Chicken Pot Pie
Howdy, y’all and thanks for stopping by the website! Today’s recipe is a classic. Next time you have a craving for chicken pot pie, you can walk right on past the frozen food aisle. We are going to make a homemade chicken pot pie that has so much flavor you are going to want to double the recipe and freeze the extra pie. It won’t work, though – the pie will go so fast you’ll have to serve the second one up when you run out.
The Crust
I have shared the pie crust recipe with you once before. The salted caramel apple pie crust is perfect for both sweet and savory pies. There’s no shame in using a store bought crust, either. I’ve been known to use them in a pinch.
Tip: Set the pie crust in the ice box for two hours before you roll it out. It will handle so much better.
Chicken Pot Pie Filling
Y’all know that I am going to add as many layers of flavor as I can to this dish. No matter how classic a dish is, there’s always room for a little more flavor.
Spatchcock and Smoke
From time to time, I’ve had folks ask me what it means to spatchcock a chicken. Rest easy, y’all, it ain’t too difficult.
Spatchcocking a chicken involves removing the back bone and wing tips of the chicken. After those are removed, you want to break the breast bone so the chicken will lay flat.
Tip: Don’t throw away the back bone and wing tips – use them to make some homemade chicken stock.
What is the point of spatchcocking a chicken? Well, the chicken will lay flat and cook much faster. For the pot pie, we will smoke the chicken on indirect heat, over some FOGO lump charcoal, applewood and mesquite.
Tip: Avoid cross-contamination by covering your cutting surface with aluminum foil. Raw chicken can contain dangerous bacteria.
Before we put this bird on the grill, we need to season her all over. So many people under-season their poultry! Thoroughly dry the chicken, rub her in some olive oil, and cover her over front and back with Red River Ranch Mesquite Seasoning. Do not remove the skin. She’s ready to go on the smoker.
Tip: Your butcher will probably spatchcock the chicken for you if you ask nicely and tell them the cowboy sent you.
Smoke over indirect heat at around 250 degrees for about an hour. Cool until you can safely shred it without burning your self. Remove the skin and shred the chicken. Don’t throw that skin away, we’re going to use it later.
The Vegetables
It just isn’t a pot pie without the medley of vegetables mixed throughout. Start by melting a stick of butter in a skillet over medium. Start to sauté carrots, onions, mushrooms and whatever other vegetables you like in your pot pie. Some folks like to include green peas. I don’t.
After a few minutes, when the vegetables are pretty translucent, you need to add a thickening agent. To do this, cover all over with flour and stir. Add some thyme, broth, and fresh parsley. At the end, add garlic. Mix in the corn and the chicken and you’re ready bake yourself a chicken pot pie.
Fill up the Pie Crust
Slice the pie crust in half and roll out the chilled pie crust dough. Start by laying the pie crust over the bottom of the Dutch oven or 12″ pie pan. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides.
Empty the skillet full of filling into the pie crust. Press it down with a spatula. Just before you are ready to cover the pie with the other half of the crust, sprinkle the diced chicken skin all over the top.
Once the filling is in the bottom pie crust, cover over the entire pie with the other half of the pie crust. Pinch the crusts together at the edge of the pie. Don’t forget to slice through the top of the crust so the steam will vent!
The very last step before you place the pot pie over the fire or in the oven is to brush the top of the pie with an egg wash. This will help the crust turn golden and delicious.
Bake for 25 minutes or so and it’s ready when the crust is golden and the sides of the pie don’t have any give when you press down on them. That means that the bottom is set up and finished all the way through.
Tip: To determine if the bottom of the crust is baked through, lightly press down on the crust at the side of the oven. If there is not much give, the crust is finished.
As always, I thank you for watching our videos and visiting our website. Please click “like” on the video and subscribe to the YouTube Channel so you will be notified of future videos. Enjoy your pot pie! I’ll see you next week with a new recipe you won’t want to miss.
Chicken Pot Pie - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pound whole chicken
- Avocado or olive oil
- Kent’s Mesquite seasoning or all-purpose seasoning of your choice
- 1 stick butter
- 2 yellow onions chopped
- 3 large carrots thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 tablespoon Original Seasoning or seasoning of your suiting
- 1½ cup frozen corn
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 store bought pie crusts or our best flaky crust see below
Instructions
- Spatchcock the chicken by laying it down on its breast. With a knife or scissors, cut the backbone out. Mash the chicken down to break the breast bone so it will lay flat. Clip the wing tips off.
- Pat the chicken down with paper towels to dry well. Generously rub with avocado oil or olive oil. Season well with Mesquite seasoning or seasoning of your choice.
- Place on the indirect side of a preheated grill to 240 to 250 degrees F. Cook for about 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees F. Remove and set aside to cool. Shred into bite size pieces.
- In a large cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the onions and carrots. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the garlic.
- Sprinkle in the flour and mix well. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the broth, heavy cream and thyme. Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Season with Original seasoning, or salt and pepper.
- Stir in the shredded chicken, corn and parsley. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
- Place 1 pie crust in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or pan pie pan and top with the chicken mixture. Top with the remaining pie crust and cut several vent holes.
- Bake in a preheated oven to 425 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
