Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Ramiken Chicken Pot Pies

I've never made pot pie before and this wasn't as creamy (gravy-like in the pie itself) as I generally like but that's because I wasn't paying attention and had a little wine (or 3)! However, it was yummy and so I'm posting it.
First, I decided to use my ramikens. I have these, I use them mostly for my individual fruit crisps, but decided that if I used them for pot pies, I could freeze the extras and make the left over roast chicken I had last even longer.  So that's what I did.

INGREDIENTS:
spray butter                                                   1 1/2 tsp chicken buillion (or one cube)
1 Tbsp. paprika                                            1 Tbsp. savory seasoning blend
salt & pepper                                        1 Tbsp. flour
2 - 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken                      2 large carrots, chopped
1/3 large onion, diced                                    3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup peas                                              3 small to medium potatos, cut into small cubes
1 box (32 oz) chicken broth (or stock)          1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese                   1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 box pre-made pie crust (cotains 2 crusts), unrolled and each cut into quarters

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes on high heat.   Add carrots and reduce heat to medium high. Cook about 3 more minutes.
2. Add potatoes, chicken broth, savory seasoning, paprika, chicken buillion, salt and pepper. Stir, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add peas and chicken, cover and cook 5 more minutes or until potatoes are done. (You may reduce heat if necessary but stop cooking before potatoes lose all firmness. You are baking them so you want a little firm left.) 

Houston? We have a problem.
Thank you, Govenor. Problem solved.
3. Using a slotted spoon, pull all the veggies and chicken out of the pot and put aside in a larger bowl. Save broth in the pot, leave on medium heat. Add parmesan cheese and stir to let it melt in add more salt and pepper. (You can see both pot and bowl in this photo.)
4.  Ladle out about 1 cup of liquid into a small bowl or a cup.  Whisk flour into cup of broth until it has dissolved, set aside.
5. Add milk to the broth in the pot.  Add flour/broth mixture back to the broth in pot.  Stir to combine. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.  Broth will thicken slightly. You can do whatever you need/want at this point to make this more gravy like or you can leave this as is. I'm sure using less than 32 oz of broth would help it thicken, also.
6. Remove from heat, pour over chicken and veggies. 
Stir and then ladle mixture into each ramiken.
7. Once the ramikens are full, take a piece of pie crust and put it over the top.  Seal the crust around the edge of the ramiken. I just cut off excess crust if I had it but if you don't want to do that, you don't have to. Spray tops of crusts lightly with spray butter and poke some holes in the tops to let steam escape.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.  When crust is done, pie is done.
(Note, this method works wtih just about any meat and veggie pairing and because it's a ramiken, you can make one at a time if you wanted in your toaster oven, even, using deli meat and canned or frozen veggies.)

Enjoy! Beck

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Now that looks yummy!

Marg said...

I agree that looks yummy. A great way to use left over roast chicken.

Shay said...

I am going to get creative with leftovers so this looks good. Now I just have to buy some ramikins.

I always wondered how to make pot pie and you made it look pretty easy. I reckon I could do this (I survived the exploding burgers and was only thinking about making them again the other night )

And since reading your post I've decided I need to drink more wine.

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Looks delish! Certainly is the right kind of weather for pot pies. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

Kirsten's Cooking said...

looks rich and delectable! I thought of mini ramekins for mine, but I try to steal everyone else's crust!
thanks for sharing and I hope you enjoyed them.