Curry Chicken Pot Pie

We had this for dinner a couple nights ago and Ryan was impressed that I served homemade chicken pot pie during a weeknight, but this is probably one of the easiest pot pies ever. I made a "turkey cobbler" (same difference) after Christmas that was probably tastier but I slaved over that thing for a LONG time. Active cooking time is less than 30 minutes but it does need 45 minutes in the oven so this is not something to make when you get home late from work.

The recipe is from Alton Brown and very simple, especially if you bake/broil some chicken breasts ahead of time (I often bake/broil 3 thawed chicken breasts in the oven and use throughout the week in salads, pastas etc). The addition of curry really helps this pot pie stand out without being overwhelming, my kiddos loved it. Excellent comfort food and so much better tasting and better for you than those Marie Calendar's individual pot pies from my childhood.

1 8 1/2 ounce sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed (usually come in 2 pack boxes)

2 Tbs of unsalted butter

1 Cup of onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

4 cups frozen vegetable medley (I used peas, corn, carrots and green beans)

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup milk (he recommended whole milk but I used 2% because that's what I had, it turned out perfect but I'd stay away from the nonfat milk for this recipe because it may not thicken as needed)

3 Tbs flour

1 Tsp curry powder

2 Tsps dried parsley

1 Tsp kosher salt

1/2 Tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, coarsely chopped

1. Unfold the thawed puff pastry and pierce with a fork. Cut into 2 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or a glass. Set aside. If you like a lot of pastry and have a small casserole dish you could probably skip this step and just lay the whole pastry sheet over the top of the casserole.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Melt 1 tbs of butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sweat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the frozen veggies and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 7-8 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, combine the broth and milk in a 2 cup microwave safe container (measuring cup to make pouring easier later) and heat in the microwave oven until almost boiling, about 2 minutes.

5. Add remaining 2 tbs of butter to the veggies and melt. Add the flour and curry powder and whisk for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk/broth mixture and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Add parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Pour into a 9 X 13 inch baking dish or your favorite casserole dish. Mash down the mixture to compact the casserole and top with the puff pastry circles.

6. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes or until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly. Cool for 15-30 minutes before serving.

Good stuff

We made this the other night. Actually, we=Steve. When he set out to get dinner started for me, he was shocked at the recipe's simplicity. Then, realizing how easy it was, he decided that he was going to make dinner and instructed me not to touch anything. He claims he put a secret ingredient in it, but I don't believe him. I'm not wild about tomato sauces, but this was so so good. It's great on it's own, but I think it would be excellent with some fresh seafood. I think we'll try shrimp or scallops sometime.

Steve's TPIW debut gave me time to make some caramel corn I'd been meaning to try for a while. Also very good and pretty easy. Take seriously the instruction to work quickly when stirring in the caramel... I didn't get it as evenly distributed as I should have. And I think I'll sprinkle some extra salt, maybe flake salt, before putting it in the oven next time, but this probably depends on how salty your popcorn is to start. Nevertheless, it was some good noshing while watching the Olympics on a winter night!