Monday, November 24, 2008

Chicken Pot Pie. Chicken and Dumplings

This cold weather calls for some comfort food!

Chicken Pot Pie(Original recipe in black, my changes in Red)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed(I used a mix of leftover roasted chicken and some canned chicken)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery(left this out, added potatoes instead)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 unbaked pie crusts(I used deep dish premade pie crust)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.(I used chicken broth instead of water)
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside. ( I read some reviews that said the pie was dry with the amount of gravy made from the original recipe. To make sure I didnt have this problem, I doubled the gravy and I also added garlic powder, sage, salt, pepper, and some paprika. If you have poultry seasoning, that would work well. )
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. (I mixed the gravy and the chicken/veggies before pouring into the deep dish pie crusts. I think this really helped)
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.




Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings(Original recipe in black, my changes in Red)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves(I put them in frozen)
2 tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup(I use one can of cream of mushroom and one can cream of chicken)
1 onion, finely diced
Potatoes
1 can of mixed veggies
Poultry Seasonings(Garlic Salt, Pepper, sage, paprika,celery salt)
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces(I used one can-see note at bottom))

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion( and Potatoes) in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover. (I love me some chicken broth, so that is what I used instead of water)
Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. ( I add my biscuits about an hour before serving. I also take the chicken out and shredded it and this is when I add the can of mixed veggies)
Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.


You have to tweak this recipe to suit your taste. We like our chicken and dumplings thick and stew like. Some people like it more on the soup side. If you like it more like soup, play with the amount of water/chicken broth.
If you want leftovers, dont use all your biscuit dough. The dumplings do not keep well. I just save some dough(dont use the whole can) and make fresh dumplings when we eat the leftovers. You dont have to use premade dough either. This would also work with fresh dough, I just like the premade dough as a time saver.

Non crockpot version
My beloved crockpot is no longer with us so last night I made this recipe on the stove top.
Cook onion in butter. Add soups, chicken(still used frozen), potatoes,water/broth(about 3 cups), and seasonings and let it simmer for 1.5 hours.
After that time, shred the chicken and throw in the mixed veggies. Let it cook for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, bring to a boil and throw in the biscuit dough. Turn it down to a simmer and cook it for 20 minutes.

No comments: