That is correct; you can make gluten-free and allergy-friendly chicken pot pies for you at home! I recently did a cooking Demo live on the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research Instagram page @cfaarnu, and you can watch it if you click this link CFAAR. While you are there, you might as well follow them and don't forget me @allergy_dragon, and you might get to see a few more demos. I encourage you to check out all the fantastic work that this group does. They have an online allergy conference coming up, and you can check out what that is about by visiting FACES website. Now keep reading for my full recipe with directions.
Ingredients!
Savory Pie Crust
4 ½ cups of GLuten-free Flour blend I am using Namaste perfect flour blend (can use regular multipurpose flour if no allergy) ½ cup flour reserved for rolling out
4 sticks or 16 oz of butter, allergy-friendly margarine , palm shortening, or coconut oil. ( I am using Flora stick margarine unsalted) Whatever you are using must be cold and diced up to around ½ inch pieces. So if you are using coconut oil or palm shortening, you need to refrigerate it before using it as long as possible; overnight is my recommendation. You may need to add 1 to 2 tsp of salt depending on the type of "fat" you end up using. For example, if you are using unsalted butter.
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar( if you can't use any vinegar, substitute with lemon or lime juice)
¾ to 1 cup of ice-cold water. To be added at 1 tablespoon at a time to the recipe. *you may not use it all*
**oil or shortening to prep the pie pans
Gravy
1 ½ cup of broth *Chicken or vegetable
1 tablespoon of "butter" and 1 tablespoon of GF flour
Pot pie filling
1 to 2 cups of cooked vegetables. * I use a frozen soup blend that we can have.
1 to 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken * I think the perfect ratio is 1 cup of vegetables and 1 cup of cooked chicken.
1 teaspoon onion powder if you can have
1 teaspoon of an Italian blend seasoning
½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon of white pepper( can use black pepper)
I usually toss my vegetables and chicken, then steam or cook them together with the seasoning,
Items needed to prepare
*Oven preheated to 400 degrees
*Large mixing bowl with a pastry cutter or a *food processor for the crust
*4 small personal pie pans or one 9 inch pie pan. (metal works best)
*Parchment paper or clean cold surface to roll out the dough
*Rolling pin
*Small to a medium saucepan
*Whisk
*Small fry pan
*Cooking spoon
*Cooking spatula
*measuring spoons and cups
Let's Get Started!
Crust mix manually:
You will place the flour, *salt, and "butter:" in a large bowl, then cut the butter into the flour until small chunks around the size of a grain of rice are left. Ensure to do this quickly, and that your "butter" is refrigerator cold, so around 36 to 40 degrees. Add in the apple cider vinegar and around 4 tablespoons of water for the first mix, then 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. Mix with a spatula or your hand. Add water till the crust comes together, almost like a sandcastle. The dough should be crumbly, NOT WET. When you handle the dough, you can mold it to stick together to know the texture is correct.
Crust mix Food processor:
You will place your 4 cups of flour, * salt, and the "butter" into the food processor bowl. Pulse 4 to 8 times until your "butter" is around a grain of rice size; ensure to do this quickly and that your "butter" is refrigerator cold, so approximately 36 to 40 degrees. Add in the apple cider vinegar and around 4 tablespoons of water for the first mix, then 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. Pulse and add water until the crust comes together, almost like the texture of a sandcastle. The dough should be crumbly, NOT WET. When you handle the dough, you can mold it to stick together then you know the texture is correct.
Using parchment paper or your countertop, dust the surface with flour and work half the dough into at least ¼ an inch or thinner with a rolling pin. Use plenty of flour to keep the dough from sticking to you and everything else. Next, cut out the size you need for your pans, or lay the whole sheet over well-oiled pans and cut off. This tends to be hard to do without a large spatula with gluten-free dough. So I prefer to cut mine out.
After I have placed the dough into the small baking pans /or a large one, I put quite a few air holes into the bottom of the crust. I blind bake for 10 minutes on the small and 13 minutes on the large. Then I fill with warm filling ingredients and gravy. I top my pot pie with an entire crust and be sure to poke holes for air to escape. Then bake for 30 to 35 minutes for that small pies. Large pie will add on 7 to 10 more minutes. *reminder that ovens, bakeware, altitude, and humidity all affect baking. You may have to adjust your bake time accordingly.
Let's make gravy!
Check out my how-to-make Gravies and sauces and use the above measurements for your gravy.
Your filling should be already cooked and warm. I use leftover chicken from one of the nights I make it or use something frozen. I use any vegetable you can have. A favorite one for us is carrots, peas, corn, and potatoes. You can mix your gravy, veggies, and meat. You can also add individually as much or little as you like. If you want more gravy, double the recipe. If you wish to eat less crust, cut the recipe in half.
The pot pies, after you cook them freeze well and will keep for about 3 months froze. To reheat, allow to thaw out completely in the fridge and reheat in the oven for best results. They do reheat in the microwave well. This is what I have been doing this week for lunch!
Some Pro tips!!
You can premake this crust and freeze it. I like rolling it out and then using parchment paper and freezing it flat. It will keep for around 3 months in the freezer. After that, allow to thaw out in the refrigerator and then bake.
Yes, you can make this without a pie pan and no bottom layer for a super easy meal. This way, I usually add even more veggies and meat. Gravy, I keep about the same , and yes, you want to warm the filling up for the best result. (This is a great way to use leftovers) using a baking dish, be sure to oil the pan, then add in your filling, and then top with the crust rolled out the best you can , and make sure to add some air holes. Bake in the oven for around 35 to 40 minutes and you have a family-size "pot-pe" ready to dish out, and everyone will love it!
If you have not yet then please subscribe to my website for more recipes and updates. Share this recipe with anyone you think will enjoy it. As always I hope this recipe helps you tame your Allergy Dragon. Leave a comment on what other live IG cooking demos I should do with @CFAAR next time.
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