Chicken and Sausage Pie..and a Cover Reveal!!!

Think back a couple weeks ago. Do you remember my post for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie?

In step one of that recipe, I put in this suggestion:

"While you're at it, roll out the rest of the dough, too. Make a second pie crust shell and roll out the rest of the crust to use for the top of a double crust pie. Put plastic wrap between the layers, cover (I put mine in my Tupperware pie keeper), and freeze. We'll use this crust in a couple weeks. ;)"

Guess what? It's time to use that crust!

Chicken and Sausage Pie

ingredients:

Filling:

1 pound sausage (the bulk breakfast sausage), browned and drained

2 cups cooked and diced chicken

1/4 cup butter

1/2 medium head cabbage, sliced thin (or you can use a packge of cole slaw mix from the grocery store)

1/4 c. onion, sliced

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Egg wash:

1 egg, beaten
1-2 Tablespoons water

Did you notice the cabbage is part of this recipe? Yes, I'm on a cabbage kick.

First of all, make sure your pie crust is ready. Take it out of the freezer and let it thaw, or make one from scratch. What you need is an empty 9" or 10" double-crust pie shell ready to go. :)

Now on to the filling. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for a few minutes or until the onion is soft.

Add the sliced cabbage, a handful at a time, and stir until everything is coated in the melted butter. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft.

Mix the cabbage, sausage and chicken together in a bowl.

Now make the sauce:

Make a roux out of the butter and flour - i.e., melt the butter in a pan on medium-low heat (I use my 10" non-stick frying pan). Once it is bubbly, gradually whisk in the flour. (I have a silicone whisk that I use just for this job). Let the butter/flour mixture cook for about a minute, without stirring. If it begins to turn brown, turn down the heat!

Gradually add the chicken broth to the roux, whisking as you go. Once the chicken broth is all smooth, add the cream. Now you can turn the heat up to medium and slowly stir the sauce until it starts to thicken. This will take about 5 minutes.

***Cheaters shortcut!!!***

You can also use pre-made chicken gravy in a jar! You'll need enough to equal about 1 to 1 1/2 cups.


Now it's time to make the pie!

Preheat your oven to 425°.

Mix the sauce and cabbage/chicken/sausage mixture together in your bowl, and then pour the filling into your pie shell.

Do you notice that the edges of this pie shell aren't fluted? They will be!

Now lay the top over the filling, centering it as well as you can.

Trim the top crust, and then flute the two crusts together.

Pierce the top crust with the point of a sharp knife in several places. It's fun to see what kind of design you can make!

Brush the egg wash onto the top of the pie using a pastry brush.

Bake in a 425° oven for 25 minutes, or until golden.

See how my egg wash wasn't even? I was in a hurry!

Cool for a few minutes, then cut into eight slices to serve.

Here is my piece, all alone on the plate. Fruit makes a great accompaniment to this meal - you certainly don't want to add anything heavy!

Okay, I promised a cover reveal, and here it is!

This is my September release, the second book in the Journey to Pleasant Prairie series.

It's available for pre-order NOW from Barnes&Noble and Amazon.

And yes, I'm pinching myself! This really is living the dream. :)

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com.