Chicken Mock Pie

My husband and I have been married two years now, and I'm still working on some of the little things that I get wrong in our relationship. I still call him cute, (I guess handsome is a more manly adjective), I give away his golf magazines (those are "reference"), I never seem to remember the important part of facts that I hear on the radio or read online ("Babe, did you know that there are so many people on Facebook now that they've surpassed some really big number? I don't remember what it was. The population of a small country? No?"), I shed hair everywhere (There's no solving that. I've just got a lot of hair.), and I make desserts with lemon in them.

I do get a lot of things right, though. This recipe is one of them. My husband likes chicken pot pie, but he's a big texture eater and the crust is never crispy enough for him. I want to make pot pie more often for him, but rarely have time on a weeknight.

Enter, the chicken mock pie. 

It's chicken pot pie filling, (in this case cooked in a pressure cooker, but you could easily use this recipe.) topped with crispy strips of pie crust. Finally, a pot pie recipe that makes both of us happy. It's done in less than 30 minutes, and it has as much crispy pie crust as my husband could want. 

Halfway through eating it, my husband paused and said, "You're putting this on your blog, right? You should. It's awesome." I assured him that I was. It is a winner in my book, too. I didn't even tell him it was low fat because it was thickened with potato flakes and not a traditional butter/flour mixture. I just let him enjoy it for what it was, because in two years of marriage I have learned that I shouldn't share when food is "healthy".

I do get some things right.

Chicken Mock Pie

Ingredients

1 T butter

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 carrots, cut in 1/2 inch slices

2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 T fresh lemon juice

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced medium

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups frozen green peas

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup half and half or milk

1 T butter, softened (optional)

1/4 cup potato buds

1/4 cup flour

2 pie crusts, unbaked, and rolled out

Directions:

1. In pressure cooker, heat butter. Add onion, garlic and carrots and saute in hot oil over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, stir, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, lemon juice, potatoes, salt, pepper and herbs. Secure lid. Over high heat, develop steam to high pressure. Reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook 5 minutes. Release pressure according to manufacturer's directions. remove lid. 

2. While pot pie filling is cooking, cut pie crusts into 1/2 -3/4 inch strips using a pizza or pastry cutter. Place strips on a cookie sheet and bake in a 450 degree oven for 6-8 minutes, or until strips are lightly browned on the edges. Remove and let cool. 

3. Carefully remove about 3/4 cup of cooking liquid and stir in peas and corn. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium. Discard bay leaf. Combine half and half, butter (If using. This just makes it a little more richly flavored.), potato buds and flour, blending until smooth. Stir into chicken mixture until thoroughly mixed. Heat until mixture is hot and has thickened.

4. Serve pot pie filling in bowls, passing pie crust strips to top. 

Recipe Source: Inspired by Every Easy Meal Cookbook and adapted from The Pressure Cooker Cookbook.

Posted in: Main Dish, Pressure Cooker