Chicken Pot Pie

3 c chicken, cooked and chopped (I have a secret. I actually use canned chicken for this. I prefer Kirkland Signature Premium Chunk Chicken Breast. It's the Costco brand. I couldn't find it on their site, so no link for it. Sorry. I use 2 12.5 ounce cans for this recipe.)
2 celery ribs, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 small-medium onion, diced
1/4 c butter (I use olive oil. It would also work well to do a combination of butter and olive oil.)
1/4 c flour
2 tsp. Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
1 c water
1 can evaporated milk
1 c cheese, shredded

Crust:

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. cold butter
1/2 c milk

This is actually more of a casserole pot pie, but this can be made into individual pie servings.

Spread the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish that has been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray. Saute the vegetables in butter (olive oil) until tender. Add the flour and stir until a paste forms. You're making a rue which is the reason for the butter, but it works just fine with the olive oil. Slowly add the water, bouillon and milk, cooking and stirring until thickened and bubbly. I season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste at this point. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with the cheese.

For the crust: sift together the dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it's coarse and crumbly. Stir in enough milk to form a soft dough. It most likely will not require the entire half of a cup. *Remember to not overwork it. It will make the pastry tough and the butter will get warm. The secret to flaky crust is cold butter. The butter basically explodes in the heat of the oven and the explosion of steam is what creates the flakiness in the crust.* Roll out the crust. Lay over the dish. Cut slits in the crust for ventilation. You can brush the crust with an egg wash, cream or melted butter if you would like. An egg wash is simply 1 egg mixed with some water, or it can be mixed with cream. The cream or butter can be brushed on alone. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.