Chicken Bacon Ranch Pot Pie

I had a fantastic discovery last night. It turned out much better than yesterday's Bacon Potato Chowder, which I won't post. The amazing discovery was using part of a ranch dressing packet to flavor the homemade white sauce. It was delicious. I really don't have any measurements for most of the things I added, but I'll do my best.

I used my super easy pie crust for this. It's in the new additions to the cook book, but here it is again:

Combine 2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white, 1 cup wheat) and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 1/3 cup milk and 2/3 cup vegetable oil. Stir until combined, divide in two (one slightly bigger, for the bottom). Roll out the bigger one between wax paper and transfer to pie tin. Roll out the smaller one and set aside.

I use it for every kind of pie that I do. I don't think I'll ever roll out a dry pastry pie crust again. I baked the bottom for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees until it was browned. I definitely recommend precooking the bottom, it made it nice and crunchy and sufficiently rigid to stay in-tact when served.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pot Pie

• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 2 small potatoes, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup onions, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 3/4 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3/4 cup chicken, cooked and cubed
• 3/4 cup sausage, cooked (I added this because we had plenty on hand that needed to be used up)
• 1 large dollop of sour cream
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper

Use almost any amounts of these, until you have enough to fill up the pie dish. Precook the potatoes and carrots by boiling them in water to soften them. I also sautéed the onions and garlic together before adding them to the mix, but they probably don't need it. Combine veggies and meat in a bowl and set aside.

White sauce:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 to 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix

Melt butter in saucepan, whisk in flour to combine. Gradually add milk, whisking continually. When sauce thickens, remove from heat. DO NOT allow to boil. Add ranch dressing mix until it tastes right to you.

Stir white sauce into veggies and meat. Add the dollop of *sour cream and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill precooked pie shell. Cover with top crust and decorate however you'd like. I smooshed Vs on the outside and did a star in the middle. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Note: the sour cream was to make it more moist because it was looking dry. You can add more sour cream if it still looks dry after one dollop, or you can make more white sauce in the first place.