Contestant #2-Halloween Food Storage Dinners

I got this from Jennifer W. and I’m just amazed at how creative all of you are! Here is contestant #2 for the Fanatic Friday contest. Remember you’re deciding what I’ll be eating for Halloween!

Jack-o-Lantern Chicken Pot Pie

1 Heaping cup potato, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced (you could try using dehydrated carrots- I have not, but I bet it might work)
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used half white, half wheat)
2 cups chicken broth (boullion works fine)
1 cup half and half
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 8 oz can of corn
4 cups chicken, cooked and chopped (a great way to use canned/bottled food storage chicken)
a pie crust (either your own or store bought, but here’s a great pie crust recipe at the end)

Directions
1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2- If using raw chicken, boil it in water (I boil it in extra chicken broth) for 15 to 20 minutes until white.  Let cool, then chop or shred.
3- Meanwhile, saute onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes in butter for 10 minutes.
4- Add flour to sauteed mixture, stirring well.  Cook one minute, stirring constantly.
5- combine 2 cups broth and half and half
6- gradually stir into vegetable mixture and add DRAINED can of corn
7- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
8- Stir in salt and pepper; add chicken and stir well.  Pour into shallow 2 quart dish (or divide between personal sized ramekins) and top with pie shell.  Cut in slits for the steam to escape, just little lines around the face to make it look like a pumpkin.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly and cooked through.

******Perfect Pie crust:
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour, sifted
3/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt (use garlic salt for the chicken pie recipe, regular salt for dessert recipes)
4 Tablespoons ICE COLD water

Measure flour and salt in a bowl; combine.  Add half of shortening with a pastry cutter.  Cut through.  Add the remaining shortening; cut through.
Sprinkle in the water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and mix it with a fork after each tablespoon until the dough holds together.  DO NOT BE IMPATIENT AND ADD EXTRA WATER!
Press into a ball and divide the dough in half.  Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to make a two crust, 9″ pie (or just leave it as one thick pie crust for the top, which works well for this chicken pie recipe- its just personal preference).  If using many little ramekins, divide crust between number of ramekins used.
For chicken recipe, after crust is rolled flat, remove top parchemnt paper and use a knife to carve a face in the middle, taking care to remember that the face will be put on upside down when placing it on the pie and peeling the bottom parchment paper off.

Want to enter the Fanatic Friday recipe contest? November will be all about Thanksgiving favorites. Did you know that even the Pilgrims were counseled to have a year supply of food? There’s no better way to celebrate them than to make things for Thanksgiving that use items from OUR one year supply. Have a food storage recipe that would be perfect to serve on Thanksgiving? Please share it with us at fanaticfridays@gmail.com! For more information on the contest click HERE.