Chicken "Pot" Pie

Pot is in quotations because it's made in a pot, not made with "pot". I wasn't on drugs cooking it, you may think I was on drugs when I thought of it, but It's part pot pie, part chicken, and dumplings and all parts good!

2 Chicken Breasts

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

1 Cup Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream or use lighter cream if you are watching your waistline

1 carrot chopped into chunks

1 onion diced

1 stalk of celery diced

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 clove of garlic diced

1 tbsp War Pig Sgt. Butter

1 tbsp Kinder's Woodfired Garlic

1 sprig of thyme chopped

2 Leaves of sage chopped

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of butter

2 tbsp of flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

splash of chardonnay

Optional Rosemary chopped up, (I didn't have any fresh so I left it out)

Now you may also notice from the following pictures I don't actually use any kind of BBQ, you may use one if you like, I didn't this particular evening as it was freezing rain, and it was nicer to cook over the stove. I do use a propane range, so I'm still keeping with my preference for cooking with fire. Start by heating the oil in the pot to brown up the chicken, (but if I was cooking outside I'd probably sear the chicken off on a hot grill and then cook it to about 130 degrees fahrenheit). Once the chicken is cooked to around 130-140 pull it out and place to the side. Throw the butter in the pot, followed by the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and seasonings. Cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent, and carrots and celery are slightly softened, splash in some wine, scrape the bottom of the pot, to get the brown bits. Cut the chicken into chunks toss them in, along with the broth, and bring to a boil, adding more broth to maintain enough liquid to make sure things cook, but don't burn dry.

Once you are satisfied with the tenderness of the vegetables, mix the flour and cream together to make a slurry like substance, this helps keep you from getting a flour lump when you dump it into hot liquid. Add the slurry the frozen vegetables, and herbs into the pot, and bring back to a boil stirring quite often so it doesn't burn while thickening the "pie filling". ( If you want a thinner filling then don't change my recipe, if you prefer a thick filling add more flour to the slurry.)

Now that you have reached the desired consistency, unroll the dough and gingerly place it on top of your pot. You probably aren't going to win any awards for visual appeal, and the instagram crew may cringe, but hell, your going to forget all that once you spoon it in your mouth!

If you so happen to have nice weather the particular day you were doing this dish, you would have the pellet grill, or kamado or whatever BBQ your cooking on, running at 350-375, and you'd let it cook, for about 10-15 minutes, just enough time to brown up the dough and get it cooked through. As a side note I like chicken and dumplings, Miss Diana however does not, as she puts it, "I do not want a gross gooey dough ball in my chicken stew" , that being said, make sure to cook the dough enough.

While you wait for the hot pot pie to cool down, maybe you cook up some rice to spoon your pie over, or perhaps some mashed potatoes with extra butter. Whatever your choose to do, just sit down hopefully beside a good hot wood stove, and enjoy this hearty cold weather comfort food. Just be aware onlookers maybe jealous, and you will probably pass out afterwards. (Especially if you didn't understand the first part about not having "pot" in it.)