Pots of Comfort

Well, after getting back from NYC on Monday there wasn't a whole lot in the pantry and fridge for making dinners. I was however lucky enough to have some frozen chicken breasts, along with the rest of the ingredients for a chicken pot pie I was going to make a couple weeks ago, but didn't. I tossed the chicken in the fridge to thaw and last night was actually able to make us a real dinner. I've made this Kraft recipe for Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie before, but this time I decided to use my 10 oz. ramekins to make 4 individual pies. This worked really well except that I probably didn't vent my crusts well enough, cause they spilled over some. I anticipated that might happen and they were on a baking sheet, so no matter. Also, I could have added some more veggies. I had a big bag instead of a 10 oz. box, so I eyeballed it, and one of the pies ended up a little skimpy on the filling. To cut the crust to size I just pressed the upside-down ramekins onto the unrolled pie crust and cut the circles out. This way I even have a small ball of dough leftover that I'll probably make a couple of hand pies from this weekend. I was gonna do that last night too, but I was also trying to do laundry while cooking and all that multi-tasking was beginning to catch up with me. Anyway, this recipe is a great one to have because all the ingredients can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Maybe you've even got the ingredients in your kitchen right now! Get to cooking!

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pieeee

Strangely, two recipes in a row remind me of television comedy. We heart David Cross. Anyhoo, I had a terrible day yesterday, but this recipe came out pretty darn good. Although I did burn my pinkie finger when taking it out of the oven, which sucked. It's been a busy day already, and it will probably only get worse, so I'm just gonna get this up on here and get back to work. Oh, and the pic is courtesy of the Kraft Foods website, cause I didn't get around to taking a pic of mine. It wouldn't have been pretty, even if I had, ha.

Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie
Recipe from Kraft Foods; Serves 6
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup Kraft Light Done Right Zesty Italian Dressing
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth
1 10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15 oz. package)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook chicken in dressing in large skillet on medium heat 2 minutes. Add Neufchatel cheese; cook and stir until melted. Add flour; mix well. Add broth and vegetables; simmer 5 minutes.
• Pour mixture into deep dish 10" pie plate. Arrange pie crust over filling; flute edges. Cut four slits in crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

My notes: I forgot to thaw my veggies, so I just nuked them for 2 minutes, which worked fine. I also discovered I had no idea how to flute the edges of the pie crust, as I have actually never made a pie before. I managed, but it's wasn't as pretty as it could have been, so I guess I've got some research to do. This is a little tangier than what we are familiar with as far as pot pies go, due to the Italian dressing and cheese. We both enjoyed the dinner, but it wasn't as filling as I thought it would be, so I would suggest serving with a salad, or following with a light dessert.