One of America's Favorites - Pot Pie

Curry chicken pot pies

A pot pie is a term for a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape.

The pot pie does differs from the Australian meat pie and many British regional variants on pie recipes, which may have a top of flaky pastry, but whose body is usually made from heavier, more mechanically stable shortcrust, hot water crust or similar pastry.

The pot pie may be considered a variation of the pasty.
An American pot pie typically has a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas). Frozen pot pies are often available in individual serving sizes.

The distinction between a pot pie and other types of savoury pie is specific to the United States of America. In the United Kingdom a pot pie would simply be called a pie, the word having a much broader application in British English.

Some American pie variations have no bottom crust and are more similar to a baked casserole (or chicken and dumplings) than to a traditional meat pie. Since the remaining top crust is not required to offer any structural support, it can be made by closely spacing small dollops of drop biscuit dough onto the stew-like filling before baking. This type of pie is also very common in the United Kingdom, where it is known as a top-crust pie.

In the Pennsylvania Dutch region, there is a dish called "bot boi" (or "bott boi") by Deitsh-speaking natives. Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie is a stew, usually made of a combination of chicken, ham, beef, or wild game with square-cut egg noodles, potatoes, and a stock of onion, optional celery and parsley. Bouillon is sometimes used to enhance the flavor. The egg noodles are often made from scratch from flour, eggs, salt (optional) and water. Some recipes use leavening agents such as baking powder.



Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken
breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground smoked cumin
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.