The last time I tried to make one, it was fashioned after a series of pot pies I'd had in England in 1996, made by the dear grandmother of a close friend of mine. My sister and I had finished our study abroad year in Austria, and we had driven up to England with our Welsh friend who had also finished his Erasmus year abroad (Erasmus was the name then, of the exchange program of students within Europe and the U.K. and Ireland). Our plan was to stay with him in Wales and see the sights for a little while, then to sight see in London for a couple of days, and then fly home.
Wales was beautiful; we stayed in Pontypool with our friend and his generous and loving family; we went for walks in the hills (and yes indeed there are a lot of sheep); we visited Cardiff Castle and Chepstow Castle (we nicknamed it Cheapstone for no other reason then that it was easier to say), and I had the honor of attending the Swansea Ball as my friend's date, and to drink Hooch into late in the night, then wake up to a full English breakfast.
Alas though, it was time to head home. Our friend's grandparents lived in Colchester, and hearing their grandson was going to be in London, they insisted we come and stay at their house for the days we were touring the big city.
We loved those grandparents so much; Betty and Dick Furminger; in the evenings, after coming home on the regional train, they took out their memorabilia boxes from World War II; they had ration cards still from the war(!); and Dick was a change bell ringer - he was an active player in a group in a church tower - one magical evening we took a double decker bus and rode into town; we climbed into the tower and watched as he stood within a circle of players and tugged on a rope, according to a sheet of what looked like written music, but upon closer inspection, was difficult to decipher. The tower rocked with the music of those powerful bells as the sun went down. We were lucky indeed.
And food wise....we had Betty's exquisite cooking to come home to every evening. She made pies and tarts, little sandwiches and scones(she pronounced it as an American would, and laughed heartily when we were puzzled that she didn't call it "scoon"). The chicken pies she made for us were a mixure of soft vegetables, creamy gravy, and just perfectly flaky crust. It was eye rolling-good. We asked her for a recipe; she answered, "Well you just take some chicken, carrots and peas,make a gravy, and put in in the crust. It's quite easy really." That was cute, but we realized she had made it so many times, she had perfected it, and she couldn't give us measurements - it was intuitive to her now.
So back home in Noo Yawk, we were left to our own devices. With our Mom, a couple of weeks after returning home, we tried to concoct a chicken pot pie. The effort was worth it, and while delicious, it wasn't quite Gran's pie; we sautéed some chicken breast, and took some frozen peas and carrots, cooked that up in a can of Campbell's cream of chicken soup; added the chicken, and then poured that thick mixture into a pair of Pillsbury pie crusts.
We didn't really attempt that pie again.
Now it is some cough cough -teen years later, and smelling that pie cooking so close to my own kitchen...I was inspired!
I quickly skimmed a few recipes online, and came up with this; I made a simple crust of 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 stick of cold diced butter, and 1/4 cup of cold water. I formed a ball, then wrapped it in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator until it was time to assemble the pie.
Then I sautéed some chicken breast chunks in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Once the chicken was browned, I removed it, and fried up 3 tablespoons of butter; I added half a box of frozen peas, half a box of frozen peas and carrots mix, and one chopped onion. I let that slowly cook until the whole mixture was warm and the onions were soft. Then I added the chicken, and sprinkled everything with about 2 tablespoons of flour. I let that cook for about 3 minutes, while stirring. Then I added about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, and stirred that for about another 5 minutes watching for a natural thickening to occur - that is the gravy. I sprinkled a little bit of turmeric and salt and pepper over it all.
I turned the heat off on the chicken and vegetable mixture.
I took the dough out of the fridge, and rolled it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper (love parchment paper!), sprinkled with flour.
I poured the chicken mixture into my pie pan, and then laid the dough over the pan, letting it droop over the edges where it was uneven (it's fun to snap these edges off after the pie is baked).
I baked this at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes - I think I should've baked it at a higher temperature - maybe 425, because it took longer to bake than I had guessed for a pie with an already cooked center. I took it out once the crust was a nice brown.
I let the pie cool for 5 minutes, then I served it up.
My husband went cuckoo for it! The gravy was nice, the peas had become very mushy and the crust was very slightly sweet. I liked it very much - THIS was more like Gran's pie!
*photos coming soon. I am seriously spazzing out with how to upload photos here lately.
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