Taken from one of my fav recipe books, The Pastry Queen, which was given to me by a good friend, this chicken pot pie has people calling the PQ early on Tues mornings when she makes them to reserve them. The more she makes, the more she sells, unable to keep up the demand. She has graciously put the recipe in her cookbook so those of us unable to drive to Fredricksburg, TX can now experience these great little pies.

Filling:

3 tables unsalted butter

1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled and diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 teas crushed red pepper flakes

Salt & Pepper

1 purchased cooked rotisserie chicken or 1 whole stewed chicken, cooled

8 oz fresh green beans, cut into 1″ pieces (optional)

1 (8 oz) package frozen peas (optional) *See below regarding carrots.

Cream Sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup all purpose flour

2 1/3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Dash of hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

Salt

Crust

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter

3 cups all purpose flour

10 oz chilled cream cheese

1 teas salt

1/4 teas pepper (preferably white pepper)

1 egg for brushing over the dough to brown it

To make filling:

Melt butter in a large saute pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and potato; sauté for 5 min. Add garlic, bell pepper and mushrooms and sauté for about 15 min, until potatoes are tender. Stir in crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.

While the vegetables are sautéing; skin the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and shred the meat or cut into bite-size pieces. Place the green beans in a microwave safe bowl and add enough water to cover. Cover the dish and microwave on high power for about 10 min, until beans are tender. Drain thoroughly. Stir the beans, peas, and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.

*(Because we aren’t a “pea” family, we substitute chopped fresh carrots for the peas and make it green beans and carrots instead of green beans and peas)

Cream Sauce

Melt the butter over medium heat in large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup. Add the whipping cream, hot pepper sauce and salt & pepper to taste.

Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine. Fill individual 1 3/4 cup capacity oven-safe bowls 3/4 of the way to the top with the creamed chicken filling.

Crust:

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the butter into 16 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt and continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.

Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. (I use waxed paper, dusted with the flour, instead of just putting on cabinet, makes clean up so much easier)

Using a floured rolling pin (please tell me you didn’t sell your rolling pin in the garage sell), roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls-such as 4-5 in across and cut out dough rounds that are 1 1/2 ” larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pies, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20-25 min, until golden brown. Serve immediately with a salad and sweetened iced tea.