Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Heavily adapted from Ina Garten. 

You can choose to make 4 pot pies, using crust only on the top, or you may choose to make 2 pies, using crust on the top and bottom.

Filling
4-6 cooked chicken breasts (I used about 7 chicken boneless chicken tender cuts), cut into bite size chunks, or shredded
1 carton chicken broth
2 bouillion cubes
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 c chopped onions
3/4 c flour
1/4 - 1/2 c half & half
5 carrots peeled/cut into coins
1 package of frozen peas
10 small-medium potatoes, peeled/cut
5 medium stalks of celery, chopped

Crust
5 c flour
3 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
1/2 c shortening
about 2/3 c milk
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
sea salt & pepper

Make the crust first, so that it can chill while prepping the rest.
Mix the flour, salt, & baking powder. Add the butter/shortening and mix with a pastry cutter until blended into pea size bits. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk. Mix until just moistened throughout. Knead quickly on a floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Cook the carrots and potatoes for a few minutes in a pot of hot water to soften them a bit. Drain & wait to be added to filling.

In a large pot, head the chicken broth and dissolve the bouillon cubes in it. In a saute pan, melt the butter and add flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add to the chicken broth. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thickened. Add salt and pepper. Mix in the cream. Stir well. Add in the chicken, carrots, peas, onions, potatoes and celery.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Divide the dough into quarters--but actually make two of the balls a bit bigger because lining a pie pan takes more dough than topping it. Roll each piece into a circle. Grease the pie plates & line the bottoms with the bigger circles of dough. Divide the filling between the two pies. Top the pies with the top crusts. Crimp the edges. Brush with egg wash and make slits on the top (3, or a cute pattern). Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden.

*You may want to put the pies on a baking sheet so that the filling does bubble over and make a mess in your oven.