Chicken Pot Pie

Here's a recipe I made earlier this week:

CHICKEN POT PIE

3 chicken breasts, cubed

3-4 c. water

3-4 tsp. Vegetable Bouillon

2 potatoes, cubed

2 tbsp. butter

1 onion, diced

2-3 celery stalks, sliced

1 can mushrooms, drained

2-3 tbsp. flour

1/2 c. frozen peas

Bring water and vegetable bouillon to a boil and add chicken. Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked. Use a slotted spoon to set chicken aside, and add potatoes to the broth, boiling for about 10 minutes. While they are cooking, sauté onion, celery, and mushrooms in butter. Once they are soft, add flour and stir well, cooking for one minute. Slowly add broth and stir well to mix up the flour. You should only add about 1 1/2 c. broth, or as much as you need to get a good consistency. Let it thicken up a bit, and add frozen peas, chicken, and potatoes. Spread into a 9x11" baking dish and top with dough (see recipe below) and pinch around the edges of the dish. Cut a few lines into the pastry to let the steam out, and bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

Pastry:

1 c. butter, cut into cubes

1 2/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. cold water

Using a pastry blender, cut butter into remaining ingredients until you have a crumbly mixture. Lay out a sheet of wax paper, parchment paper, or saran wrap and sprinkle it with flour. Place the dough on the paper, and then sprinkle it with flour and lay another piece of paper on top. Roll out the dough into a rectangle between the sheets of paper, then peel off the top piece. Using the bottom paper to help lift the dough, fold the long edge up 1/3 of the way, and then fold the other long edge down 1/3 of the way so it is overtop of the other edge. (You should have a long skinny rectangle that is three layers high.) Starting at one of the short ends, roll up the dough like a jellyroll. Sprinkle with flour and put the paper back on top, then roll the dough out again into the shape you need for your baking dish.

This was delicious - everyone ate it, everyone wanted seconds, and it was easy to make. I'm so proud of the pastry! Who knew it was that easy?