let them eat pie

today was windy. today was rainy. today was pot pie weather! and i think i'm in love. these chicken pot pies were so yummy, i was licking my plate clean. 

i used this mini pie maker that my sister gave me for christmas one year. i love this thing. at first i was a little concerned that it would become just another appliance taking up space in my cabinet, but i really use it every chance i get. dinner, dessert, breakfast. it's all good! but if you're not lucky enough to have a sister who gives you awesome gifts like a pie maker, i'm guessing you could easily put these puppies in a muffin tin and bake them in the oven. 

i used martha stewart's pate brisee recipe for the crust, and adapted a chicken filled puff pastry recipe from paris to provence. i made 8 pot pies total, but the number of pies was only limited to the amount of pie dough i had, because i had a lot of filling left over. i think you could half the filling recipe and still come out with 8 pot pies. or double the pie dough recipe and make 16 pies. i'd encourage making extra and freezing what you don't plan on enjoying right away...that way you have easy access to amazing pot pies anytime you want! the pies are little, so you'll probably eat more than one for a meal. my mister ate 2, the toddler ate about 1/2, and i ate 1 plus the kid's other half. as for my extra filling, i ended up tossing it with some pasta (thinned out slightly with chicken stock) for dinner the following evening. also delicious!

Chicken Pot Pies

3 tbs olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 carrot, sliced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped in 1/2" cubes
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 cups green beans, trimmed & cut into 1" pieces
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup white wine
6 tbs butter
5 tbs flour
1 c chicken broth
2 cups milk
salt and pepper

1 recipe pate brisee (or refrigerated pie dough)

chop / slice your veggies! 

heat the oil in a large skillet over medium. saute the shallots and carrots until fragrant and shallots become translucent. add the chicken and cook for ~5 minutes. 

add the mushrooms, green beans, thyme, and wine, and cook for 2 minutes. 

add the butter and stir until melted. 

decrease the heat to low and sprinkle in the flour to create a roux. 

add the chicken stock, then the milk. increase the heat to medium high and bring to a simmer. after the sauce thickens (~10 minutes), remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. the filling will continue to thicken while you roll out your pie dough.

preheat your pie maker (or oven to 350). roll out and cut 8 bottoms and tops. place the bottoms in your pie maker (or muffin tins).

add the filling; one large ladle was perfect (~1/3 cup). put the pie dough tops on and cook for ~8 minutes in the pie maker (or 15 minutes in the oven...until they turn golden brown). 

and out them come onto a cooling rack! look how perfect this pie crust is! flakey buttery deliciousness!!

by the second batch, i realized i had enough dough to add cute little flowers on them. thanks to my pal, Lisa, for the cookie cutters all the way from Holland!

i'd like to say i was being rustic and that's why i didn't break off the ugly edges of the pies, but number one, the crust was delicious and i didn't want to waste it, and number two, when i tried to break off the edges for the pictures, they weren't breaking off nicely, and the pretty part of the crust started to crack, so i gave up. so we'll just stick with rustic.