Chicken Pot Pie With Puffed Pastry Dough

With the weather turned much colder, like today, and with nothing else to do, I created this chicken pot pie recipe. I wasn't in the mood to make dough from scratch, so I bought a package of pastry sheets... a new venture for me, as I never bought or used pastry sheets before. This pie is filled with moist chicken, hearty potatoes, carrots, celery and peas. And delicious, and the buttery phyllo dough provides a crispy topping.

Step 1: Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

4 tbsp. butter

3 Russet potatoes

7 carrots

7 stalks of celery

1 medium onion

1-2 thyme, stems included, (the stems make it easier to pick out and you can add a few leaves later if extra flavor is needed)

3 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp. Fox Point Seasoning

Salt & Pepper t taste

Step 2: Directions:

The Bird:
Place the chicken in a large soup pot and cover with cold water.

Step 3:

Add 4 carrots, cut in two, 4 celery, including the leaves, onion halved and peel left on, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper corns.

Step 4:

Place pot over medium heat, and slowly bring to a boil.

Step 5:

Once boiling begins, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the chicken meat falls off of the bones (skim off foam every so often). Simmer for approximately 1½ hours.

Step 6:

While chicken is simmering, prepare the vegetables:

Step 7: The Vegetables:

Try dicing the vegetables all the same size, for a more even cooking.
Potatoes, diced small

Carrots, diced small

Celery, diced small

½ sweet onion, diced small

Step 8:

In a heavy-duty fry pan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Step 9:

Add carrots and celery; sauté 5 minutes.

Step 10:

Add the potatoes, sautéing another 5 minutes.

Step 11:

Then, add the onions, sauté another 5 minutes

Step 12:

Season with salt & pepper, to taste.

Step 13:

Once the chicken is tender, remove the pot from the stove; remove the 2 chicken breasts and placing them on a plate to cool slightly, so you can handle them without burning your fingers.

Strain the broth, reserve about a ½ cup. Discarding the vegetables and bay leafs, pepper corns, etc., leaving only the broth.

Step 14:

Place the reserve broth in the freezer, to cool off quickly.

Step 15:

Break up the chicken, then return the chicken to pot. This is a good time to taste the broth, and if needed, season the broth with salt, pepper, and other spices to taste (I love using Fox Point Seasoning), if desired.

Step 16:

Slowly add the cold broth mixed with about ¾ cup flour and ½ cup milk, whisking constantly until sauce is smooth

Step 17:

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and peas to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until

thickened, and the peas are tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 18:

Once peas are tender, remove, allowing the filling to cool thoroughly before you begin working with the phyllo dough

Step 19: The Phyllo Dough

Two hours before using, take the pastry dough out of the freezer to make sure it thaws.

Step 20: OVEN:

At this time, preheat the oven 400 °F.

Step 21:

Prepare a workspace that is large enough to spread out the roll of pastry dough and carefully unfold onto a floured surface.

Rolling the pastry sheet into a 10-inch by 15-inch rectangle.

Step 22:

Using a a knife, carefully cut the pastry dough (if too soft to cut, refrigerate for 20 minutes to firm the dough), into the desired size you need for your casserole or individual serving bowls.

Step 23:

Refrigerate the cut pastry dough if not baking immediately, to keep it firm... which results a flakier crust.

Step 24:

Spoon the chicken mixture into serving bowls, casserole, etc.

Step 25:

Remove the pastry sheets from the refrigerator and carefully place the pastry over chicken mixture, loosely... Because I don't seal the pastry to bowl, the steam naturally escapes.