Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie in a Cast Iron Skillet

My daughter and I spent the afternoon with my mother-in-law in the kitchen of her Ohio home rolling out pie dough. She is my kids's only living grandmother, and it was such an honor to stand by her side, gleaning tricks from these dear hands who have made more than their share of pastries in a lifetime.


After the dough was rolled out, we worked together in preparing a Southern Chicken Pot Pie. Grandma made the bechamel while the chicken breasts simmered and Natalie and I cut up the vegetables and parsley. Then we carefully placed a pie crust in the bottom of Grandma's cast iron skillet, spooned the chicken filling over the crust and covered it carefully with a top crust. After tucking in the edges, we brushed the crust with the white of an egg, cut four air vents into the top and slid it into the oven for an hour while we put our feet up and enjoyed a cup of tea.

And was it ever worth the wait!  Golden, flaky, steaming with goodness, we pulled our chairs up to the table and helped ourselves to generous portions. Simple food made all the more beautiful because of the shared effort in creating it.

Chicken Filling
by Southern Living
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 8-ounce package chopped fresh mushrooms
4 cups shredded, cooked chicken
2 cups frozen shredded or cubed hashbrowns
1 cup chopped carrots *
1 cup frozen peas *
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Pastry Crust
1 pkg. refrigerated pie crusts (I made mine from scratch, using recipe below.)

1.  Prepare filling: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1/3 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; add flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually add chicken broth and milk, whisking constantly, 6 - 7 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in Creole seasoning.

2.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion and mushrooms, and saute 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken, next four ingredients and sauce.

3.  Prepare pie crust. Place 1 pie crust in a lightly greased 10-inch cast iron skillet. Spoon chicken mixture over pie crust, and top with remaining pie crust.

4.  Whisk egg white until foamy; brush top of piecrust with egg

5.  Bake at 350 for one hour or until golden and bubbly.


* We used 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables instead of the chopped carrots and frozen peas.

Never Fail Pie Dough
by Mom (Linda) Gingerich
Yields 2 double crust 8 - 10 inch pies

3 cups pastry flour
3/4 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon vinegar
A pinch of salt
Water, up to 1 cup

Cut butter into flour until mixture holds together when pressed between your thumb and forefinger. Place beaten egg in a cup and fill with water, up to 1/2 cup mark. Add vinegar. Make a well in the flour/butter mixture. Add egg/water, vinegar mixture all at once. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Blend with a spoon just until all the flour is moistened. Press remaining mixture together with your hands. If necessary, add more water, a tablespoon at a time.  Divide dough into four parts and roll out.