Chicken Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

1 rotisserie chicken

3 small red potatoes

1 pkg frozen peas and carrots

2 onions

3 stalks celery

1 cube butter

1/3 C. flour

1 can chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup (from Sprouts, not a concentrate like Campbells)

3 T. fresh chopped Thyme

1 tsp. fresh chopped Rosemary

2 T. roasted garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Remove as much meat as possible from chicken and boil carcass with sprigs of fresh thyme and several cloves of roasted garlic for broth along with the whole potatoes. 

Chop onions and celery with chopped Thyme and Rosemary. Saute in butter until beginning to brown. Add flour to make a roux. Add chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Remove and chop potatoes and add that broth to mixture. Adjust seasonings for taste* and add peas and carrots, chopped potatoes and chopped chicken then turn into uncooked pie shell, cover with top crust (tin foil edges of crust to prevent over browning) and bake at 425 until crust is browned and sauce is bubbling up  about 45 min

*To add depth of flavor to sauces or soups, there are often small amounts of ingredients that you can't really identify or "taste" but they make the food taste richer and better rather than a little flat. Often a vinegar, lemon or tomato paste.  To this recipe I added about 1 T. of Kimchee liquid (because I had it on hand and it is basically vinegar and hot sauce which could be substituted) about 1 T. of soy sauce and about 1 T. of tomato paste (I buy tomato paste in a tube from Sprouts so I can add small amounts for flavor and not have a whole can leftover) 

Additional Cook's notes:

Chicken pie can be ruined if it is too dry. To prevent a dry chicken pie:

If there is not plenty of sauce, add more chicken broth and adjust thickening if necessary, being very careful not to over-thicken sauce

The potatoes are pre-cooked to avoid dryness

The chicken is already cooked and removed ahead of time because boiling chicken after it is cooked will dry it out

I used cream of chicken soup from sprouts but it is not a crucial ingredient. You could easily substitute any of the following:
Campbells chicken soup with water added
Cream and chicken boullion
Evaporated milk and chicken boullion