Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

 Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Leslie Garcia

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup chicken broth, plus 1/2 chicken bouillon cube (or equivalent) 1/2 cup milk or 1/2 and 1/2 (any % milk works)
1-2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 sprig fresh thyme, or equivalent 1 unbaked pie crust

Instructions
TO MAKE FILLING:
1- Sauté the first 3 ingredients in butter over medium heat until tender. Add flour; stir until smooth. Cook 1 Minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and milk; cook stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
2- Stir in chicken, peas, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cool before adding top crust. VERY important!

FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS:
1- At this point you may freeze the filling in a labeled freezer safe container/bag. To prepare from frozen, read instructions below.
2- Or you may assemble the whole pie and freeze whole.
3- To do that, prepare crust. Roll it out. Pour filling into greased pan. Cover with crust, folding edges under and crimp. Cut slits in the top.
4- Cover with foil, label and freeze. See below for preparation instructions.

TO PREPARE POT PIE FROM FRESH:
Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees, for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

TO PREPARE POT PIE FROM FROZEN:
1- Thaw filling in refrigerator. Stir, and assemble as described above. Bake accordingly. OR, you may bake the whole pie from frozen.
2- To do so, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3- Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, then cover with foil and bake 30 more minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 8.
4- Freezes very well separately or fully prepared in the crust. Try them both and see which way you prefer!