Farmer’s Pie: a perfect way to use leftover roasted chicken!
Seems like it is easy to have leftover chicken, especially when we roast a whole chicken. I love having roasted chicken leftovers because it gives me a leg up ((haha get it?? LEG up?? — I crack myself up. Probably, I am the only one who cracked up at that, ho hum.)) on another meal. The meal possibilities are endless. Chicken spaghetti, chicken enchiladas, chicken tetrazzini, chicken & dumplings, chicken stuffing and on and on. See what I mean? Lots and lots of meals can come from roasted chicken leftovers.
For this recipe, I had the idea to make a play on Shepherd’s Pie, or as we call it around my house: “Shepard’s Pie”. Shepard, Gracie and Brod LOVE my mashed potatoes ((David does too, if you are wondering– oh and I LOVE LOVE my mashed potatoes!!)). The women on both sides of the family take the skill of mashed potato making VERY seriously.
I developed the skill early on & have the ability to whip them up, recipe-free and perfect every time. Well, except for that one time the salt shaker burst open…it is pretty hard to recover from that, oops!
Before I go forward in talking about this recipe, I have to say – this chicken came from my roasted Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken. If you haven’t tried this method of cooking a whole chicken, you really should! It is a real winner. One thing I love about this recipe, besides how easy & yummy it is, is the bonus chicken broth that comes from cooking the chicken this way. I saved the broth, heated it, added a simple corn starch/cream slurry, thickened it into a gravy and adjusted the seasoning to my taste.
Once the gravy is made, I have found straining it to remove any veggie bits, gravy clumps or chicken pieces helps create the perfect silky gravy ((my mouth is watering just thinking about it!!)).
That gravy, combined with the left over chicken ((minus the bones)) & a nice mix of frozen veggies makes a really lovely meal. I am going for more than lovely meal — I want a knock-out meal! Topping it all with perfect skin-on, buttery, creamy, cheesy potatoes certainly does the trick.
I hope this idea for re-using leftovers inspires you to a little more “home-cooking”!
Oh, one final step: I lightly broiled the “Farmer’s Pie” and sprinkled the top with a touch of fresh chopped parsley. Delicious perfection!! and I wasn’t the only one who thought so, see:
- 6-7 medium potatoes
- 2 T butter
- 4 oz light cream cheese
- 1/3 c cream or skim milk ((more or less depending on desired consistency))
- s & p to taste
- 3 c chicken broth ((I used leftover broth from slow roasting a whole chicken))
- 2 T corn starch
- 1/3 c cream
- s & p to taste
- 3 c shredded chicken ((I used leftover roasted chicken)
- 2 c frozen mixed veggies (or favorite veggies)
- 3 c gravy
- 3-4 c mashed potatoes
- 2-3 T chopped fresh parsley ((for garnish))
- In a large pot, bring potatoes to a boil. Once potatoes are cooked through ((you will know they are done cooking when you insert a fork and it is easily removed)) drain them and keep them in the pot. Add butter, cream cheese, & a few T of cream or milk. Mash and add more cream or milk until desired consistency is reached. Season with s&p to taste. Set aside until ready to assemble the Farmer's Pie.
- Heat broth in a large braiser or oven safe skillet, bringing to a low simmer. In a small mixing bowl, whisk cream & corn starch together until smooth. While whisking quickly, add the corn starch slurry to the simmering broth. Continue stirring until gravy in thickened. Season with s&p to taste. Using a large mesh strainer, strain the gravy and then return it to the braiser,
- Preheat the broil feature on your oven. Add chicken and frozen veggies to the gravy, stir and spread mashed potatoes over the chicken mixture. Place the braiser in the oven & broil for 3-5 minutes until the top of the potatoes turns golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley.
- Serves 6-8