Drunken Chicken Pot Pie
The first time I ever cooked for Jordan, I made him one of his favorite meals - Chicken Pot Pie. Since I was living in KC, and he was in Wichita, I made it in his kitchen when I was visiting one weekend. I had gotten all the ingredients beforehand, and totally forgot the chicken broth. Luckily for me, he had a bottle of white wine in the fridge, which I used in place of chicken broth. He loved it so much that every time I've made it since, I've tried to recreate the same flavor. This is a little bit toned down from that first version, and if you're not a white wine lover, you can just substitute more chicken broth in place of the wine :) It's also adapted from Pioneer Woman's recipe, so it's not for the faint of heart #heavycreamforever. Make it for an attractive bearded man you want to impress, or as a drop-off meal for a small family (FYI it freezes perfectly pre-baking).
Drunken Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 4 (Or two very hungry married folks + leftovers for lunch the next day)
Ingredients
2 pie crusts
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
2 cups shredded chicken (I buy a Rotisserie chicken usually for this!)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
3/4 cup heavy cream
Frozen peas
1 tsp dried or fresh Thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
1 egg white
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (Or, you can freeze this before baking, and it'll cook up nicely straight out of the freezer!)
Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion and carrots, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.) Add in shredded chicken and stir. Toss in flour, and stir. Let this cook for a minute on medium heat, as it kind of creates a thick gravy-like mixture as the butter and flour become one. Stir constantly as this cooks.
Pour in half of your chicken broth and wine, stirring constantly. Let it cook down a little, and add more broth and wine as needed. You don't want it too thin (runny) or too thick (hard to stir). Add frozen peas.
Pour in cream. Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add your seasoning at this point (dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste.) When it's where you like it, pour the mixture into a deep dish pie pan. I do a bottom and top crust. Press the edges of the top crust down with a fork along all sides. Cut an "x" vent in the top of the crust. Brush egg white on top of the crust. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until crust is done. Let cool for about 10-15 min after cooking, or face the consequences of a very burned mouth :).
P.S. This recipe is enjoyed by two red wine lovers, so my suggestions on which white wine to use with this pretty much have zero merit. I've experimented with multiple types of white wine with this recipe, including just plain old white cooking wine (just meh results with that one). I usually choose one that's dry, not sweet, and cheap. Asking the nice liquor store people for a suggestion usually doesn't hurt, either!
