I dream of Chicken Pot Pies

[Joe Hell]

I dream of Chicken Pot Pies…

Sometimes I have surreal dreams. Sometimes mundane. Sometimes I wake up craving a food that I haven’t had in what seems like forever. I recently dreamed of Chicken Pot Pies. I love them.
I like to make just about any dish from scratch. You name it, I’ll try to make it. I’ve been avoiding carbs for 15 months now but that doesn’t mean I can let my sourdough starter go idle. I bake bread and give it away or turn it into croutons and save them for a rainy day. It’s pure torture.

There is nothing like a homemade Chicken Pot Pie, but my guilty pleasure is the cheapo, store bought, frozen variety. They aren’t anything special but they are comforting…nostalgic…reminiscent of times gone by. How I crave thee.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the dream and I can’t shake them from my mind. I need a pot pie fix. Chicken Pot Brats?
I borrowed from Jonathon’s recipe for ‘Chicken Brats from Chicken thigh meat’ but put my pot pie spin on it. I used the recommended addition of Cold Phosphate and Carrot Fiber Binder. I didn’t have any Walton’s seasonings on-hand with the profile I was looking for so I used what I thought would give the sausages the pot pie backbone I was looking for…gravy mix.
Normally I would use all fresh ingredients but you just can’t find peas and corn this time of year. Besides…I never worried about that when eating the frozen pies. Luckily we have had a mild winter and I still have access to fresh Thyme and Rosemary. For the filling I went with the standards:
Potato
Green Beans
Corn
Green peas
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Italian Parsley
Thyme
Rosemary
Butter
8 oz. Duck Broth (why the duck not?)

For the preparation I diced all of the veggies into ‘pea sized’ bits and sautéed with a good amount of Irish butter. Potatoes, Green Beans and Onions first. When the onions start to go translucent I add the Carrots and Celery. A minute or two later the Peas and Corn make an appearance ending with the minced Garlic for another minute or so. I kill the flame and add the fresh Thyme, Rosemary and chopped Italian Parsley and let cool.

While the veggies cool I grind my partially frozen chicken thighs bits through the 3/16 plate on my Weston #8 grinder and return the ground meat to the freezer while I measure out the phosphate and carrot fiber and prep the stuffer.
After removing the once ground meat from the freezer I mix in the veggies and gravy mix and go for another grind through the same 3/16 plate and end up with a perfect grind. A quick sample patty hits the fry pan…just a touch more salt & pepper and I should be good to go. I mix in the phosphate, binder and broth but the mix is a bit loose so I add a sprinkling more of the carrot binder. One more test patty to be sure…perfection!

In order to give myself an accurate idea of the total amount of carbs per sausage I planned on measuring every ingredient down to the gram but in my rush for pot pie satisfaction, I forgot. I ended up weighing the total amount of veggies (11.10 oz.) and went with the highest weight/carb ratio of the most ‘dangerous’ ingredient…the sinister and addictive potato.
If my calculations are correct (no guarantee) there is approx. 4.5-5 grams carbs per 4 oz. sausage. Not too shabby. My limit is 22 per day so 5-7 per meal is acceptable.
All in all I made a pretty reasonable facsimile of the Chicken Pot Pie. You can certainly distinguish the gravy profile from the veggies and pick up on the herbal notes. The aroma is spot-on. The flavor is everything I hoped it would be. Dreams really do come true!

The only thing missing is the pastry crust and extra gravy…or is it? I made a quick pastry crust, wrapped a pre-cooked Chicken Pot Brat, applied an egg wash and baked until golden brown…served in a pool of gravy! (disclaimer: I did not eat the crusty Chicken Pot Brat…I gave it to my momma)

<img src=“/assets/uploads/files/1547235023218-combine-resized.jpg”

[sstory]

Joe Hell That looks awesome! Nicely done. I think I will have to try something like this soon (minus the pastry crust). And I might even have to leave out the potatoes (we are also on the Keto diet so I try to cut any carb that I easily can). Wow, don’t think I’ve ever heard of Duck broth – probably not available at the local WalMart LOL.

[Joe Hell]

sstory Thanks! I had never heard of the duck broth either but ran across it at a ‘Grocery Outlet - Bargain Market’. It’s good stuff! I generally would have avoided the potatoes, carrots and peas but figured the total carbs were low enough that I could justify a small amount.

[Joe Hell]

This seems like a good time of year to revisit this one!