Green Chile Chicken Pie with Cheddar Crust
This week, I absolutely refused to go to the grocery store. There was so much house cleaning to do, organizing for larger projects, that I decided not to make the 1 hour trip into town. This is when I play Pantry Roulette.
Even though I say there was nothing in the pantry, there is always something. Onions, a potato, maybe a can of corn. I can always find something to cook. I thought I would just make do with what was around. so I came up with Green Chile Chicken Pie with Cheddar Crust.
We may scoff at canned foods, but we all have a few items tucked in the pantry, just in case. I think some people feel ashamed of canned food, but I grew up on canned peaches, and pears. We poured the syrup in our iced tea. I’m not sure how today’s bottled beverages are any better, or fresher, but I guess that is the perception.
My grandmother refused to eat canned tuna, because it was what they had almost every day when she and my grandfather first moved out to the ranch. Once they got a refrigerator, she never ate canned tuna again.
Green Chile Chicken Pie with Cheddar Crust is a Great Meal
Canned green chiles are not the worst thing to have in your pantry. In fact, for some of you that can’t get fresh green chiles, this might be the only way your would every taste Hatch green chiles.
I’m glad we have refrigerated trucks and chilled produce aisles, but we all have something tucked away on a shelf, that saves us on those weeks when we just want to hunker down, and get some work done.
BTW, in the spirit of staying at the ranch, I decided to just use the flowers that I found around the ranch to style this pic. I had seen a bunch of summer sunflowers growing at the front of the ranch, along the electric fence that runs down the highway. I decided not to put on my boots, and hopped in the truck in my sneakers, and drove 3 miles to the front gate.
This little escapade taught me a lot.
Cadillos are Southern sandburs (Cenchrus echinatus) the sticky spiny grass burrs that are misery when they stick on your clothes. When I hopped out of the truck, my sneaker shoe laces immediately became choked with cadillos. I also learned that microfiber yoga pants are cadillo magnets. From knees to ankles, I picked up about 200 cadillos immediately.
I had less than 30 minutes to harvest the sunflowers, drive back to the house, photograph the pie, and get dressed to go to town for a 5:00pm meeting. I had no time to spare. So, with my handy scissors, I started clipping sunflowers. I was sure there was no electrical current running through the fence. This was not the case and I got zapped. It felt like I was hit on the head with an obscenely large rolled up newspaper. My teeth clacked.
The shock startled me, and I tripped over my own feet, grinding the cadillos into my ankles and deeply embedding thorns into my fancy whisper thin micro-fiber yoga pants. I took a deep breath (aka cried) threw my flowers into the truck, and headed back to the house to photograph the pie before the flowers wilted.
This is the capture I got, which is not my best. I missed my meeting. But I did buy myself a salad when I got to town.
Note to self: Next time, wear your boots, and assume electric fences are electrified. Check.
Saute the onions, carrots and add green chiles
Add the water mixed with flour to thicken
Line pie plate with pastry, and pat shredded cheddar into crust
Add the chicken filling into the prepared pie plate
Green Chile Chicken Pie with Cheddar Crust
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Southwestern
Ingredients
Crust:
Pastry for double crust pie (store bought is fine)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz – 115 gr)
Filling:
2 tbsp. olive oil (30 ml)
1 1/2 cups chopped onions (approx 170 gr)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4.5 oz can green chiles (127 gr)
2 cups water (480ml)
2 tbsp. all purpose flour (16gr)
1 lb. cooked chicken, shredded (500 gr)
1 cup frozen peas (110 gr)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat your oven to 400°F (204°C) while you prepare your pie.
Line the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) pie plate with a prepared pie crust. Sprinkle half of the cheese onto the crust in the pie plate, and press into the pastry. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large 10″ (25cm) skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped onions, and saute until translucent. Add the carrots, and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the can of green chiles, along with the liquid. Simmer for another couple of minutes. Stir in the shredded chicken, add the frozen peas (no need to thaw) and stir to combine well.
In a measuring cup, mix together the water and flour until it is smooth, and then pour in a thin, steady stream into the simmering chicken mixture. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for another minute or so, until the mixture is thickened. Remove from heat.
Spoon the chicken mixture into the prepared pie crust. Add the top crust, and crimp together the edges to seal the pie. Sprinkle over the remaining cheddar cheese, and press into the pastry dough.
Place the prepared pie in the oven (my preference is to use a pie shield and pie drip catcher) and bake for 1 hour, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Mine is in the oven right now! Quick question: do the peas go in with the chicken? I had mine measured out and was skimming the recipe as I went along so I may have missed something.
Yipes! I will will go back and fix the recipe. The peas can be added right at the end of stirring together the ingredients in the pan. Even if they stay frozen, they will cook thoroughly once they are baked in the pie. I will fix that right now! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
mg