Saturday, March 3, 2012

Weekend Cooking: Crock Pot Comfort

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.


Comfort food. Those two words immediately bring my mother's mashed potatoes to mind, and then maybe the macaroni and cheese served at a New Haven hospital where I used to work. My husband's first thought is always chicken pot pie, but I rarely (okay, never) make my own. The combination of an intriguing crock pot recipe and a cold, snowy, comfort food kind of day inspired me to try.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O'Dea has been my favorite crock pot cookbook for the last year, but I've shied away from preparing anything vaguely pastry-related. Trish's recent experimentation was just the encouragement I needed to give this recipe a try.

CHICKEN POT PIE

The Ingredients:

FILLING

cooking spray
2 uncooked skinless chicken thighs or breast halves, cut in bit-size chunks
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream-of-something soup
2 tablespoons low-fat milk

BISCUIT TOPPING

2 cups biscuit mix
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
8 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 cup milk (2% or lower)

The Directions:

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Spray the stoneware with cooking spray, and add the chicken. Add the vegetables and seasonings. Stir in the soup and add 2 tablespoons of milk to the can; swish around to get last bits of soup and pour into the crock. Stir well.


In a mixing bowl, make the biscuit topping. The dough will be pretty "play-doughy". Spread the dough on top of the chicken and veggie mixture.

(At this point, I began planning an emergency alternate dinner!)

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. The potpie is done when the biscuit topping is golden brown, and is hard to the touch in the middle. If you find that your slow cooker seals really well and you have a lot of condensation building up, you can prop open the lid with a wooden spoon or chopstick.


I was shocked this dish turned out so well!



A few notes:

  • I used fat-free cream of chicken soup
  • I misread the recipe and added 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1/2 tablespoon of sugar - it made no difference
  • I cooked it on high for 4 hours, lid propped open with a chopstick for the last 2 hours
  • I used two boneless chicken breast halves
  • I used 1 cup of frozen peas/carrots mixture, plus 1/2 cup of frozen corn

I follow new recipes pretty closely, but the next time (and there will definitely be a next time) I'd add more a little more chicken. I also can't believe this used a whole stick of butter. Any suggestions on how this could be cut down or substituted?

45 comments:

  1. Drawing a blank on cutting down on the butter, except to suggest a different biscuit mix, different biscuit recipe? I'm impressed. I never thought that the biscuits would brown. Looks terrific.

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    1. Beth F - I guess if it's comfort food, you've got to have butter ;-)

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  2. Couldn't get much simpler than this! Your making me very hungry!

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  3. I have been dying to find a crockpot chicken pot pie recipe and this one looks terrific! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I have marked this as a "favorite" post so that I can easily find it when I get the craving again :)

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    1. Molly - I was really shocked this turned out as well as it did. Let me know if you decide to try it.

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  4. We love pot pie and I'd never think to make it in the slow cooker. Looks delicious, I have to try!

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    1. Carol - I love my slow cooker and have been using it more and more over the last year. Can't believe this recipe actually worked!

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  5. This looks delicious! I have a chicken pot pie recipe that I make that is really good but quite time consuming. I might start using this one for those days when I don't have much time and want to prepare the day before. Thanks!

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    1. Lorren Lemmons - I have several very involved, labor-intensive recipes and I NEVER use them. This may be the only way my poor husband gets his chicken pot pie!

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  6. I wonder if you could use refrigerated biscuits rather than biscuit mix?
    Signed, Lazy

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    1. Amy (Lazy) -I'll bet a tube of refrigerated biscuits on top would work. Not sure about any decrease in butter there, but it would be much easier and neater!

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  7. I also did not know you could make chicken pot pie in the crockpot. I would have thought the crust would get all gloopy and not brown. Interesting!

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    1. Libby - I couldn't believe this turned out as well as it did. Guess you can cook just about anything in a slow cooker!

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  8. I would never have thought of trying something like this in the slow cooker . Looks very nice.

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  9. We had pot pie tonight, but I never dreamed on making it in a crock pot. MUST try this one, looks yummy. Thanks so much

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    1. Diane - This recipe was so easy, I know I'll make it again!

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  10. "cream-of-something-soup"!! I love that! ;)

    A whole stick of butter IS a lot! I'd just look for a lower-fat recipe for biscuits online--try cookinglight.com and then experiment!

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    1. Christine - The "cream of something" soup made me laugh, too. I will look for a low-fat biscuit recipe, but I suppose all the butter is one of the things that makes this comfort food.

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  11. Sounds and looks great to me...we like butter here!! My husband would love this one. I will have to make it next weekend!

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    1. Staci - We love butter, too. Just wish I could come up with a healthier alternative, but the fat-free soup helps. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make it.

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  12. Chicken pot pie is Jason's favorite but I've never attempted it. I'm printing this recipes to try. I might try the refrigerated biscuits on top first and see if it's good enough ;)

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    Replies
    1. Stacybuckeye - I might give that a try next time, too!

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  13. LOL at the emergency alternative plan. Glad this turned out for you!
    Joy's Book Blog

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    1. Joy - I was pretty concerned for a while there ;-)

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  14. I always think pies are such great comfort food. Looks good, and it's even better when a recipe turns out.

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    1. Shelley Munro - Pies are great comfort food. I'm really going to try to make them for my husband more often.

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  15. This is AWESOME!!! I would have never believed you could cook something like this in the crockpot before my experiement either. One trick I came upon is to put papertowel under the lid to catch any condensation so it doesn't drip onto the dish when you lift the lid. Guess the chopstick works the same way?

    and I beleive it about the butter. I made pie crusts yesterday for my pie and used a whole cup of butter. Plus more butter when I was sauteeing the veggies.

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    1. Trish - Hmm, the paper towels probably would have worked, too. Good idea. Butter may just be necessary evil of these comfort dishes...

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  16. I don't have a crock-pot but I'm thinking of getting one. It seems so much can be cooked in it and it's pretty easy, plus the meals you can make sounds delicious! One of my husband's favorites is also chicken pot pie and he would love this recipe and even more, its result!

    Thank you JoAnn!

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    1. Amy - You should definitely get a crock pot! There's nothing better than having dinner all ready when you get home. :-)

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  17. Since the your Turkey Chili recipe was so delicious I am going to try this one.

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    Replies
    1. Nise' - I hope you like this one just as much!

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  18. I've never made chicken pot pie in the crockpot, but you've given the courage. It looks delicious.

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    1. Diane - I still can't believe this recipe worked! Let me know how it turns out if you decide to give it a try.

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  19. Oh man, I am definitely going to try this one! I love chicken pot pie but it always seems like such work. It sure looks yummy!

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    1. Darlene - This recipe was really pretty simple!

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  20. You can add me to the list of people who never considered pot pie in the crock pot. Now I have to try it for myself. I have no idea why so much butter is required, but I also don't have a suggestion for something different. It does seem like too much.

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    1. Margot - I've decided that butter is one of the ingredients that makes it comfort food. I may try a low-fat biscuit mix next time and see if it turns out as well.

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  21. I think I'd miss the bottom crust.

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    1. Carol - I think I would have liked it more with a bottom crust, but the fact that it came out in crock pot just amazed me!

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  22. My husband loves chicken pot pies, but I've never gone to the trouble of making them since he's perfectly content to eat Marie Calender's. This sounds too easy not to try!!

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    1. Les - This recipe was quick and fairly easy, so I'll definitely make it again. I also want to try the recipe Trish had on her blog... it looks more like the 'real thing'!

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