First I made Chicken in the crock-pot the day before. You can make up the chicken or store buy a rotisserie chicken. Whatever works for you. I will post how I cooked it in the crock the day before. So this will actually be two recipes in one!
Whole Chicken with Vegetables in the Crock-pot
Whole chicken (mine was frozen. Cooking time will be longer if it is frozen)
Several handfuls of carrots (baby whole or chopped)
4 stalks Celery, chopped
Red potatoes, cut in quarters (about 6-8 depending on the size your crock-pot)
Onion, whole chopped or quartered
3 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on your family)
What to do with it:
Cook on low (if fresh, not frozen) for 6-8 hours. (If you have a newer crock-pot it cooks hotter then the old ones so check it)
If your chicken is frozen, I usually put it on high for an hour or two then turn it down to low for the rest of the time.
It will make some broth in the bottom. You want that.
I put the whole thing in the refrigerator over night.
It is done when the legs are starting to fall off.
Pot Pie
This will make 2 deep dish pies. Use 1/2 chicken for one pie.
Besides the chicken, vegetables and broth from yesterday:
3 TBL flour
(possibly more chicken broth or water to make up the difference)
2 pie crusts (If I don't make homemade crust, I buy the one in the freezer section (Trader Joe's) that is uncooked and folded (some are rolled-Pillsbury).
Pull all meat off the bone. Rip it up or chop it to be about bite size. If you rip it will come apart nicely in the broth.
(I save my bones to put back in crock to make broth. You can throw them in the freezer until you can get to them.)
Pull out all carrots and celery and potatoes. Chop them down to bite size.
Put all meat and vegetables in a big pan on the stove with the broth left in the crock. (You may have to add extra broth, or water, to the pan to get the pot to look like a thick stew. Meaning more vegetables and chicken then broth.
Heat up the whole mixture until it comes to a boil.
Take out about 1/2 a cup of hot broth from the pan.
Add about 1/2 cup of water cool or room temp.
Add the flour to the broth and water and whip it with a fork until there are NO lumps.
Once all the lumps are gone, Slowly pour the flour mixture into the boiling pan while you stir quickly with the fork. Careful to get it mixed throughout the whole pan.
Let the pan do a low boil watching and stirring so that it doesn't stick to the bottom or burn.
While this is thickening up, open up our pie crust. Put first crust in the bottom of a deep pie dish.
Once your contents of the pan is nice and thick (Not too long. A few minutes.), spoon into your pie crust. Remember not to go above about 3/4 full.
Take the top crust and lay it out on the counter, making sure all cracks are put back together. Cut a hole in the middle to give plenty of vent. I use a small heart cookie cutter or cut out a heart. Fun to use a cutter that goes with a holiday theme. Should be about 1 and 1/2 inches big.
Place second crust carefully on top of pie. Go around the edges and pinch top with bottom crusts to seal it. You might need to pull or cut off any extra that is hanging over too far.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 30- 45 minutes.
It should be nice and lightly golden. (I cover the edges of the pie with a pie shield, you can use tin foil, so the edges don't burn before the rest of the pie is done).
You should be able to use a pie server to serve.
Can also use a casserole dish. No matter the shape. Also, to save on calories you can leave off the bottom crust. It is just so yummy with them both!
ENJOY
