I decided to try something new, homemade chicken pot pie. I have never eaten one before as my family did not make them nor would I have tried one at a potluck or gathering as they tend to have a lot of unknown stuffs in them. I did grow up with the occasional cheap, frozen kind of pot pie that came in either chicken or beef flavors. While I did enjoy them, they were a good deal of work as I always had to remove every single pea and those white chunks of potato. I mostly liked them for the crust and gravy. The chicken ones, even moreso than the meat variety, tended to have questionable gristly pieces of meat.
So, I decided this was my next goal. Having never witnessed the process of creating such a dish, I used the new fangled internet channels to locate short videos on how to go about this.
Chicken Pot Pie is a complex, all-in-one dish. Many steps, most of which I had never tried before. Let's start with the pie crust. I have never, in my life, my 60 glorious, fun-filled, sarcasm ridden years, made a homemade butter pie crust. I had always used the frozen kind on those rare occasions that I made a pie. I had witnessed and marveled at my sister, Joy, when she would whip out or rather rollout a pie crust with the greatest of ease. And she said it was sooo easy. Well, maybe for her and many others but the whole crust process stymied me. It seemed to rely a lot on observation and iffy, unmeasurable things and variables. I did not understand the process. Video after video, as I am an extremely slow learning who requires multiple exposures and instructions in order to attempt the new, I watch and rewatched. It took me probably a week of watching videos and mentally planning this meal.
I started by making a list of ingredients and going shopping. I did not own a rolling pin so I first shopped online at my store of choice to see what was available, price and quality and materials. I decided on the standard 5 dollar wooden rolling pin seeing as I had not used one in the past 7 years, I figured I would not require anything of high quality or high price.
The filling was the next topic to deeply consider. It was kindof like a dream, to be able to eat a chicken pot pie, for the first time in my life that I wouldn't have to pick through and discard half of the innards. What did I want as the filling? That was a big and most important question. I settled on chicken, onions, carrots, celery, one fresh mushroom cause I just wasn't sure, and yellow and purple cauliflower because I love me some colorful cauliflower, and it would take the place of both the "normal" peas and potatoes. Filling figured!
The chicken part was next. I thought I would just buy a couple of pieces of white meat on the bone but my store did not have any in stock. The pieces they did have cost more than a whole chicken. I bought the whole chicken. This decision took the longest time standing and comparing and thinking over the meat counter. In my mind I wanted the simpler task of just a couple pieces of meat to cook. Now, I was committing to cooking an entire chicken, removing the meat and utilizing as much of all that other stuff as possible...it would make the process much much longer timewise. Okay. Got the chicken.
I decided that I needed to break the cooking down into individual steps that did not overlap. I do not engage in multi-tasking because, well, I cannot do it. So, my first task was to bake the chicken and get the meat off. While the chicken was baking, I took a break. I did not start the filling. I did not making the crust. it would have been too confusing for my Aspie brain. With the chicken in the oven, I need to chill, calm down, keep cool, so I played my Towermadness computer game because its repetitions calm and soothe me. Doing new stuff raises anxiety and stress. It Just Does. Even if it seems like a relatively mundane task like cooking a new dish, it reads as anxiety in my Aspie head. I give my self credit for finally realizing how to do something in the least upsetting way! Slow, one at a time, and with many low-stress, unwind time breaks.
The chicken was cooked. I had harvested the two cups of meat. Then it was time for the filling. I chopped all my vegetables nice and small, just the way I like them. I cooked them in a pan on the oven. This was new. Then, another virginal experience, I figured out how to add flour and butter, mix and then add 2 cups chicken broth and half and half. I had never used this stuff before. I had never been able to figure out how to make a rue, I think they call it. So, I'm watching these floury vegetables get this gravy going. It was like watching a creation that you had only seen but thought you would never be able to do, if that makes any sense. Not to be overly dramatic, as that is not my nature, but, it did look like a small miracle I was creating. Word. And I could see how creamy it was getting and I had to make spot decisions about how much more liquid to add and when to stop and when to take it off the burner, so many decisions that I had to kindof guess at. I could feel the adrenaline going. Reminded me of how it felt that one time I rode that small roller coaster at Cedar Point.
Okay. The filling was complete. It was pie crust time. I did watch the pastry video again while the chicken was cooking so I remembered to put my butter in the freezer. I remembered watching my sister and the tips she said. Then, I cut my butter into my flour, salt mixture and started slowly adding the cold water. Tablespoon by tablespoon. At one point, I'm like, heck no this is not the way to go, but I held on. I continued and did not give up. It didn't look like I was making any progress for what felt like forever (because when you have ADD everything does take forever, or feels like it anyway). Then it started happening. The dough started coming together. I gasped and was amazed at this. Another small miracle, something I had never been able to do before was taking place before my eyes. I marveled. I did. I may have shed a tear. Simple things. I thought I would never be able to accomplish and I Was Accomplishing. Rolling out the dough. I could see it, feel it, I was actually being successful. It was really really. I put the first crust in the pan followed by the filling. Then I rolled out the second crust which looked even better than the first because I had gotten the hang of it.
It was time to crimp the edges. I did nothing fancy because I did not want to ruin this creation. Yeah, I was scared I'd break it or I just wanted it in the oven before I messed it up. I put the 2 inch slits in the top. That felt and looked really cool as the crust so easily parted and the top of the pie just looked really really good after I created those vents. Oh, I was so pleased looking at it. In the oven it went.
Thirty-five minutes later, I pulled it out and let it cool. Slicing it, man, the texture felt just right. The first piece looked excellent. The first bite, priceless. Made me cry. Stress relief and I'd done it. And it tasted so very good. No additives. All natural ingredients. All things I liked! And the texture of that crust and the filling, man! It tasted awesome. It's the most biggest thing, task, goal, whathaveyou, that I have successfully accomplished in a very very very long time.
Tons of work. Lots and lots of thought and planning and decision making and perfect execution and guesswork, and everything worked out!! Absolutely Amazing!! The best meal that I have ever cooked thus far!!!
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