Pot pie of my dreams
When I was a kid growing up in rural Illinois, my mom would occasionally purchase Banquet pot pies at the IGA, they would be on sale for some incredibly low price and us kids would rejoice because we loved them so. I do remember the down side was that they took forever to bake, they are frozen blocks of food, but the crispy brown crust and the salty broth and chunks of chicken always satisfied.
Now, I would never dream of purchasing any Banquet product because they’re owned by ConAgra, a company I despise for it’s heavy hand in the market. But making a pot pie turned out to be easier than I thought. Since we tend to be such carb sluts around here (because we must feed the ever-hungry blog) I decided not to make a bottom crust. I have these lovely Apilco chili bowls and I thought they would make great individual pie servings. For the crust I used my standard galette dough of 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 8 tablespoons of butter, and about 1/4 cup or so of cream. I mixed that up in the KitchenAid and stuck it in the fridge to chill.
Earlier in the day I put an old stewing hen on the stove with a couple of spare chicken carcasses from the freezer. I cooked them with some onion, celery, and garlic for 3 hours or so to make a golden chicken stock. It smelled so rich and chickeny…and it turned out just that way too.
I took some of the breast and thigh meat off the old hen and diced it up pretty small…more for flavor and texture than actual meatiness. The crown jewels of the pie were brilliant purple potatoes from Carrie and Eric Johnson’s Jordandal Farm and the sweet, vibrant carrots from Jen Ehr Farm. With incredible ingredients like that I kept it simple; I sauteed an onion and some diced carrots in butter until they softened, then I added flour to thicken the filling. I cooked that until it turned golden and then I add my chicken stock until I had the right consistency. I added my diced par-boiled potatoes, the chicken, and some thyme, salt and pepper and I let that simmer for awhile.
I turned off the heat on the filling and rolled out the pie crust, tipping the bowl upside down to cut the circle out in the right size. I love working with this dough because it’s so easy and tastes so buttery. I spooned the filling into the bowls and topped each with a circle of crust. Since I had extra I made little leaves and berries to decorate the pies and I wrapped a ring of crust around the top. I remember my favorite part of pot pies is the crust and I was about to skimp on a key component.
I was worried that perhaps my filling was too thick, and when I took the pies out after baking them for 30 minutes or so at 400F I could hear the filling sizzling. My chicken stock was still piping hot on the stove so I ladled about 1/3 cup per pie down the side of the bowl into the filling and they quieted right down…whew!
While they didn’t turn out beautiful, they certainly do have a rustic charm and they were savory, tender, and so delicious that Dexter proclaimed it to be the pot pie of his dreams. Obviously these will be made again. GH took one for his lunch the next day and he said it nuked really well.
Tart me up
This pear and tarragon tart was the most delectable pastry I’ve had in years. Created by the incomparable Tart Lady…I’m in love. You can find her most Saturday mornings at the Farmers’ Market located in the parking lot of the DOT building. Save some for me.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is Local Night Out here in Madison and we will be dining at The Old Fashioned. I chose them because I know their pork comes from Tony and Sue Renger’s Willow Creek Farm. All my Madison and Dane County readers get out there, eat well and and show your support of restaurants that buy local.
Seeing red
I purchased 140 pounds of roma tomatoes and yesterday I processed them into 80 quarts of ground tomatoes and tomato halves to be used over the next year. Alex helped by riding with me to get the tomatoes and then loading and unloading them in and out of the van. GH helped me round up my supplies and made an emergency trip to the hardware store for canning domes. Powered by extra espresso and a well loaded iPod I managed to make short work of these babies and finished the job in 6 hours.
For those of you that haven’t canned tomatoes and are curious I’ll give you a quick overview of my technique*.
- Load dishwasher with jars and lids and run on the sanitize cycle with heated dry.
- Wash the tomatoes.
- Cut their heads off.
- If processing as ground tomatoes run them through the food processor, skin and all. Fill jars. Add a dash of lemon juice and salt.
- If processing as half tomatoes, cut them in half and stuff them into the jars and top off with a mixture of water, salt, and lemon juice.
- Clean the rims of the jars and place a hot dome lid on top of each. Screw on the ring.
- Using a steam canner load 7 jars in and bring to boil.
- Once you’ve got a good boil, set the timer for 30 minutes.
- When the timer goes off remove the jars, refill canner and process another batch.
*NOTE: my technique is not similar to the USDA or FDA methods or recommendations…I’ve done it this way for years with great success.
