Chicken Pot Pie

Have you ever made something, then a few days later your family wants it again? Well I got myself into one of those situations this week when I made chicken and dumplings.

There was enough left over to feed the family again for a second dinner, but only a few dumplings. My daughter and I took care of those dumplings for lunch, then mixed the leftover meat and gravy with the left over peas and carrots. Threw that in a pie shell and topped with some leftover mashed potatoes and cheese to make leftovers into a whole new meal, chicken Pot Pie!

The problem is that they wanted the meal again, right away! It was a lot of work to make dinner one; Chicken and Dumplings. It was a little work to make dinner 2; Chicken Pot Pie.

How to make dinner 2, without the work of dinner 1?

Here is what I did:

I omitted the dumplings and allowed my stewed chicken to cool in the morning, then used instant mashed and a frozen pie shell to put the pie together in the evening. Still work but worth it! Also, the recipe made filling for about 3 or more pies. I had 2 frozen shells so froze the leftover filling for another meal. 

Chicken Pot Pie

Seasoning for chicken: 

 1 Tablespoon Paprika

 1/2 tsp salt

 1/2 tsp pepper

 1 tsp garlic powder

 1/2 tsp onion powder

 1/4 tsp chili powder

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons butter

5 large boneless skinless chicken breasts 

2 large onions, diced

8 stalks celery, diced

1/4 cup finely diced celery leaves

3 Tablespoons parsley

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, ground

2 quarts chicken stock

1 (12 oz) bag frozen peas

1 (12 oz) bag frozen carrots

1  1/2 cup prepared stuffing mix

1/4 cup cranberry sauce (optional)

Mashed tater topping

5 to 6 cups cold, leftover mashed potatoes, or instant.

2 eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan 

Salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Mixed together in a bowl, set aside.

Directions:

Season chicken and set aside to allow seasonings to penetrate the meat. In the meanwhile, dice the onions and celery.

On high heat sear the seasoned chicken in olive oil and butter on each side until well browned. Remove from pan, set aside. (Don't worry, we'll add it back in later)

*technique tip* chicken is NOT cooked inside but has good sear marks on outside. . Purpose is the sear marks will create flavor in pan when deglazing) 

Add onions and celery to pan  and sauté, adding more butter if needed for several minutes. 

When pan drippings dry and turn dark, dark brown, deglaze the pan with chicken stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and replace the chicken and drippings back into to pot. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove and dice chicken pieces, set aside to cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile,  bring remaining broth to boil and cook to reduce. About 30 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons cornstarch to 1 cup broth until smooth. Stir into broth to thicken. Add the chicken back in along with some peas, carrots, and stuffing. stir and allow to cool. Mix in cranberry sauce. Fill frozen pie shells with chicken mixture 

Then top with mashed potato mixture. Bake at 425 for 10 min then lower oven to 350 and bake another 30 minutes until browned

*use a cookie sheet underneath to keep spills clean*

This is what they look like when they're done. We've done this many times by mixing leftover thanksgiving ingredients and topping with the mashed potatoes mixture and its always a huge hit! Hope you enjoy it!!