Martha Stewart Just Told Us Her Secret for the Best-Ever Chicken Pot Pie (Exclusive)

Martha Stewart is full of surprises. The iconic lifestyle expert has been showing all of us how to improve our homes (and our meals) for decades, in addition to schooling us on how to take a next-level selfie, no matter your age.

Stewart pals around with her BFF Snoop at the Olympics , rubs elbows with other celebs at the U.S. Open and still manages to have time to drop tips and tricks for making next-level baked potatoes and a light, flaky pie crust .

And if you manage to get an invite to her Bedford, NY home (lucky you!), you might be offered a bottle of Pure Leaf iced tea . In her latest campaign with the iced tea brand, Stewart has a little fun with the drink, which she calls "Martha's Little Helper." In the spot, Stewart gamely tucks bottles of tea in library books, layer cakes and even hides some in the garden. Starting today, fans can win their own limited edition "Martha's Little Helper" bottle of Pure Leaf Unsweetened Iced Tea. To enter, go to PureLeaf.com/PureLeafPromotion .

We recently sat down with Stewart to chat about this new collab and got the scoop on how she takes her iced tea and what she's excited about cooking right now. Read on for all the delicious details and grab some great dinner inspiration, too.

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Since you're not making your own iced tea, how do you like to dress the bottles up for a party? Well, I would have just a big stack of them on a bar and pour them over ice with a big wedge of lemon or a slice of orange. I love iced tea with orange. I prefer the No Sugar Pure Leaf, which just has a little bit of citric acid. That's no calories. I drink my tea with no sugar. I've never been a sugar aficionado.

What's your favorite thing to do with the time you've saved with "Martha's Little Helper"?
I'm a maniacal gardener and I'm constantly checking my gardens and checking my livestock—I have a lot of animals on my farm. I have a big pot of chicken soup on the stove right now. I've been making sure all my vegetables that came in from the garden this morning are in good shape and refrigerated. We have a huge vegetable garden. I overplanted so stupidly this year, and I have had 20 bushels of eggplants, and so many peppers and tomatoes. And okra, I have so much okra. So I have to deal with that all the time. I bring in a whole lot for my daughter and her children. And so that's another thing I do in my few minutes of spare time.

Do you have a favorite chicken soup recipe?
The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook, which was published in 1999. That book has the best chicken soup recipe in it. You use a whole fresh chicken and fresh vegetables and herbs: leeks, parsley, celery, onions, carrots. I also picked thyme and bay leaves and a little sage. And that's all in there now and simmering away. So that soup should be ready in another hour.

That sounds amazing. Speaking of chicken, I noticed on your Instagram that you recently made chicken pot pie. Do you have any tips or tricks for that?
I actually made five chicken pot pies. It's been rooster time, so I had Guinea roosters and I had chicken roosters, and I think the chicken pot pies are really Guinea pot pies, but I'm not sure. I can't remember now. I made them like a month ago and froze them.

But again, for the pot pie I used all vegetables from the garden. I did turnips, potatoes, carrots, celery. What else was in there? Mushrooms. And the sauce was delicious. It was a beautiful veloute, with a little bit of cognac and a puff pastry top. I tried one just because I'm having a party this Saturday and I was hoping I could use the pot pies. And I think I can because they not only taste really good, they look beautiful with that puff pastry topping.

Is that store-bought puff pastry or did you make your own puff pastry?
I have sheets of puff pastry in the freezer. I have a huge bakery sheeter and I make my own puff pastry and I freeze the sheets so I always have some ready to go. I make it with heavy cream and it's so good.

That sounds amazing. And did you say there was cognac in the sauce?
Yes, I always put a little cognac in the sauce. I learned that from a Jamaican friend who made delicious chicken pot pies, and she used pie crust on the top, but she always put just a quarter of a cup of cognac in her sauce and it really brightens it up.

Leave it to Martha to take a classic comfort food and give it an instant glow-up.

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