Makes for 3 servings
Ingredients:
Crust:
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 cup of shortening
10 tablespoons of ice water
Filling:
1 chicken
1 1/2 diced celery
1 1/2 diced carrots
1/2 diced onion
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of chicken broth
1 chicken buillion cube
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 sprig of thyme
1 teaspoon of salt
1 pinch of pepper.
Preparation:
1. For the chicken: Start by putting the chicken in a pot and covering it with water. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, and then remove the chicken from the pot. Set the chicken aside to cool briefly.
2. Place the flour and salt into a medium bowl.
3. Add the shortening and use a pastry cutter to blend the fat into the flour.
4. Add the water to the flour mixture, reserving ¼ or so in case you don't need all of it--you don't want the pastry to be too wet. Quickly mix everything together with a dinner fork until the dough just starts to come together. Add more liquid to the driest parts of the dough if needed. The dough is ready when it holds together in a ball when squeezed in your palm.
5. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and bring the dough together. You don't want to overwork the dough, but you need to work it enough that it is a cohesive disc with no real cracks or very dry bits.
6. Wrap the dough disc in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Shred the chicken with 2 forks, reserving only the meat.
8. Begin by finely dicing the vegetables. Slice the celery stalks into narrow strips, then slice in the other direction to create a fine dice. Repeat this process with the carrots, and the onion.
9. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until the vegetables start to turn translucent, a couple of minutes.
10. Add 1 cup of the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken, and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.
11. Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube.
12. Pour in the cream and stir. Allow the mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with the thyme, salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.
13. Preheat the oven for 400 degrees.
14. Lightly flour your work surface and unwrap a disc of chilled dough. Flour the top of the dough. Using a rolling pin, push down on the dough, giving it a quarter turn every few smushes, to spread the dough evenly and ensure it doesn't stick to the surface.
15. Start to roll out the dough, continuing to turn. If any cracks form, smush them back together. Roll out the dough to a circle about ⅛-inch thick.
16. Roll out the pie crust and place to ramekins.
17. Pour the chicken mixture into each of the ramekins.
18. Place some more pie crust on the top, crimp the edges, and place little slits on the pie.
19. Bake for 25 minutes.
20. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
(Can also freeze up to 1 month)
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RandomFun recipes to use when you feel like cooking something special. Most of these recipies are fun to make and easy for begginners. These are my recipies that use often of course, but if I'm using someone else's, I'll make note of that.
