Chicken Pot Pie: A One Dish Meal

Chicken pot pie is one of the Combsman's favorite dishes.  I struggled for years for the right crust.  He likes a crust on top and bottom.  I make a big one so some can go in the freezer for those times when neither of us want to cook.

I make the filling first by throwing some onion, garlic and peppers into a little bit of hot oil for a good toss.  I add a few spices:  salt, black pepper, cayenne, adobo, bay leaf.  To this I add chicken broth with cornstarch for sauce thickener.  Usually, I add a cup of peas, corn and/or carrots.  But the vegetable bin was unpopulated.  I used a cup and a half of mashed potatoes and that made the perfect sauce!  I added the chunks of previously cooked chicken, about three cups.  I turn off the heat and let this cool while I create the dough for the crust.

The crust is what makes a great pie and I have been going at this for decades still not perfectly happy with the crust.  I reached for an old well used friend of a cook book, The Dallas Junior League Cookbook and looked up meat pies.  There was the answer all these years: page 246,  Pastry Dough for Louisiana Meat Pies submitted by Mrs. Larry M. Nobles.
Here is what you need:  Preheat Oven to 400
3.5-4 cups AP flour                                 2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt                                                 1/2 c.  melted shortening
2 eggs, room temperature                       1/2-2/3 cup milk at room temp.
Here is what you need to do:
Blend dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add melted shortening. Pour enough milk into eggs to make a measure of 1 full cup.  Add this to the bowl. Mix well. Pull off 3/4 of the dough to make bottom and sides.  Roll dough on floured surface the size of the pan.  (I used a large lasagna rectangle pan.)  Place dough in pan with the top edge of dough pressed to edge of pan to hold in place.  Roll the top  from the remaining 1/4 dough ball.  Gently add the filling to the pan, top with upper crust.  Fold the sides over onto top. Create a couple of steam vents.  Brush with an egg wash.
Place in 400 degree oven for 25-35 minutes.  When the crust is golden, remove.  Allow to cool 5-ten minutes.  Serve.

I float my top crust about an inch away from edge.