Chicken Pot Pie - mack daddy of comfort food
Additional Information
“Mommy, do you love your computer more than you love us?” is a question I get often. The answer is obviously no but since the old saying “actions speak louder than words” applies I’m forced to explain myself.
I have two daughters, one of whom carries around a stuffed animal head (that used to be an entire stuffed animal but it got so toxic from her sucking on it that we have been forced to give it monthly haircuts). It’s really more of an appendage than a stuffed animal. We take it on trips, include it in holiday cards, fancy dinners, family references…even discuss its place in my daughter’s wedding (which will occur in 30+ years according to my husband). It’s her security blanket. She relies on it. She needs it to sleep. She needs it to function. Once I asked her if she were trapped on a desert island and could only take me or “Bo” (its name) which would she choose? She hesitated for about a minute too long before telling me, “Both.” “But both wouldn’t be allowed,” I told her. “Well then, I guess you,” she finally acquiesced.
The next day she came home from school to find me, surprise, surprise, on my computer, as she searched for her bear like a cigarette addict searches for a pack of Marlboros. “Why are you still on your computer?” she whined.
And so I tried to explain to her that my computer is my security blanket. I had to finish something by 5 pm. And she gets home from school at 4 pm. Like “Bo,” I need it to function. I need it to sleep (um, yeah, it goes right next to me on my night table…sorry Feng Shui and family therapists out there…just the way it is). I need it to survive. It houses my pictures, my ideas, my work, my memories, my thoughts and pretty much everything inside of my brain. So of course if I had to grab something out of the house in the event of a fire it would be my computer.
Am I a bad mom because I have a security blanket? I hope not. Because I do spend a LOT of time with my kids. But it’s funny how many people will try to wean you off of it. Therapists, friends, family members…don’t they just realize that I’m happier with it beside me?
Everyone deserves something that makes you feel safe. And warm. And secure. For most, it’s probably a blanket, a teddy bear or even a flannel nightgown. Even my 30-something sister–in-law revealed to me just recently that she still sleeps with her blankie at night! Good for her! But for me, it’s a nice shiny MAC. My mommy blanket.
But alas dinnertime is approaching and this is a food blog and so I am forced to close its perfect little top for the next few hours (MAC opens up again after bedtime!).
Would love to know what other security ‘blankets’ you rely on so do share. And fittingly, tonight’s dinner will pay homage to the need for comfort items (no matter what they are) with the most comforting of comfort foods of all.
The Chicken Pot Pie.
Chicken Pot Pie
The askew slits are intentional. It's an art deco pie, okay?
Ingredients:
- 1 package boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
- Handful of sliced carrots (in circles)
- Handful of sliced celery (in circles)
- 1 potato, diced
- Two handfuls (or 1 cup) of frozen green peas
- ½ stick butter
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- pinch of celery seed
- 2 cans chicken broth (I like low sodium)
- ½ onion – diced
- ½ cup flour (you have to measure this, sorry!)
- Splash of milk, or half and half or non-dairy creamer (you decide which fat level)
- 2 unbaked pie crusts (I like the ones you roll out yourself), defrosted
Directions:
- Boil chicken cubes in some water for appx. 15 minutes. Remove and drain.
- Saute veggies in butter in separate pan for at least five minutes.
- Add flour and sauté until mixed in thoroughly
- Add chicken broth and milk and sauté on medium-low until thickened and bubbly.
- Turn off heat.
- Add chicken cubes into mixture.
- Oops, turn on oven to 400 that you forgot to do at the beginning.
- Unroll one pie shell into pie plate.
- Pour in chicken and veggie mixture.
- Unroll second pie shell over mixture and try your damnedest to make the edges look like they do in those country kitchens by pinching the sides.
- Give up on the country kitchen look.
- Make little slits in the top of the crust so pie doesn’t blow up in the oven like mine did first go-round.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until top is golden brown and insides are just escaping from the slits.
- Eat sitting next to your security blanket and/or computer for ultimate comfort!
- Remind your kids that you love them and that you could so easily be addicted to something much worse that would make their lives hell but you’re not.