“Chicken” Pot Pie

This week’s theme for Whip It Up is “regional favorites”.   I was really stumped by this – I’ve been living in D.C. for 8 years now, and I really couldn’t think of a single food that was distinctly D.C. in nature.  Next, I pondered my future home in a few years – Philadelphia.  There are a plethora of foods associated with Philly – cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, cheese whiz, cheesecake, to name a few – but none which I was interested in making (or eating).  Bypassing Philly as well, I thought about my hometown where I grew up – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Now, I’d like to point out the flaw to the “Pennsyltucky” theory that Pennsylvania consists of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Kentucky in the middle.  I grew up in the state capital, and I never knew a single person who lived on a farm, had more than a half acre of land surrounding their home, owned any sort of livestock, owned an old beat-up pickup truck, or anything else that would fit into the typical “small town” theme.  In fact, my parents’ own home is so urban, their mailbox hangs on the front door – none of that mailbox on a post at the sidewalk stuff that plagues the suburbs.

But, most of the population fails to recognize Harrisburg as an actual city, and groups it into “Central Pennsylvania”, which typically conjures up images of Amish and the Pennsylvania Dutch.  I have absolutely zero Pennsylvania Dutch in me – both of my parents were born in New York City.  I grew up in a very health-conscious household, so we rarely ate Pennsylvania Dutch type foods which were common in the area, but it’s the closest culinary theme for my hometown region.  I contemplated making my mother’s favorite Central Pennsylvania-related food – traditional Amish whoopie pies – but I am not really one for chocolate.  I considered my father’s favorite Amish delight, shoo-fly pie, but I knew Husband wouldn’t be intrigued by the molasses-based dessert, and since he came down to visit this weekend, I wanted to make something he would eat.  So finally, I settled on chicken pot pie, which I have to confess, I’ve never had before.

Traditional Lancaster-county chicken pot pies are laden with gravy and cream, and not something I would eat, even if I did eat chicken.  So, instead, I lightened it up, and made two separate smaller pot-pies, one with chicken for Husband, and one subbed with portobello mushrooms for me.  I always enjoy rolling out my own dough, but if you wanted to make it even easier, I won’t tell if you buy premade pie dough.  I was really pleasantly surprised with this, and look forward to my leftovers during the week.  Husband, who has only ever had the gravy/cream/lard version before, was disappointed with my lighter version and felt it lacked all the flavor and substance (and calories.. and fat… and cholesterol) of the traditional version.  I guess one of the benefits to being in a long-distance marriage means that I can cook for myself and not for him… so I can make this whenever I want in the future just for me!

Lightened-Up Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup trans-fat free vegetable shortening
• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup green beans
• 3 cups cubed cooked chicken OR 3 cups chopped portobello mushrooms
• 2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

1. Cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse ground oats.  Add the cold water and gather the mixture into a ball, flatten, and cut into four equal pieces.  Coat each piece in flour.
2. Roll each quarter of dough out thinly, and place two of the sheets into 2-cup pie pans or mini-casserole dishes.  Let the excess dough overlap over the edges.
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and all the seasonings once butter has started bubbling.  Stir vigorously until the mixture has thickened and fully mixed.
4. Add the milk and broth, bringing the mixture to a boil.  Once boiling, turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring until everything is coated.  Spoon into prepared pie crusts, allowing the filling to heap in the center.
5. Cover each dish with a second sheet of dough, rolling the edges together and tucking on top of the pie.  Brush the top with milk and cut several steam vents in the top.  Cover with foil.
6. Bake 30-40 minutes at 450F.  Remove the foil for the past few minutes of baking to allow the crust to fully brown.