One of my favorite kitchen devices is a Pressure Cooker. I actually have two. One of them I use for breaking down bones into broth. I will sometimes get a natural chicken on sale at the store, chop it into 4 big pieces and just throw the whole thing in my Pressure Cooker, along with aromatic herbs and some veggies for flavor. 20 or 30 minutes under pressure, a strain into a container and you've got some incredible, flavorful broth. You can't recreate that on the stove top quite as easily, or as quickly!
Our family does alot of shopping at Costco, but one of our favorite pick up items there is one of their Roast Chickens for $4.99. You can make this recipe with one of your own roast chickens and it will work just as well. However, Costco brines their chickens for tenderness and flavor and whatever spice combination they use on them - well, my husband and I just love it.
Since there is usually just two or three of us eating, we can use a Costco Chicken one night for grilled chicken panini sandwiches or the Hubs fav.. chicken and avocado sandwiches. We usually have half the chicken left, all the carcass and ALL THAT FLAVOR!
Here's how I whip up my Roaster Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry. This dish costs all of $7 or $8 and it's totally delicious!
NOTE: The below recipe makes 4 individual pot pies (depending on dish) or a 9 inch deep dish pie. I like these cute dishes from La Crueset, but I'm still unpacking and can't find them, so I used something different.
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| These cute LaCrueset dishes can be bought on Amazon for like $20/each. I love them for French Onion soup or these individual casseroles. Also nice for individual deserts like cobbler. Careful, they chip easy though, but are hearty enough to stand up to the broiler or the refrigerator. |
You can double it to make a large casserole if you wish. Just know that when you make it in a pie dish or a large casserole, your puff pastry doesn't come out nearly as nice. Too much steam from a large casserole retards the crust browning perfectly. However, you can do it - just double all the ingredients and use a larger casserole dish. You may need to use both pieces of puff pastry in order to fit a 9x13 dish or other. Just pinch them together if you want for a bigger piece. If you prefer pie crust, go ahead and use it. If you want a bottom crust, pre-bake it in the oven beforehand.
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| It doesn't matter what you bake them in, they are still good! |
INGREDIENTS:
1 Roaster Chicken - use half the meat, all the carcass (bones and skin) for a small casserole, or if you want a large casserole, use all the meat and double the ingredients below. Pull all the meat off and set aside
1 14 oz can low sodium chicken broth (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil or veg oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot (1/2 inch slices or chunks)
2 cups diced potato (1 inch size cubes)
1 cup frozen peas
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Anything else you like in a good pot pie
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, rolled out slightly to fit your dish
If you don't have a pressure cooker, don't worry. Your simmer times will be longer, however. If you have a pressure cooker, use it. This recipe is my method using the Pressure Cooker, so adapt it for your slow pot using common sense and the tips I provide here.
Remove the meat from your roaster chicken and set aside, saving all bones and skin. Break apart the main chicken carcass into large pieces. In a pressure cooker or dutch oven, add 2 TBS oil and heat over medium heat. Add diced onion and stir constantly until onions are translucent. About 3-4 minutes. Add bones and skin of chicken and stir for a few minutes. This helps to impart more flavor from the bones. Add the chicken broth and enough water to just cover all of the carcass pieces. Lock your lid into place and raise the heat to high. When your cooker pressurizes, lower the heat to simmer and begin to time your pressure cooker. I like to give it 25 minutes under pressure. When done cooking, turn your heat off and let your pressure cooker de-pressurize on its own.
NOTE: If making in a stock pot, simmer all bones, broth and water in a covered pot for about an hour.
While your pressure cooker is in de-pressurizing mode, dice your potatoes and carrots. You can also dice some celery or other root veggies if you like. Keep the sizes of the pieces fairly consistent. While your at it, dice enough of the chicken for this dish, but keep it seperate from the veggies for now - we will add it later, along with the peas.
When your pot has fully depressurized, remove the lid and strain out the bones and skin and saving all the broth in a large heat-proof bowl. Set it aside and discard bones, skin, etc. Using the same pot or pressure cooker, add 4-5 cups of the chicken broth back to the pot and add all your veggies, except for frozen peas. Bring the pot back to pressure and reduce the heat to start simmering. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
HINT: You just inherited the best chicken broth ever! Save the broth to a storage container for later use. Great for soups, gravies, etc. Keep the bowl, don't bother washing it out, we'll be using it next!
NOTE: If using a regular stock pot, cover pot and simmer vegetables for about 10 to 15 minutes until tender.
Bring the pressure down quickly in your pot by running cold tap water over the top. Within a few seconds, the pressure will quickly drop and it's safe to open the lid. Carefully pour the contents of the broth and cooked veggies to that broth bowl you used earlier. Next, add your cut up chicken and those frozen peas to the bowl with the broth and veggies. Set aside.
Now, back to your empty pressure cooker! Heat the cooker over medium heat (maybe a bit higher if you're impatient like me!) and slowly melt the butter or add the olive oil to make the roux. When the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour over the butter and stir with a wire whisk over medium heat until the consistency is like peanut butter and the flour/butter begins to brown nicely. Lower your heat just a bit and slowly add the cream and all your spices. (BEFORE ADDING MORE SALT: Make sure you taste the final broth for saltiness! Some roaster chickens are very salty coming from the store and you may not need to add extra.) Stir well with a wire whisk. Next, add the broth with the chicken and veggies. Stir gently and allow to simmer until thickened. If you want your sauce thicker, just mix together some oil and flour in a small bowl and add the paste to the sauce a bit at a time until you achieve the right consistency. You can also add cornstarch and water mixed together for another quick thickening option.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
While your base is thickening, prepare your ramekins or deep dish pie pan. I like to spray mine with PAM before filling. Next, roll out your puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to ensure that it will fit over the pie pan, or cut it into 4 squares to fit over each ramekin. Depending on dish size, you may or may not need to roll out. I don't cut mine into a circle, I just lay the entire square on top and let the corners fall over the sides. These corners puff and brown beautifully in the oven and is good to pick off the sides and add to your plate!
Carefully ladle your filling into the ramekin or pie dish, filling it nearly to the top. Lay your puff pastry over the top of the dish and cut a few slits in the top to allow the steam to escape. Put your ramekins or the entire pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or more until your pastry is a rich, golden brown.
Serve and enjoy this great meal under $10!
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