Easy Peasy Chicken (or Vegetable) Potpie

This is a pie for those who do not bake. You can make your own crust, but I just don't have time. By the way, left over chicken or potatoes (preferably baked or boiled) will make this a lot  faster if you've got them.

Ingredients:

 2 store bought pie crusts

    1 egg

2 chicken breasts

2 large potatoes

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup peas

1/4 cup diced celery

1/2 an onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 can chicken stock

2 tablespoons flour

minced fresh herbs*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Salt and pepper chicken. In a medium saute pan, cook the chicken, onions, and celery. While this is cooking, wash, peal, and dice potatoes. Boil them in water to cover until fork tender. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan, leaving the vegetables. Add carrots and half of the chicken stock. 

In a small bowl, combine the flour and two tablespoons stock. Stir until smooth. Mix this into the stock and veg in the pan. Cook until no floury taste remains. Meanwhile, dice the chicken and put it in a large bowl with the potatoes. Stir the veg and gravy into this bowl. Add the garlic. 

Spray pie plate with cooking spray and press a pie crust into the bottom and sides of the pan. Fill this shell with the chicken mixture. Put the top crust on and roll the edges of both crusts together tightly. Beat the egg with a little water and brush on the top of the pie. Cut five slits in a star shape to vent the top of the pie. Bake on 400 degrees for twenty minutes or until golden  brown on top.

*Fresh Herbs: try rosemary, thyme, chives, parsley, etc.

Note for poultry eaters: Three meals can easily be made instead of one. Extra chicken and potatoes at the same time become excellent leftovers to be eaten the next night. Boiled potatoes panfried with onions and peppers are a wonderful companion to the left over chicken breast or served with eggs for a "breakfast for dinner" meal. Or the chicken can be used in a soup with leftover potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and peas all in more chicken stock.  Please add fresh herbs to either of these dishes liberally.

For a vegetable pie entirely without meat, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock (making your own is easy or you can use store bought) and add another vegetable such as parsnips or mushrooms to the body of the pie. Use plenty of herbs in your pie and your stock, if you make it yourself.

Vegetable stock

Ingredients

quartered onion with skin, well washed

carrot cut into thirds

celery rib cut into quarters

several garlic cloves in their skin

mushroom stems

potato peals

fresh herbs on the stem

any clean well washed veg scraps 

that complement the flavor of the dish

whole peppercorns

any whole spices to compliment the dish

Simmer all the veg bits, scraps, herbs, and spices for about an hour or until you like the flavor. this isn't something you have to baby sit, just set it on the stove and leave it be.