clean-out-the-kitchen chicken pot-pie

Last night was rainy....a Monday....there were talks of tornadoes .....I had finally recovered from my 24 hour headache/migraine....and Josh was on his way over asking "what's for dinner"....

I started to thumb through my new immaculately organized recipe binder (which is also super cute, thank you Target! I should post a pic of it..) and came across a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie that I had never tried. Why? 1st it sounds difficult and 2nd I am slowly still getting over my fear of chicken..."it's not gross...it's not gross...it's not gross...." my new mantra.

I read the recipe quickly and decide that hey! this can be done! And in half the time they say! (ha)

Pre-game: put your oven on 375 degrees, start thawing out 1 sheet of puff pastry and pick out your cutest oven-safe dish

First--- I pan seared a package of thin chicken breasts...salt, peppered and seasoned with montreal chicken spices first. Add in the remaining chicken broth that I had (maybe 1/3 cup?) and let the little guys finish cooking... let's call that a 10 minute process. Who knows.

Second---Pull out the chicken breasts and set aside. Add in half of a chopped yellow onion (didn't have a whole one...) and let it do its wonderful thing. Man, I loooove the smell of onion cooking down. Meanwhile, I visit my hardly-ever-used freezer and pull out some frozen peas and frozen italian veggie mix. They enter the microwave and then to the pan with the friendly onions (hold on to those peas though, it's not their turn yet). Heavily season again and let them do their thing.

Third--- Once the veggies seem like they are enjoying themselves and seasoning up nicely...(a taste test here is totally acceptable)....soak up some of their goodness with about 1/4 cup AP flour. Now here is the hard part...get out your white wine, take a gulp and try your best to reserve about 1/2 cup for the veggies...hey, veggies appreciate the vino too, so share. Then I decided that I really like my pot pies to be rich and creamy too... so I grabbed the last little bit of half & half that I had (maybe 1/3 cup...maybe) and added it to the pot. It wasn't enough so I included some milk (another 1/3 cup...maybe). And then some parm cheese (it's an addiction...sorry). Now those cute little green peas can join the party, add them in! Once teverything is the same temp and a yummy consistency...

Fourth--- Dice up that chicken, should be down to room temp by now... mix it up with your veggie mixture, put it in your cute oven-safe dish, top it leisurely with the puff pastry and throw that baby into the oven. 30 minutes should do the trick- look for the golden flaky top and bubbly-ness creeping out the sides.

Fifth--- enjoy the smells, let her cool down slighty, top with cheddar cheese and eat it! Yum!!!

Now wasn't that just so easy?! :)