Recipe Fridays: Southern Comfort--Chicken Pot Pie

The long, cold winters in Washington always make me miss my mama's home cooking terribly, so I've worked on some of her recipes for the past few years and am delighted to share some of my favorites that I crave on a weekly basis from November to April.

Chicken Pot Pie

Filling:

· 1 Tbsp. olive oil

· 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

· 1 medium Onion, chopped

· 1/4 cup flour

· 2 cups chicken stock

· 2 cups chopped Roasted Chicken* (I either season and roast several drumsticks at 425 degrees for 40-45 mins and pull the meat off the bones with a fork and discard the skin, or I purchase a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, if I feel like taking a short cut, and chop some of the breast, leg, and thigh meat, also discarding the skin, and season it)

· 1/2 cup frozen sweet petite peas

· 1 potato , diced and boiled

· 1 1/2 cup chopped, cooked carrots

· Salt

· Pepper

· Dash of Tabasco (or red pepper flakes instead)

*Scratch the chicken and add more veggies to make it vegetarian.

Crust:

· 3/4 cup white or yellow cornmeal

· 3/4 cup flour

· 1 Tbsp. baking powder (don’t use if you are using self rising flour and cornmeal)

· 2 Tbsp. sugar

· 1/2 tsp. salt

· 3/4 cup milk

· 1 large egg

· 2 Tbsp. canola oil

· 2 Tbsp. melted butter

Cooking Instructions:

To make filling: Preheat the oven to 400°. Spray a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil and unsalted butter together. Add onion and sauté until tender--4 to 5 mins. Add in flour until blended. Slowly stir in 2 cups of heated chicken stock, whisking well. Cook mixture over medium heat until it thickens and starts to bubble--about 4 mins. Stir in chicken, peas, potato, carrots. Season mixture with salt, pepper, Tabasco (or red pepper flakes), and any other seasoning that you like. Evenly spread mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray.

To make crust: In a bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix oil, egg, butter, and milk together in separate bowl. Then, stir wet ingredients (milk, egg, butter, and oil) into dry ingredients. Spoon the batter evenly on top of the filling.

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes

Make it Vegan!

Cornbread Crust:

· 1¼ cup. all purpose flour

· 1¼ cup cornmeal

· 2 tsps baking powder (do not use if you are using self-rising cornmeal and flour)

· ¼ cup white sugar

· 1½ cup soy milk

· 2 Tbsp olive oil

· ½ tsp salt

Filling:

· 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

· 1 medium Onion , chopped

· 1/4 cup flour

· 2 cups vegetable stock

· 1/2 cup frozen sweet petite peas

· 1 potato , diced and boiled

· 1 1/2 cup chopped, cooked carrots

· 1/2 tsp. salt

· Cracked pepper

· Dash of Tobasco (or red pepper flakes instead)

· Salt

· Pepper

Follow the cooking instructions above.

I like to entertain, so I don't make dishes that serve only 1 or 2 folks usually, these recipes could easily serve 4-6, so keep that in mind. It also freezes and holds up wonderfully if you have too much leftover.