Chris's Week Nine Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie with Corn Bread Crust

I invited Erica over for dinner yesterday. Her mother, Marcie, is starring in the Woodbury Community Theatre Guild's production of Mame and Erica is acting as Marcie's dresser. (Great show, by the way! I saw it last night with Linda & Bruce.) Since Erica was going to be in the neighborhood, I saw an opportunity for culinary experimentation and a fresh batch of Stargate Atlantis episodes.

I found a recipe for Turkey Pie with Cornbread Crust in a little book by Beatrice Ojakangas from the University of Minnesota Press called Pot Pies. This is my adaption. It's reasonably faithful, but I halved the recipe for filling and kept the full recipe for the cornbread crust. I like cornbread.

Chicken Pie with Cornbread Crust

Cornbread Crust

Stir together:

• 1 c flour
• 1 c medium grind cornmeal
• 2 T turbinado sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t salt

Beat together and mix with the dry ingredients until just combined:

• 1 egg (beat up first)
  
• 1 c milk
• 3 T grapeseed (or vegetable) oil

Cover and chill.

Pie filling

Saute:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1-2 T butter

Stir in:

• 2 heaping tablespoons flour
• 1.5 c hot chicken broth
• salt, pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce to taste

Mix until a gravy is formed. Cook to thicken slightly.

In a 2 qt casserole dish (I used a rectangular dish), mix:

• 2 c shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 c diced, cooked potatoes (skin-on is good)
• 1 c diced, cooked carrots
• 1 c frozen peas (doesn't matter if you thaw these)

Pour the gravy over the mixture in the pan. Spoon on the chilled cornbread mixture. Bake at 425F for about 30 min or until the cornbread is golden brown.

Would I make this recipe again? Most certainly! I think it would be even better with turkey. Erica said it was very good and different from other pot pie she'd had because it wasn't swimming in gravy. We agreed this was good because it meant less fat.