Curried-Chicken Potpie

This is another favorite recipe of mine. It comes from Cooking Light's Annual Recipes 2001 and is listed under the section, "Not Your Grandma's Potpies". Did you know potpie was one word? I didn't. Anyway, this recipe is on my Winter Menu Ideas list/rotation.

Below is a picture of some of our blue potatoes, peeled. Aren't they pretty? This is the first year we grew them. While I am so impressed with their lovely color, I have to say we probably won't be growing these again next year. First off, once cooked, they taste no different than red potatoes to me. Also, once cooked, they lose their blue-purple color and become somewhat gray. Reason number three, they don't store particularly well. They are usable at this point, but already the skins are getting pretty soft and they are sprouting. They were a very fun experiment and do taste good. They just aren't in our garden plans for next year.


Back to the recipe. These potatoes worked very well here. Also, while all potpies are a bit labor intensive, if you have cooked chicken on hand and prepare the pastry the day (or two) before, it goes rather quickly and is SO worth it (even if you are cooking your chicken and making your pastry the same day). Anytime I'm going to make it, I tell Jamey ahead of time because he loves it and enjoys looking forward to it. Also, this is another recipe that is easily doubled. I always double it, putting the second potpie in the freezer to have handy for an easy Sunday lunch after church. Adding mushrooms and larger amounts of the vegetables can replace the chicken if you are vegetarian or cooking for vegetarians.


Curried Chicken Potpie (adapted slightly from Cooking Light)

Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
3 tbsp. ice water
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Filling:
1 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. curry powder (you may want to decrease this if you are cooking for kids, too)
2 cups, peeled, diced potatoes
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1-2 tbsp. water
1/2 cup (4 oz.) 1/3 less fat or regular cream cheese
2 cups, diced, cooked chicken

To prepare the pastry, combine 1/4 cup flour, ice water and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk until well-blended to create a slurry. Set aside. In another bowl, combine remaining 3/4 cup flour and salt and then cut-in the shortening with a pastry blender or fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add slurry to flour mixture and blend with a fork until well-combined. Form the dough into a ball with your hands. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on your counter that is larger than the size of the opening of your 2-quart baking dish. Place the ball of dough in the center and lay another piece of plastic wrap (the same size as the first) over the ball. Wrap up the sides and store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. When you are ready to place the pastry on your baking dish (once the filling is in it), remove it from the fridge, unwrap it, keeping the ball of dough between the two opened-up pieces of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is at least the size of your baking dish. Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap, make 5 slits (or a little heart or star:-)) in the center of the rolled-out dough with a knife and flip it, plastic wrap side up, onto your baking dish. Peel the plastic wrap off and either tuck the edges of the dough into the baking dish or crimp it like a pie crust. (Your counter and rolling pin stayed clean!)


To prepare the filling, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat until warm, add the curry powder and cook 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, onions, bell pepper and garlic. Stir- fry for several minutes. Add ingredients broth through black pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 1-2 tbsp. water until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to vegetables. Add cooked chicken and cream cheese, cubed into small pieces. Stir until cream cheese has melted. Spoon filling into a greased 2-quart baking dish. Follow directions above for placing the pastry on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and the pastry is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes.

This photo (above) was taken the day after four adults ate of the potpie. I forgot to take a photo of it right out of the oven because the whole house was smoke-filled. My Squash and Apple Casserole that was in the oven with the potpie baked over and continued to bake/burn on the bottom of the oven. This photo was taken of the potpie straight from the fridge, not warm and creamy like it is once it's warm. It does reheat very nicely. It's a fight-over-the-leftovers kind of meal. Pin It