Mini Chicken Pot Pies

The miniaturization of food seems to be the fad lately and I get it - they're small, cute, look great on the table and easy to transport.  This Piglet thought it'd be a great idea to jump on this mini bandwagon and turn a favorite Chicken Pot Pie recipe into mini versions for a recent potluck.  It seemed like a really good idea - don't get me wrong they tasted great but man oh man it was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be.  Either way, if you do have the time or a more deft hand, these delicious little morsels are worth it to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of skinless chicken breast cut into small cubes - these are mini remember!
• 2 cups of frozen assorted vegetables (I would recommend the mix that comes with corn, peas, carrots and beans.  You can use fresh if you would like but you'd need to blanch them before using)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 8 tbsps butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (you can use the regular kind but amount of the seasonings at the end)
• 2/3 cup milk (I used soy but any will do)
• 1 package of frozen ready-to-use pie crust defrosted and ready to use, or make yourself 2 pie crusts from scratch
• Olive oil spray or butter for greasing muffin tin

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, fill with enough water to cover chicken and vegetables without boiling over.  Bring water to a boil and add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 2 tsp garlic powder.  Add chicken and boil for 10-15 min until it cooks through.  Add frozen vegetables and boil for another 5 min.  Remove from heat and drain and set aside.
2. Turn stovetop to medium heat and put on that medium pot, add the butter and onions and cook onions until they are soft and translucent.  Stir in flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp celery seed.  Slowly incorporate chicken broth and milk.  Add a half cup of liquid at each time and stir until it is absorbed before adding the next half cup of liquid.  Simmer over medium-low heat until thick and add chicken and vegetables to the pot.  Stir to mix sauce and the chicken/vegetable mixture and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 375C.
4. Grease a 12 muffin tin with olive oil spray or butter.  Grease generously or else the crust will stick and be very difficult to remove!
5. Use a 3 in round cookie cutter to cut rounds out of the flattened pie crust.  Insert rounds of pie crust into each of the muffin tin cups, ensuring that it is fit snugly onto the sides and bottom.  Continue for all 12 cups. 
6. Take the filling and fill each pie crust with it.  I didn't put a top crust on my mini pies but you're welcome to at this point if you wish - just make sure you cover, crimp the edges (so that the sides are connected to the top) and cut small slits into the top to allow steam to escape)
7. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or the pasty is golden brown and filling is bubbling.  Remove from oven and place tray on cooling rack.  Take butter knife and run it along the edges of all of the muffin cups so that the pies can be removed easier later.  Let it cool for at least 10 min before removing from cups VERY GENTLY.  If it refuses to budge, you might have to place a plate over top of the muffin cups and flip the muffin tin over and give it a tap so the mini pies can slide out.
8. Eat and enjoy!