Chicken (or Chickenless) Potpie in the Crockpot

Not trying to expose any dirty family secrets here but for several years one of my mom's 'I don't know what's for dinner and it's 5:00 already' go-to staples has been chicken pot pie.  I hate chicken pot pie.

The year before I got married, I pretty much made a career out of mooching week-day dinners from my parents, but if I called ahead and discovered pot pies were on the menu, I'd keep driving.  If I was already there and discovered this, I'd usually walk out.  I saw a frozen pot pie box, and I'd run.  Run. 

If I'm being honest, I don't really know if it's the pot pies themselves that I had a problem with, or if I was just disappointed not to be getting a delicious home cooked meal, or if I was just being a stubborn 13-yearl old hating it simply because it existed and my parents liked it then never growing out of it.  If I'm being brutally honest I'd admit that that third one at least played a large role with a little but of irrational pickiness thrown in.

Nobody's perfect.

Either way, I surprised myself when I ran across this recipe and actually thought, "I'd like to try that."  We're talking 15 solid years of hating on the pot pie (and insisting I get a meal completely separate from the rest of the family) getting hit with an inexplicable reversal.

I decided that it would be an experiment in trying to discover the real root of my pot pie disdain.

The Recipe: (from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins)

Filling:
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1 large potato, diced
7 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken -OR- 2 - 15oz cans Great Northern beans (or 3 1/2 cups cooked beans)
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup corn starch
1/3 cup light sour cream

Topping (based on a recipe from Eating Well magazine):
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or just use all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk*

Make the filling:
Combine the carrots, celery, potato, water, salt, pepper, thyme, chicken (or white beans), and peas in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Strain the vegetables and chicken, being sure to collect all the broth in a stock pot. Ladle out about 2 cups of the broth in a bowl, and add the corn starch. Add the broth/corn starch mixture into the broth in the stock pot and heat to high, stirring until it boils. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until it thickens. Remove from the heat. Add the sour cream and stir well.

Meanwhile, if you are using chicken, remove the chicken from the strainer and shred with two forks.

Add the chicken (if using) and the vegetable mixture back into the thickened creamy broth. Stir well. Pour into a 9x13 or slightly larger pan.

Make the topping:
Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and thyme in a bowl. Add the butter, and using two butter knives or a pastry blender, "cut" the butter into the flour until the butter is in small pieces, no bigger than a small pebble.  Add the oil and buttermilk. Stir until just blended. Scoop in 2-3 tablespoon sized scoops on top of the creamy broth.

 

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the biscuit top is slightly browned.

*don't have buttermilk? No problem! Just add 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk, let sit for 5 minutes, and voila: homemade buttermilk.

Verdict:
Alex: What's for dinner?
Me: Chicken Pot Pie.  I don't like chicken pot pie.
Alex: Ummmm....???



It can be fun confusing him!


Although this uses a crockpot, it's not exactly a hands-off kind of recipe.  If you make it, be prepared.  For a lifelong chicken pot pie hater, it was actually pretty good.  The vegetables were well cooked, the sauce was delicious, and the chicken was tender after having been slow cooked all day.  I liked that the biscuit topping was whole wheat and that it was just a 'topping' rather than an actual pie.  I think I need a little practice in portioning out the topping more evenly though..... And since buttermilk is not something that I tend to keep in my kitchen, I loved the tip at the end so that I didn't have to go buy any.


Alex enjoyed it (and ate it for dinner for three nights in a row + one lunch - he is such a good sport!)  Of course, he was happy with the inclusion of peas (and I didn't dislike the peas). I'm not sure how he'd feel about the 'chickenless' version, but it sounds interesting to me, so I'll probably try it sometime.

Oh, and as much as I love my oval le Creuset dish, this makes a lot of volume.  It sort of dripped over the sides.  Ooops.  So bigger dish next time.  Easy fix.


The biggest downside of this recipe is the sheer volume of bowls, pans, utensils, and appliances you need.  Who wants to do all that work cooking then spend half an hour doing dishes?  Not me.  So I have a genius evil plan: Someday when we have kids and they start doing little things to irritate me (cause they will have my genes, so let's face it, they'll be irritate-my-parents champs), I'll make this for dinner.  I'll look like such a good mom making a delicious and nutritious homemade meal for my angelic off-spring.  I'll use as many bowls, pans, utensils, and appliances as possible.  Plus a few more that may not be necessary.  Then after dinner, I'll have a glass of wine on the couch and laugh to myself while they scrub away.


Are all parents this evil?