Chicken Pot Pie, and other uses


My New Year’s Resolution was to be more thrifty. To this end, instead of buying a few chicken breasts the other night, ($11-15 at Trader Joe’s) I bought a whole chicken ($8). Then, ended up stretching it to about 6 meals, not exactly on purpose.

Meal 1:
Roasted chicken (Rinse chicken, cover with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven for 45 mins.)
Instant mashed potatoes
Green salad
Steamed veggies
ready to eat turkey gravy (trader joe’s)
Served 2

Meal 2-5: Chicken Salad Sandwich lunches
Pick out some meat from carcass, mix with diced artichokes, mayo, mustard and relish, toast some bread, put lettuce on bread, put salad on top. Voila.

Meal 6: Chicken Pot Pie- serves 6/8
(Variations from Joy of Cooking)
Pick all remaining meat from carcass.
Sauté chopped 3 medium carrots, 1 large onion, a few small red potatoes, 1 large apple in olive oil.
Boil water with carcass in a saucepan. Once carcass is clean, remove, add a few tablespoons of sherry, salt, pepper, strain through cheesecloth. (After the recipe I still had 2 jars full of broth!)
Make quick biscuit dough (either from mix or scratch)- flour, baking powder, salt in bowl, cut in 1/2 cup of butter. Add 3/4 cup of milk. Flatten or roll out.
Combine meat, veggies, gravy, some plain yogurt, leftover gravy from first dinner, and a cup or two of broth. Put biscuit on top. Brush egg yolk on top. Cook at 375F for 1/2 hour to 45 mins, or until top is brown.

My mom asked me how long it took- I said, “Not all of Fresh Air,” – to be honest, I got in the zone a little and wasn’t rushed.