Chicken Vegetable Pot Pie

So I just watched Bobby Flay Throwdown on Lasagna. The opponent uses crumbled up meatballs as the filling. Half of my mind couldn't stop but wonder, isn't it pretty much the same just fixing up batch of ground meats and mix it with all these spices and cheeses the guy put in these meatballs mixture. But my entire heart and the other half of my mind just screaming 'OHHH...that just sounds sooo right!! Crumbled up meatballs' and my mouth is watering! Mmmh..*make note to self*!! Bobby Flay's gourmet lasagna won, but I am pretty sure I will take the 'Sauce Boy' lasagna anytime. Ya know, the real deal kind.

All that just my ramblings...I am not making any lasagna, just sharing my thoughts out loud. While I am in my rambling mode - has anybody know or plan the menu for Thanksgiving? Traditional menu? Or non-traditional? I am still getting used to the idea of October Thanksgiving instead of November. It may actually work out better, I think. At least, there is a slight chance to have 'warmer' Thanksgiving, which means I can still peruse our balcony. Ya know, it takes some adjusting when we moved here and got to live in tiny apartment. Every square foot (inches) counts. On good notes, it forces me to be super organized and there is NIL space to store junk away. So, we don't have junk, you guys! :D Oh and cleaning is a breeze! Wipe, wipe, vacuum, all in 10 minutes.

On bad notes, it's such a tight space that last year when it was below 0 Celcius, we had to open a window to let the air in so that our friends wouldn't pass out.

Anyhoo..Vik is gone to the States for few days for work. Practically, I should just let my stove and oven chill out for few days or just make something like..oh..salad. I admit that I am not very great in cooking for one type of person. That said, I also refuse to eat salad or stir fry for the entire week. Scenario like this, you call up friends and entice them with food. :)

So that's what I did this afternoon. I was thinking about chicken and dumpling soup - Southern style. With some biscuit! Mmmh! Then the friend weighed in her opinion for potpie instead, she wanted to learn to make simple pie crust, to prepare for Thanksgiving pie. So why not..biscuit vs crust. Same thing! I mean, butter rich wise. ;) The recipe is for double crust pie for a typical 9-10" pie pan, but we used two small casserole dish instead - deep chicken pot pie!! And we scraped it to the last bits. Since I am not much a fan of double crust pot-pie, we split the dough to 3 disks, instead of 4. Hence she got quite thick of bottom crust (as pictured above) - which she loves! I am happy with my single top crust pot pie.

Pot pie is also a great dish to clean up freezer. And we did exactly that, frozen peas, frozen carrots, frozen lima beans!

What:
Pie Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/4 (or less) cup cold water
- pinch of salt

Filling:
- 2 cups of any veggies (we used peas, carrots, mushrooms, lima beans, snap peas, red bell peppers, celery)
- almost 1 cup chicken, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup milk (half and half or cream is absolutely fine too)
- 1/4 cup chicken broth (from poaching chicken breast and thighs)
- salt and pepper

How:
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add in cold butter to flour mixture, cut with 2 knives, pastry blender or use finger tips to rub in butter until it resembles coarse meal.
- Add in cold water by tablespoonful, just enough to moisten up the mixture to hold together.
- Form dough to 3 disks. Put in fridge for about 15-20 minutes.
- Make the filling by sauteing onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
- Add in chicken and vegetables. Toss in thyme and bayleaf. Stir.
- Sprinkle flour. Stir and cook for few minutes.
- Pour chicken broth. Stir. Add in milk. Stir until thickens. If too thick, add more broth.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Take out dough from fridge, roll it out to fit dish. Place it into pie/casserole dish, build the side and bring it to the rim.
- Fill with chicken vegetable mixture. Place the top crust dough on top, crimp, tuck to the the rim.
- Brush top with milk (optional). Bake in 350° oven until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.