Pocket Pies

Last night the temperature dropped dramatically, and we woke up wondering if it had snowed in the night. We had to wait until around 11, when the snow started coming down!  Even though it's a little early, it inspired our family to break out the Christmas music, and figure out something to make for dinner that would be the ultimate comfort food.  Enter Pocket Pies.

I first heard of this recipe from Tracy over at Shutterbean.  It comes from a book she highly recommends "Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys" by Lucinda Quinn.















I'll admit that I'm a bit skeptical on the whole men eat differently than women idea.  But I love this recipe.  And this book seems to be all about comfort food.  Perfect for a snowy sunday!  At any rate, here's what I did:

First, mix up a WONDERFUL pastry crust in your food processor.  Then leave it in the fridge to chill while you make your filling.

Next cut up your veggies and chicken:

Then simmer the chicken in broth while you cook the veggies up into a tasty filling.  I added thyme and oregano to my filling because that just sounded like the right thing to do.  Add the chicken to the filling along with some cheese.  Man, this is looking yummier by the second.

Have you decided to make this yet?  You really should.  Final step is to roll out the dough and add your filling.  The dough is really dreamy to work with.  I used a quaker oatmeal lid to cut out my circle.  You could also trace a small plate.

After assembling the pies, I left all 15 of them (Yum!) on foil lined cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer.  Give 'em time to freeze up, and then you can bake up as many as you want to dinner and throw the rest in a freezer bag to pull out whenever you need an easy dinner.  BRILLIANT.

Final verdict?  AWESOME.  As you can see, one of mine leaked, but it was still incredibly tasty.  I am planning on making a bunch of these and freezing them for easy weeknight meals.  The dough is great, and the filling would be really easy to vary.  I'm thinking a vegetarian version with sweet potatoes, blackbeans and goats cheese would be wonderful.  

Here's the recipe:

Savory Chicken Pot Pie

recipe from Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys

• 1 heaping cup shredded chicken
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup chopped carrot (1 carrot)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (my addition)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (my addition)
• 1/2 teaspoon tried oregano (my addition)
• 1 recipe (2 disks) Cream Cheese Pastry (recipe below)
• 1 large egg, for egg wash  (I saved time and didn't do this)

To make the filling, in a medium hot skillet, melt the butter and add the onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the peas, and stir for a minute or two.  Stir in the salt, thyme, oregano and flour and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the chicken broth and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 heaping cup shredded chicken and the Parmesan cheese. Cool in the fridge.  It will get thick by the time you use it as a filling.
If you are making these today, Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter or line a baking sheet.

To form the pocket pies, work with half of a disk of dough at a time, rolling it out on a floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter. Using an overturned bowl (about 5 inches across--or use the quaker oats lid, see above), cut out about 3 circles from each piece of dough. After cutting out all your circles, gather all dough scraps, reroll, and cut out a final time. Place 1/4 cup filling on one side of a dough circle. Wet the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough over to form a half-circle. Pinch the edges of the dough together. Crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat the process until all the filling is used. The pocket pies can be frozen at this point.

Place the pocket pies on the prepared baking sheet and chill for a few minutes. Prick each pie on top twice with a fork. When ready to bake, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over each pocket pie. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown (you may need to bake an additional 5 minutes if they've been frozen). Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. The pies can be cooled and frozen to reheat in the microwave.

Cream Cheese Pastry

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

In a food processor or using an electric mixer or by hand, process the butter, cream cheese and heavy whipping cream.

Add the flour and salt; process just until combined and the dough holds together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and divide in 2 pieces. Flatten into disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. If the dough is chilled overnight, take it out 15 minutes before rolling out.

Rub flour all over a rolling pin. Working with one disk at a time, place the disk on a clean, well-floured surface. Roll gently from the center of the dough to the top and bottom edges. Rotate the disk, and roll to the top and bottom edges again. Reflour the work surface and rolling pin, turn the dough over and continue to roll the dough from the center out to the edges. Turn over and roll again, rotating the disk to ensure even rolling until the dough is about 12 inches in diameter, thin but not transparent.

Oh, and here are the "man and boy" in my household enjoying the snow.  Now if it would only snow enough that school gets canceled and we could all enjoy another day home together!