple... people say green tomatoes are a good substitute but I think it would be better to leave them out entirely if you can't find them.
Now prep the filling. Chop the chicken breast and combine it with the other filling ingredients in a bowl.
By now the chiles should be cool enough to handle. Put your gloves back on, if you had taken them off. Peel the skins from the chiles, saving the flesh and discarding the skins. They should come away easily; if they don't, then the chiles weren't cooked long enough. Don't worry about little bits that stick. You're going to be pureeing the sauce anyway.
Once peeled, chop the chiles and put them into a small pot with the onion and garlic and a teaspoon of corn oil. Saute over medium-high heat until the garlic is translucent or the onions are tender, whichever happens first. Then add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until the ingredients are all tender, remove from heat, and puree until smooth. A regular blender, food processor, or stick blender will all work just fine.
Turn the oven to 350. Heat a small amount of corn oil in a small frying pan, such as a crepe pan or omelet pan, over medium heat. Lay a corn tortilla in the oil and cook for about 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated and steaming, but not until it dries and curls - depending on your tortilla, they may need more or less cooking time.
Lift up the tortilla and place another tortilla underneath it, adding more oil if necessary. Keep adding more tortillas to the bottom until you have 8 or 9 tortillas on the stack. Then remove from the heat.
Pour about 1/2 cup sauce into the bottom of a rectangular baking pan, about 8x12 inches in size. Spread about 1/3 cup filling down the middle of each tortilla, roll the tortilla up and lay seam-side-down in the baking pan.
When all the tortillas are in, pour the remaining sauce over them, and top with more shredded cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until heated and the cheeses are all melted. Serve!
Sauce:
6 anaheim chile peppers
6 tomatillos
2 yellow onions, chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 cup chicken broth
Filling:
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, or 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or fat free is fine)
4 scallions, white and firm green parts, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (low fat cheese works well)
Also:
About a dozen 6-inch corn tortillas
Corn oil
More cheese
Cut the anaheim chiles in half, lengthwise - WEAR GLOVES while handling the chiles! Scoop out the seeds and membranes. Place the chiles, skin-side-up, on a broiler-safe baking sheet or a sheet of tinfoil, then place under the broiler. Broil for 6 minutes or until the skins are blackened and blistered. DO NOT leave the broiler unattended. When chiles are done, remove to a heat-safe bowl and cover tightly.
While the chiles cool, prepare the tomatillos. Peel off the husks and rinse most of the stickiness off the skin underneath, then chop the fruit. Tomatillos taste like a cross between a cucumber and a pineapple... people say green tomatoes are a good substitute but I think it would be better to leave them out entirely if you can't find them.
Now prep the filling. Chop the chicken breast and combine it with the other filling ingredients in a bowl.
By now the chiles should be cool enough to handle. Put your gloves back on, if you had taken them off. Peel the skins from the chiles, saving the flesh and discarding the skins. They should come away easily; if they don't, then the chiles weren't cooked long enough. Don't worry about little bits that stick. You're going to be pureeing the sauce anyway.
Once peeled, chop the chiles and put them into a small pot with the onion and garlic and a teaspoon of corn oil. Saute over medium-high heat until the garlic is translucent or the onions are tender, whichever happens first. Then add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until the ingredients are all tender, remove from heat, and puree until smooth. A regular blender, food processor, or stick blender will all work just fine.
Turn the oven to 350. Heat a small amount of corn oil in a small frying pan, such as a crepe pan or omelet pan, over medium heat. Lay a corn tortilla in the oil and cook for about 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated and steaming, but not until it dries and curls - depending on your tortilla, they may need more or less cooking time.
Lift up the tortilla and place another tortilla underneath it, adding more oil if necessary. Keep adding more tortillas to the bottom until you have 8 or 9 tortillas on the stack. Then remove from the heat.
Pour about 1/2 cup sauce into the bottom of a rectangular baking pan, about 8x12 inches in size. Spread about 1/3 cup filling down the middle of each tortilla, roll the tortilla up and lay seam-side-down in the baking pan.
When all the tortillas are in, pour the remaining sauce over them, and top with more shredded cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until heated and the cheeses are all melted. Serve!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Chicken, Mushroom and Parsnip Soup
Cook Light's holiday edition has arrived in my mail and with it a new collection of recipes for my favorite food season. I tried this recipe tonight and it was so easy, tasty, and unique that I will be prepping it many times in the future, I suspect. As always, I didn't quite follow the recipe, so here is my version.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter or Smart Balance or olive oil (I used butter, recipe called for olive oil)
3/4 cup sliced shallots, about 2
3/4 cup sliced parsnips, about three or four
1 turnip about the size of a lemon, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 packages presliced white mushrooms, or 1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 minced garlic clove, or a scant teaspoon of minced garlic
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp minced dried porcini mushroom (optional but delicious)
The breast meat from a rotisserie chicken, chopped
Ground pepper to taste
Dash of ground chipotle pepper - if you don't have chipotle, use cayenne, or omit
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Melt the butter in a large pot, and sauté the mushrooms, parsnips, turnip and shallots until the mushroom liquid is mostly evaporated.
Add the remaining ingredients, and simmer about 10 minutes or until the turnips and parsnips are tender, stirring frequently.
You may have noticed that I didn't call for much broth. This is because I don't really make soups, as such, but rather make braised dishes. This necessitates more stirring to keep the cooking even, but it produces a more concentrated and delicious broth, and it is much easier to eat. I don't like to drink broth and so if there's too much of it, it just goes to waste. Unless you really love drinking the leftover broth in your soup, I suggest you try making your favorite soup recipes with as little as half the called-for amount of liquid. You may be surprised at how good it is!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter or Smart Balance or olive oil (I used butter, recipe called for olive oil)
3/4 cup sliced shallots, about 2
3/4 cup sliced parsnips, about three or four
1 turnip about the size of a lemon, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 packages presliced white mushrooms, or 1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 minced garlic clove, or a scant teaspoon of minced garlic
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp minced dried porcini mushroom (optional but delicious)
The breast meat from a rotisserie chicken, chopped
Ground pepper to taste
Dash of ground chipotle pepper - if you don't have chipotle, use cayenne, or omit
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Melt the butter in a large pot, and sauté the mushrooms, parsnips, turnip and shallots until the mushroom liquid is mostly evaporated.
Add the remaining ingredients, and simmer about 10 minutes or until the turnips and parsnips are tender, stirring frequently.
You may have noticed that I didn't call for much broth. This is because I don't really make soups, as such, but rather make braised dishes. This necessitates more stirring to keep the cooking even, but it produces a more concentrated and delicious broth, and it is much easier to eat. I don't like to drink broth and so if there's too much of it, it just goes to waste. Unless you really love drinking the leftover broth in your soup, I suggest you try making your favorite soup recipes with as little as half the called-for amount of liquid. You may be surprised at how good it is!
Monday, September 27, 2010
White Chili with Chicken and Roasted Chile Peppers
Inspired by this recipe for white chili from Cooking Light, here is a subtle and unorthodox white chili whose richness comes from mashed cannellini beans and roasted chile peppers.6 Anaheim chile peppers - Anaheim chiles are like long jalapenos, being about as long as your hand and solid green. Not to be confused with Italian peppers, which are lime green, or jalapenos, which are small (thumb-sized). If you can't find them, use 5 Poblano peppers plus 1 jalapeno.
2 chicken breast halves
1 1/2 cups chopped onion, about 2 medium or 1 large
1 tbsp minced garlic, about 3 cloves
1 large can cannellini beans or 2 small cans, drained and rinsed
1/3 tsp ground coriander
2 cups chicken broth (I use water + bouillon)
2 tbsp cornmeal
Greek yogurt, plain - use sour cream if you can't find it
Preheat the broiler. Wearing gloves to protect your hands, cut the tops off the peppers, then slice them in half and scoop out the seeds. Arrange the pepper halves on a baking sheet, skin side up, and press down on them with your hand to flatten. Broil for 5 minutes, then check on them. If the skins are blistered and blackened, take them out. Otherwise, give them another 2 minutes.
Place the peppers in a heat-safe bowl and cover with saran wrap or a plate.
Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium-high heat and sauté the chicken breasts until well golden on both sides. Depending on your stove and the size of your pot, you might have to raise the heat to high in order to get them to turn golden. (Warning: DO NOT use a non-stick pan over high heat. It may release toxic fumes, and will damage the pan.) Remove chicken to a cutting board.
Add the onions and garlic and 2 tbsp water, and sauté until the pan is deglazed (all the brown bits are scraped up and the onions look brown as a result). Then add the broth and bring to a simmer.
Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces and add them as well.
Now take out the peppers, which should be cool enough to handle by this point. Wearing gloves, peel the skins away. They should come off easily. If they don't, then the pepper was undercooked - it doesn't matter, but next time you'll know to cook them a little longer. Throw the peel away and chop the peppers. Add them to the pot.
Put 1/3 of the beans on the cutting board and smash them with the flat of your knife, or a large spoon. Then add the beans to the pot along with the coriander and stir well.
Simmer until the onions are cooked and tender, about 5 minutes. Then stir in the cornmeal, stirring until it thickens.
Serve with the yogurt on top.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Chicken Pot Pie, better than store-bought
I have been on a quest for chicken pot pie for as long as I've been cooking, and it's always elusive. Until now. A big part of the secret is the little white onions, so be sure not to substitute them!
Filling:
1 cup frozen peas
4 carrots or about enough to make 3/4 cup when chopped
1 cup little white boiling onions, about 6 - golf-ball-sized ones are okay - cut in half, no need to peel
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp chopped fresh sage
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp chicken bouillon (enough to make 1 cup of broth)
Ground pepper to taste
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, chopped
Topping:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cups cornstarch (that combo means the health of the whole wheat plus the lightness of the cornstarch)
1 stick butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream or tartar
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
Prep:
Oven to 450. Place 2 cups of water in a small pot to boil. Drop in the onions.
Make the topping first. Combine the dry ingredients and then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two butter knives, whichever you have, until it's crumbles with a few bits the size of peas (it's all about peas tonight, folks). Then add the milk, stir just until a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 10 times.
Roll out into the right shape to fit your casserole or pie plate that you plan to use. Turn the dish upside-down on top of it and trim it to fit - you want it pretty exact. Then put the crust on a cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet in the oven to bake. Set the timer for 14 minutes.
By now the water is boiling, so put the peas in while you chop the carrots - try to get the pieces not much bigger than the peas. After four minutes, scoop the peas and onions out with a slotted spoon and drop in the carrots. Put the peas into the casserole dish.
While the carrots cook (set a timer for 8 minutes), peel and chop the onions. They don't need to be chopped very small. The reason you cook them first is because otherwise the peels are annoying to remove. Also chop the chicken and put it in the casserole dish.
Put the chopped onions into a skillet with the milk, bouillon, and flour. Whisk the flour until smooth and turn on the heat. Whisk constantly while it warms up.
By now the crust is probably ready to check and the carrots are probably ready, too. If the crust is golden, remove it and set it aside; otherwise, give it another 2 minutes. Put the carrots into the casserole dish, and add 2/3 cup of the cooking water (which is now a tasty broth) to the milk mixture in the skillet.
When the milk mixture thickens and bubbles, remove it from the heat and pour it into the casserole dish. Add the herbs. By now, all the filling ingredients should be in the casserole dish. Just mix them together.
Gently remove the crust from the baking sheet and place on top of the pie.
You're done!
Here's the "why" for some of the weird things I did in this recipe:
Why the annoying little onions? No idea, but their flavor is necessary. Yellow or large white onions just don't cut it. Sorry! Boiling them first makes it easier, and they don't sting your eyes either.
Why bake the crust separately? Maybe this is just me, but I can't ever keep the filling from bubbling over the crust and making it soggy if I bake the crust on top of the pie. Also, this way shaves a good 15 minutes off the prep time.
Why THIS crust and not a pie crust? It's healthier this way. Less butter, but still homey. It's a biscuit recipe. You could use Bisquick or even refrigerated biscuit dough if you like.
Why bouillon and not broth? Because this way you can use milk as some of the liquid, lending creaminess and richness to the gravy without all the added fat that would come from the butter and/or cream one would normally have to use to get that same effect.
Why all the micro-managing? I don't need you to tell me how to chop my own dam carrots! Because if you do it just like I say, you can have homemade chicken pot pie on the table in half an hour. That's a pretty impressive achievement. But by all means, feel free to prepare it in whatever order you prefer.
Why rotisserie chicken? Because it is delicious.
Like I said, this is the result of a lot of trial and error. To my taste it is a damned near perfect (pardon my French) combination of authentic and delicious homestyle flavor together with modern healthful cooking. The only problem is the butter. You could use vegetable shortening, but you'd have to add more salt. You can also cut the biscuit recipe in half and have a thinner crust.
Filling:
1 cup frozen peas
4 carrots or about enough to make 3/4 cup when chopped
1 cup little white boiling onions, about 6 - golf-ball-sized ones are okay - cut in half, no need to peel
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp chopped fresh sage
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp chicken bouillon (enough to make 1 cup of broth)
Ground pepper to taste
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, chopped
Topping:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cups cornstarch (that combo means the health of the whole wheat plus the lightness of the cornstarch)
1 stick butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream or tartar
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
Prep:
Oven to 450. Place 2 cups of water in a small pot to boil. Drop in the onions.
Make the topping first. Combine the dry ingredients and then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two butter knives, whichever you have, until it's crumbles with a few bits the size of peas (it's all about peas tonight, folks). Then add the milk, stir just until a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 10 times.
Roll out into the right shape to fit your casserole or pie plate that you plan to use. Turn the dish upside-down on top of it and trim it to fit - you want it pretty exact. Then put the crust on a cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet in the oven to bake. Set the timer for 14 minutes.
By now the water is boiling, so put the peas in while you chop the carrots - try to get the pieces not much bigger than the peas. After four minutes, scoop the peas and onions out with a slotted spoon and drop in the carrots. Put the peas into the casserole dish.
While the carrots cook (set a timer for 8 minutes), peel and chop the onions. They don't need to be chopped very small. The reason you cook them first is because otherwise the peels are annoying to remove. Also chop the chicken and put it in the casserole dish.
Put the chopped onions into a skillet with the milk, bouillon, and flour. Whisk the flour until smooth and turn on the heat. Whisk constantly while it warms up.
By now the crust is probably ready to check and the carrots are probably ready, too. If the crust is golden, remove it and set it aside; otherwise, give it another 2 minutes. Put the carrots into the casserole dish, and add 2/3 cup of the cooking water (which is now a tasty broth) to the milk mixture in the skillet.
When the milk mixture thickens and bubbles, remove it from the heat and pour it into the casserole dish. Add the herbs. By now, all the filling ingredients should be in the casserole dish. Just mix them together.
Gently remove the crust from the baking sheet and place on top of the pie.
You're done!
Here's the "why" for some of the weird things I did in this recipe:
Why the annoying little onions? No idea, but their flavor is necessary. Yellow or large white onions just don't cut it. Sorry! Boiling them first makes it easier, and they don't sting your eyes either.
Why bake the crust separately? Maybe this is just me, but I can't ever keep the filling from bubbling over the crust and making it soggy if I bake the crust on top of the pie. Also, this way shaves a good 15 minutes off the prep time.
Why THIS crust and not a pie crust? It's healthier this way. Less butter, but still homey. It's a biscuit recipe. You could use Bisquick or even refrigerated biscuit dough if you like.
Why bouillon and not broth? Because this way you can use milk as some of the liquid, lending creaminess and richness to the gravy without all the added fat that would come from the butter and/or cream one would normally have to use to get that same effect.
Why all the micro-managing? I don't need you to tell me how to chop my own dam carrots! Because if you do it just like I say, you can have homemade chicken pot pie on the table in half an hour. That's a pretty impressive achievement. But by all means, feel free to prepare it in whatever order you prefer.
Why rotisserie chicken? Because it is delicious.
Like I said, this is the result of a lot of trial and error. To my taste it is a damned near perfect (pardon my French) combination of authentic and delicious homestyle flavor together with modern healthful cooking. The only problem is the butter. You could use vegetable shortening, but you'd have to add more salt. You can also cut the biscuit recipe in half and have a thinner crust.
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