The Origin of Chicken Pot Pie in the U.S.

Chicken pot pie is made with a chicken and cream of chicken soup mixture, and topped with a puff pastry crust. As the story goes, chicken pot pie was developed by the Swanson company in 1951 and once freezers were available in most homes the pot pie became commercialized and the product line was expanded to include beef and pork as well.

Ingredients

* 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts (cubed)
* 2 unbaked pie crusts 1 cup of carrots (sliced)
* 1 cup of green peas (frozen)
* 3/4 cup of celery (sliced)
* 1/2 cup of margarine
* 1/3 cup of onion (chopped)
* 1/3 cup of flour
* 2 cups of chicken broth
* 2/3 cup of milk
* 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed
* Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. In order to begin on this chicken pot pie recipe, you will need to preheat the oven to 420°F or 225°C.

2. Next, combine the chicken, peas, carrots, and celery in a saucepan. Cover this with water and allow it to boil for fifteen minutes. Then remove it from the heat. You will want to drain this and then set it aside.

3. Cook the onions in butter in a saucepan on medium heat until they become translucent. Add in the flour, celery seed, salt, and pepper. The stir the milk and chicken broth slowly into the mixture and simmer until it thickens over medium heat. Remove this from the heat and then set aside.

4. Put the chicken into the bottom pie crust and pour the liquid mixture on top of it. Cover this with the other crust, seal the edges, and then cut away the excess dough. I normally make a few slits in the top so that the steam can escape.

5. Bake this in the oven for 35 minutes. I simply check when the pastry has turned golden and the filling has become bubbly. I then turn off the heat and allow the pie to cool for about ten minutes before I serve it.

Cooking time (duration): 60 Minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4 People