Comfort Foods....A Chicken Pot Pie Soup Recipe

I follow Centsational Girl's blog because I envy her craftiness and know I will never be capable of doing anything she is able to achieve with a can of paint and some old furniture. Today, however, she featured a link-up for favorite comfort food recipes, which is something I can TOTALLY do. I do NOT have any pictures, but the recipe I do have is one that will make your taste buds want to praise the little baby Lord Jesus, and is something I've been working on perfecting for a couple of years. Introducing:

Makes approximately 4-6 HEARTY servings. 

Prep:

Cube 2 chicken breasts

Slice your carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and any additional veggies you want to add to the mix. (Some people may just want to throw in Veg-All to save themselves some time. Phooey to this, I say....but really, you can.)

Cooking instructions:

In a soup pot, slowly melt 6 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Add ½ cup of flour, and stir continually for 1.5 minutes still over low heat. Add in 1 box of chicken broth, and half a can of cream of chicken* and stir vigorously over medium heat. (*I throw in the COC because it makes it super thick, which I like; but it’s totally not necessary*) Allow to simmer for about three minutes, until suitably thickened. Lower heat and add ¼ cup of milk. Stir and continue to let it simmer. (You don’t ever want to do this over high heat, since it will curdle. Add seasonings to taste—I recommend ½ teaspoon of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (and a pinch of Tony Chacheres, but that’s a Louisiana thing).

Now, add your cubed chicken, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and any other veggies (a frozen bag of Veg-All works in a pinch too, although I’d suggest defrosting it first) to this mixture. Bring to medium heat, and keep at this temperature for about five minutes, or until you’re reasonably sure the chicken is cooked. Turn the heat to low, cover it, and allow it to simmer about 20 minutes, or until your veggies are soft.

For the crust:

I recommend either Pillsbury pie crust mixture or Jiffy pie mix (highly recommend Jiffy, but it’s not always easy to find). Make the whole box, because the crust is the best part. Roll it out on a cookie sheet, slice it into 2x2 pieces with a pizza cutter, and broil (making sure to watch them closely!) until they are brown on top. These are added to your soup when you feel like eating it…and it never gets soggy that way.

Additional:

You may want to pre-heat your chicken broth and cream of chicken so it goes into the mixture of butter/flour better. (I’m lazy and usually don’t.)

Watch your flour/butter combination closely—it will burn if you do not continually stir it.

Do not ever boil your mixture, because it can curdle due to the milk content.