Chicken Apple Pot Pie with Cheddar Whole Grain Crust

A farmer at our local market had “Sunday Dinner Chickens” the other day, so I bought one.  Of course, I fell right in line and cooked it on Sunday — because that’s what the marketing told me to do.  It was delicious and left us with a whole lot of leftover meat (he promised it would feed us all week, and I’m pretty sure he was right).  

It was another cold and rainy day here yesterday (noticing a theme?), so comfort food sounded just about perfect for dinner.  Along with my chicken, I had a whole lot of apples to use up.  Have you ever noticed that one week your kids devour a certain type of fruit (so you stock up) and the next week they don’t eat that at all?    

So I came up with this pot pie recipe to use what was on hand.  The term “pot pie” is such an ugly one though… it just sounds like something I’d eat in a cafeteria, so feel free to come up with a better name.   I told the kids it was chicken pie and they thought it was pretty cool that we were having pie for dinner.  Feel free to make this in one big dish or in individual oven-proof crocks.  And as usual, substitute with what you have on hand and need to use up.  Vegetables of all kinds are wonderful (root veggies, corn, peas, potatoes) — and this makes a wonderful vegetarian entree with just that. 

Chicken Apple Pot Pie with Cheddar Whole Grain Crust
Serves 4-6

Crust:
3 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
6 T butter, cut in cubes
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 t salt
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper 
4-5 T cold water

To prepare crust:

Put cheese, butter cubes, flour, salt, and cayenne in bowl of food processor and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can cut the butter into the flour, salt, and cayenne using a pastry blender until the coarse meal stage and then stir in the cheese.)  Add in cold water a 2 tablespoons at a time and pulse (or mix) until the dough starts to come together into one mass.  I used about 5 T of water, but you might need a little more or less depending on the humidity.  Dump dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and form into a ball.  Flatten it into a disc, wrap it up, and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling:

3 or 4 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 T flour
2 cups of water, wine, broth (or combo of all… I used about 3/4 cup of white wine and 1 1/4 cups of water)
2 cups of shredded cooked chicken
Chopped chervil or parsley (or other herbs of your choice)
Salt and Pepper
Milk or Cream to glaze (optional)  

To prepare filling:

While crust dough is chilling, heat a large saute pan over medium heat with 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil.  Add chopped garlic and saute one minute until fragrant.  Add in celery, onion, and apple and saute for about 7 minutes until softened.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle on 2 T flour, mix well, and cook for 2 more minutes.  Add in 2 cups of water/broth/wine and stir well to prevent lumps.  Bring to boil and add shredded chicken (mixture will thicken).  Simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce slightly (Preheat oven to 400 F while simmering).  Add in chervil/parsley and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.  

To assemble:

Remove crust from fridge and roll out on parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick and a 12 inch circle.   Put chicken filling into a deep dish pie pan (or into individual crocks).  Fold crust in half and gently lay atop of filling.  Secure crust to edge of pie pan.  Roll edges of crust under and crimp.  Cut a few steam vents in middle and brush crust with milk/cream (or an egg wash) and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt.  Bake in preheated 400 F oven for about 25-28 minutes until the crust is golden brown.