March 19, 2009

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie


I do apologize that I have been a bit delayed in my posts the last couple days. As said in the previous post I am frantically trying to get everything taken care of before our departure from Italy. I have also been very preoccupied with the purchase of a little goldendoodle puppy. How I found him and managed to buy him within a week, is still a mystery to me. I had been looking for a little doodle puppy for about the last 8 months, but never thought that I would suddenly find the perfect one and located in Alaska!

The last week began with me doing my normal browse through the dog ads on numerous sites, when I suddenly came across an ad for goldendoodle puppies in AK. My first thought was oh I hope this breeder is going to breed some minis, as my boyfriend and I originally wanted a smaller dog. I contacted the breeder immediately to inquire about this. She emailed me back stating that unfortunately she would not be breeding minis, but she still had one dog left, who happened to be the runt of the litter. In my mind I immediately knew he was going to be the one for me! After much discussion with my boyfriend, who at the time was still very weary of getting a dog, and with my parents, who would be taking care of the dog for 2 months while I am away in Montreal this summer, I was given the OK. I immediately went about finding out all I could about this breeder and the little pup, who is temporarily named Smiley. The final decision came this morning after my mom met little smiley and his family. Her and my cousin fell in love with him and insisted that I could not live without him, which I already knew I couldn't!

However, I will admit that the most difficult part of this situation is deciding what to rename smiley. Now don't get me wrong it isn't that I dislike the name smiley, but he needs something just a little bit more sophisticated. I have been deliberating everyday as to what this pup should be named because you see, he will end up two having two names. Yes, that is right two names. He will have an American pronunciation of his name and a Quebecois pronunciation of his name, not to mention he will have to become bilingual! So after much deliberation, I have still not come to a decision. If I name him something more American, he will get confused on his trips to Quebec. If I name him something more French, well I am positive that name will get butchered by all of our American accents. Therefore, it is not the cost, the time, or the training that I am worried about with this soon to be little bilingual guy, the only thing I am worried about is his new name. But, I guess in the end he will just have to learn to answer to both his "French" and "American" name!!!!

Now onto my Chicken Pot Pie recipe, which has nothing whatsoever to do with a goldendoodle! I am still trying to use up my flours, so a lot of my meal items have been geared towards using massive amounts of all the GF flours I have stored away in my kitchen. It has also been a bit chilly the past couple of nights and nothing is more delicious on a chilly night than a warm Chicken Pot Pie.

Chicken Pot Pie

For pie crust visit previous post:

http://glutenfreeworldtraveler.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-italian-thanksgiving-senza-glutine_04.html

~3 Tbs butter
~black pepper to taste
~1/4 cup cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
~3 cups GF veggie broth
~1 cup mushrooms, chopped
~2 carrots, chopped
~2 stalks celery, chopped
~1 small can of peas
~1 lb chicken cooked, cubed

Make pie crust according to previous post. Refrigerate crust for 1 hour. Once pie crust has been in refrigerator for almost an hour, preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 F, then cook chicken in a touch of olive oil in skillet. Remove chicken from skillet and add in celery, onion, and carrots. Saute in a touch of olive oil until tender, then add in mushrooms and saute for a couple more minutes. While veggies are sauteing, roll out pie crust. Place one crust in the bottom of a greased pie pan and leave the other one rolled out. Once veggies are tender, add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil and stir in peas. Then stir in half the cornstarch mixture. If broth still appears to thin, stir in the rest of cornstarch. If broth still appears too thin, make another mixture of cornstarch dissolved in water. Be careful not too add too much cornstarch, as you do not want it to be the consistency of jelly. Remove skillet from heat and pour into the pie pan lined with crust. Add the other rolled out crust on top. Seal the crust using your fingers and remove any excess. Cut slits into the top of pie to allow the steam to escape. Place in oven for 30 min or until top becomes brown and contents are bubbling. You may find that you have too much filling. Therefore, you can roll out the remains of the pie crust that was trimmed off. You can pour the remaining filling into a smaller dish and cover with the rolled out excess pie crust, bake this along side the pie. Or just using filling as a thick chicken soup!

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