Chicken Pot Pie (with crust)

Ingredients

• chicken-about a 5 pound roaster, or 5 lbs of chicken parts, or about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless meat (yielding 6-7 C of meat)
• 1 onion-cut into chunks
• 2 carrots- cut into chunks
• 1 T parsley
• 1/2 t thyme
• 1 t salt
• water to cover chicken

FILLING
• 6 T fat (any combo of oil, butter, chicken fat from stock)
• 6 T flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 1/2 C chicken stock (from above)
• 1-2 C carrots-thawed if using frozen, blanched if using fresh
• 1-2 C peas, thawed if using frozen
• 1 1/2 C small white onions, or slightly less chopped onion

CRUST
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 T buttermilk powder (opt but recommended)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/4 C vegetable shortening (regular or butter flavored)
• 1 t white or cider vinegar
• 3-5 T cold water

Directions

Cook the chicken, onion chunks, carrot chunks, parsley, thyme, & salt in a large stock pot until chicken is done. Remove chicken; skin & debone. Discard vegetables. Reduce stock to 2 1/2 C. If you have excess after about an hour, save what you don't need for this recipe. (Substitute canned broth for this step using about 1 1/2 cans.)
*For the filling: Remove fat from your chicken stock.
In saucepan heat the 6 T of fat until butter melted, add 6 T flour; stirring to combine. Gradually whisk in 2 1/2 C stock. Cook and stir until it boils then reduce and simmer 5 min. Add in chicken, 1/4 t salt, peas and carrots. Warm thoroughly, adjust seasoning to taste. Spoon into 12x8 pan, or 2-3 Qt baking dish. Use a dish that is wider than it is deep.
*For the crust: In your mixing bowl, combine flour, buttermilk powder, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter & shortening--leaving some baby-pea sized lumps (I use my Kitchen Aid w/the whisk attach for this)
*Mix vinegar w/3 Tablespoons of water. Sprinkle this over the crust mixture. Squeeze dough together. If it is not cohesive, add additional 1-2 tablespoons of water--just enough so the dough sticks together. Shape the dough to fit your baking dish onto a pastry mat or wax paper. Refrigerate 30 min.
Carefully place crust onto baking dish, patching as needed. Cut a couple vents. Decorate the top if you have enough leftover crust.

Bake your pie in a preheated 375F oven for 50-60 min until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Makes 8 servings.

There are a lot of possible shortcuts in this recipe:
use leftover turkey or chicken; use canned broth; use cream based soups for the sauce in the filling; use frozen mixed veggies; use a pre-made crust