Chicken Pie with Spiced Apples

Doesn't "chicken pie" sounds disgusting?  It really isn't.  Chicken pie is roasted chicken, cubed potatoes, chopped carrots, frozen peas, and a tasty chicken broth covered with a tender and flaky crust.

I first shared this recipe in my post entitled, "Laura Ingalls I am not" - check it out if you want a good laugh.  I shared how on a weekend trip to our cabin, I forgot our suitcase.  And, just so you know - I had to drive the car - not because Rob had been drinking.  Rob wears contacts and since I had forgotten our suitcase, we had no contact solution.  We were thrilled to find some solution hiding in one of the cupboards at the cabin, but when Rob put his contacts in the next morning - realized that the solution was actually cleaner.  He was teary and crying the whole way to the store.  It was not fun.

Anyway - I thought I'd share a few more pics of the chicken pie, since it is one of our favorites - and we seem to be getting to the time of year where a heartier meal tastes perfect. 

The chicken pie is a simple concept, really.  In some parts of the US, this might be called chicken pot pie - but here, chicken pot pie is something different, and it includes homemade noodles.  If you're interested in chicken pot pie, here is a link to a former post.   

The first step is to roast your chicken.  Ina Garten suggests roasting chicken instead of boiling it in order to create more tender and flavorful chicken for various applications.  The process is simple.  Place a cut- up chicken in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Roast, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about one hour.  I especially love this procedure because I kind of have a weakness for chicken skin - and this stuff is lethal.  It's crispy, salty, and the fat has rendered out, so it's rather thin.

While your chicken is roasting, simply boil cubed potatoes, carrots and onions until tender.  You'll also need to add frozen peas, but I don't bother de-frosting them.  Shred the chicken, add salt and pepper and mix.

Once all of your ingredients are mixed and seasoned, place into a 9x13 baking pan.  At this point I like to add a good amount of chicken stock or broth.  I added the drippings from my roasted chicken and combined that with some chicken broth.  You'll want at least 1/2 inch in the bottom of the pan.

The next step is to cover with your favorite pie crust.  I use a simple recipe that includes butter and shortening.  I was a little nervous to discover that I only had whole wheat flour in my pantry.  I normally am not a big fan of whole wheat flour, but this actually turned out pretty tasty.  I will go back to all-purpose unbleached white flour, but it's good to know in a pinch that the healthy stuff will work, too!

Simply bake your pie at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the crust is crispy and browned.  My mom also makes an oyster pie, which is the same concept but instead of chicken she uses oysters - obviously.

We also had baked apples with our dinner.  I cut and peeled some apples, mixed them with a little brown sugar, a pinch of salt and 2 T of butter and microwaved the whole mixture for about 8 minutes or until the apples were tender but still firm.  I thought it was a perfect fall meal.  Pure comfort food.