Chicken Curry Pot Pie

I'm glad to report that today's weather was a complete 180 from yesterday's... just sayin'. 

Anyway, today is pretty exciting because in about an hour or two, I have my first book club meeting!  Yeah, I joined a book club last month.  It's basically just a few of my girl friends getting together to eat and talk about a book of the month, but I'm hoping it'll give me a chance to do a little more reading (that's not school-based!).  

This month's book was "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen.  I must say, it was a pretty good read.  It's basically the story of an elderly man, now in an assisted-living home, who has flashbacks of when we was a "vet" for the circus.  Pretty good story, so if you're interested in a new read, I definitely recommend it!

And I posted on my Facebook and at the end of yesterday's post that I was making a chicken curry pot pie, and I got texts, blog comments, and facebook replies that I needed to share that a.s.a.p.  So, you asked for it, you got it!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Ravenous Couple's recipe

Curry:

4 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk of lemongrass, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons red curry paste, divided in half
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup coconut milk
3 cups chicken stock
1 large sweet potato (I used white fleshed), peeled, cut into about 1 inch pieces
1 & 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 onion, peeled, cut in wedges
¼ cup frozen peas
¼ cup frozen corn
1 green onion, thinly chopped

Pot Pie:

 
1 sheet store bought puff pastry
1 egg
1 tbs water

First marinate the cut pieces of chicken with garlic, minced lemongrass, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of curry paste. Marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, and onion. If you're going to make the pot pie, allow puff pastry to thaw slightly at room temperature. Place your baking dish on top of puff pastry and cut around the container with a pizza cutter leaving about 1 inch margin. Return the puff pastry back to the freezer until ready for use.

In a large pot on medium high heat, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil and sautee the chicken along with remaining 2 tablespoons of curry paste. Cook chicken for about 3-5 minutes, then add coconut milk.  Stir and meld together for another minute and then add chicken stock.

Add potatoes first, and cook for about 3-5 minutes.  Then stir in carrots, onions, peas, and corn just when mixture is about to boil.  Bring to boil and reduce to low heat and simmer until vegetables are just soft but not too mushy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed. 

Transfer mixture to a large glass baking dish and preheat oven to 400 F.

Make a egg wash with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water and generously brush the edges of the puff pastry.  Place the puff pastry, egg wash side down over the baking dish. Seal by pressing pastry edges tightly onto the glass dish. Brush another layer of egg wash on top of the puff pastry and make a small "x" in the center to let out steam. Bake until crust is golden and flaky, about 10-15 minutes.  

Ladle into deep plates and serve with a big bowl of rice!

Seriously, I'm so glad I stumbled upon this recipe!  I tweaked it a little bit, to be a perfect mixture of chicken curry and a classic chicken pot pie and it was just absolutely amazing.  Quite spicy, but I like the heat!  Definitely give this a go guys!  Enjoy! 

Oh and don't forget that Wednesday is our CSA day... here's our goodies:

 

 1 French baguette

2 butternut squashes

1 bunch of radish (I've got radish out the wazoo, so any recipe suggestions would be greatly appreciated!)

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

2 lbs. apples, 1 bunch bok choy,

1 bunch greens (forgot the name, oops!)