My mother passed away in 2013.  She was 91 and lived a rich, full life.  She was a great cook and is certainly one of the reasons I spend so much time in the kitchen.  A few years ago, she collected her favorite recipes as well as the favorite family recipes of her parents and her extended family (three children and 12 grandchildren).  She found photos of each of the family members to put beside the recipes with some comments by her.  Everything was copied and bound in handmade, padded binders.  Everyone got a copy – very cool.  This was one of the recipes from the “Family Cookbook”. 

Servings:  6 as a main dish, 8 if you have other courses.

Time Required:  About 1 hour

Level of Difficulty:  4 out of 10

Gear:  Standard pie pan – a simple aluminum pie pan works just fine. You can also use a more decorative ceramic pie pan if you will be serving the dish at the table.

Ingredients:

• 1 piecrust – make our One-Handed Pie Crust or, if you must, buy one at the store. Once you get into the habit of making a piecrust, it only takes about 15 minutes, so don’t be lazy and make your own.
• 2 chicken breasts – diced (you need about 3 cups of chicken) –
• 1 12 oz. package of frozen peas
• 1 cup of carrots, sliced about ½ inch thick
• 1 cup of celery, diced
• 1 28 oz. can of Campbell’s cream of chicken soup
• ½ tsp. salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Make a standard pie crust (see our One-Handed Pie Crust) and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour. 
2. Cook the chicken breasts. You can do this any way you wish. Roasting in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees is maybe the easiest, but you can grill them or, as I like to do, cook them in my sous vide apparatus for 90 minutes at 140 degrees.
3. Once the chicken is cooked and cooled, dice into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5. When ready to start to make the pie, take about 1/3 of the pie crust and set aside in the refrigerator in plastic wrap. Roll out the remaining 2/3rds. so that it will completely cover the bottom and the sides of the pie pan.
6. Grease the pan and spread the crust over the inside. Pinch the dough tightly around the edge of the pan since it will shrink when proofed. Use a sharp knife and cut off any excess dough, which you can add to the dough in the refrigerator.
7. Prick a few holes in the crust and bake for 15-20 minutes until it starts to turn golden brown.  This “proofs” the crust and helps make sure the bottom doesn’t become soggy.
8. While the crust is proofing, sauté the carrots and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes until they start to soften. Set aside.
9. Mix the carrots, celery, chicken and for the filling in a bowl, making sure to add the salt and pepper.
10. Let the bottom crust cool for a couple of minutes while you are rolling out the top crust.
11. Add the filling and cover with the top crust, pinching the edges to form a seal.  Make about five vent holes in the top.
12. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown.
13. Cool for five minutes and serve.

Let me know how yours comes out.

Categories: Classic American Dishes, Classic Chicken Dishes