Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mini Chicken Pot Pies


I baked these for Diana so she can take it to work when I am back to San Francisco. I was there in New York to take care of her since she had her foot surgery and she will be on crutches for at least 3 weeks. I try to prepare food that can be freeze up so she can just warm it up easily. With lack of ingredients and tools I still managed to bake something decent ha ha... But the area she is living at is very convenient. Shops, supermarkets and produce places are all within walking distance so it is not so bad. I wish I can stay here longer to take care of her but I can’t as I have doctor appointment and also someone very dear to me will be visiting next week before our trip to Argentina to see Carlos family.


I made short crust pastry for these pies and with the little leftover filling I used store bought puff pastry to make a 2 serving pie for us to have it for our dinner with some tomato salad. Like always I just used cream of mushroom soup for the filling to save me the hassle of getting small carton milk just for it since both of us only drink soy milk.


Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp of salt
6 tbsp ice water (more or less)


1. Pulse in a food processor the flour, butter, and salt just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal with some small (pea-size) butter lumps.
2. Slowly drizzle in the ice-water, one tbsp at a time. Squeeze a small handful of the dough, if it doesn’t hold together; add more ice water. Do not overwork the dough, or the crust will be tough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Gather the all dough together and wrap it up with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.


Ingredients for the filling:

2 cups of cooked chicken meat
2 carrots - cut into small cubes
1 stalk of celery - cut into small cubes
1 cup of forzen green peas
2 potatoes - cut into cubes (I used russet and purple potatoes)
1 small onions - finely diced
1 cloves of garlic
1 can of low sodium cream of chicken or mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg – beaten


1. Heat up the pan and lightly brown the onion and garlic. Then add in the celery and carrots, saute for a minutes.
2. Add in cream of chicken or mushroom soup and add in about 2 cups of water. Mixed well and bring to boil and add in the potatoes. Continue to simmer until potatoes soften and add in the chicken and green peas.
3. Stir well, cook until sauce thickens. Check seasoning as your might need to add a bit more salt to it. Dish out and let it cool completely.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F. Prepare a muffin pan or disposable aluminum pie cups. Roll out the pastry thinly and cut it into rounds to fit the cups. It should be large for the base and slightly smaller for the top.
5. Line the base with cut pastries, fill it up with the filling and cover the top with another piece of roll out pastry and crimp the edges with a fork. Cut a few slits on top of the pastry for venting air.
6. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.


20 comments:

lena said...

sorry to hear about diana. Hope she recovers soon. your chicken pies reminds me of christmas, looks festive and flaky too!

ann low said...

Gert, hope you rest well too.
I love chicken pot pies and they look very delicious!

Unknown said...

deliziosi,proverò sicuramente a farli,complimenti anche per l'estetica sono davvero belli

Mel said...

I loves chicken pies. Yours looks so delicious. Life is so fulfilled when you are busy, right?

CT Delima said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CT Delima said...

Hai Gert,

That looks delicious! I like chicken pie and must try this weekend :)

Yoong said...

Gert, your pie filling is a beautiful colour - green, purple, orange! :)

~~louise~~ said...

What a good friend you are to prepare meals for your injured friend. So sweet of you and they sure do look delectable!

Thanks for sharing...

MamaFaMi said...

Hi Gert...
Those pies are making me drool. I love pies but hardly make them. Gotta try one fine day! *wink*

Shereen said...

Those pies look so festive and I'm very sure they are delicious.I'm going to make this as soon as I'm back from visiting a dear friend:)Hope Diana is getting better and hope that your visit to the doctor ( today) is a ok.Thanks for sharing:))

Alice said...

i love mini pies, somehow it will control my portion :)
your pies look delicious :)

Lisa Ho said...

Nice golden bake...
the purple cube must be carrots :)... I thought it was yam initially...I read and re-read then only it dawned on me that it could carrots ... Pardon my 'Duh'ness :)

mycookinghut said...

Love the golden colour and absolutely delicious looking!

ICook4Fun said...

Lean, she is getting better. I wish I can be there for a longer period of time but too much going on at home so have to come back :(

Ann, thank you for your concern. I am doing well. Hope you do the same too.

La Bottega, grazie.

Mel, yea I am running around like a headless chicken these two months ha ha...

CT, thank you. Hope you like it.

Yoong, yea I like colorful food :)

Louise, is not my friend. It is my niece :)

ICook4Fun said...

Mama, how are you doing? Long time tak ada berita. Hope you like this :)

Shereen, just told Yoong, I like colorful food. More appetizing. Diana is doing well and as for me have to go back to see the doctor again next month :(

Alice, me too. And this way it will freeze better too.

Lisa, at the ingredients I did state that I used one purple potato :)

Leemei, thank you.

suituapui said...

Ooooo...pies! Haven't made for a long time. Reminds me of my Christmas pies:
http://suituapui.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/waiting-for-tonight/

Lisa Ho said...

Hi Gert,,
Confirm! I am not only 'duh' but rabun too :)

CikguIsya said...

i love pastries really

Anonymous said...

Hi Gert, Tx for sharing this recipe, looks great. One query tho,when u made the larger pie, did you also put pastry in the base or did you just have topping of puff pastry? Im a bit confused, hope you can clarify, thanks,
Mrs Singh, Ipoh, Malaysia

ICook4Fun said...

Mrs Singh, yes I did line the base with pastry.