Chicken Pot Pie

I laughed just now as I looked at the name of the recipe I'm about to type out. The author, Laura Calder, calls it "Chicken Pot Pie for the Perfectionists." Well, that's an understatement. This recipe is the longest recipe I have ever made for something that T tells me I could buy for $9.99 at Costco. I will argue up and down now though, having made it, that you cannot even begin to compare the two.

I didn't think of this recipe as a challenge. It's chicken pot pie, after all, not a dish I'm unfamiliar with. But it definitely was a challenge in cooking endurance. And if you think you can cut corners, don't. It is the detail in this recipe that makes it a truly incomparable pie. When all was said and done, this recipe took me two days to make, so if you do decide to do this, you need to be organized and have the time to dedicate to this. In fact, you'll even need some decent time to sit down to read through the ingredient list, let alone the instructions. So, grab a coffee and maybe a snack and settle in. Here goes:

Chicken Pot Pie for the Perfectionists
Makes 2 pies, 8-10 servings in all

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 1 chicken, about 3 pounds, whole
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp butter, softened

For the Enriched Stock

• 1 large carrot, halved
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 celery rib, roughly chopped
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 generous sprig of thyme
• a few sprigs of parsley
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 5 cups chicken stock

For the Crust

• Lard pastry

For the Garnish

• 3 carrots, sliced, about 2 cups
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 3 leeks, halved and sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 slices of bacon, cut in lardons
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 large handfuls of chopped fresh parsley

For the Sauce

• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika, more to taste

To Finish

• egg wash

Directions

• For the chicken, heat the oven to 375 degrees F, set the chicken in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, rub with butter and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin, remove the meat from the bird and set aside and put the carcass in a stock pot with the rest of the stock ingredients.
• Bring stock ingredients to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. Strain and reserve 2 1/2 cups of stock for the recipe. Chop the chicken meat into bite sized pieces. You should have about 5 cups.
• While the chicken roasts, make and chill the lard pastry, then prepare the garnish. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it and blanche the carrots and celery until al dente, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse in ice cold water to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly.
• Heat the oil in a pan and saute the bacon, until cooked but not crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the leeks to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and cook 5 minutes, adding the garlic in during the last minute. Add the bacon, peas, parsley and reserved chicken meat. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the sauce, pour the reserved chicken stock into a saucepan, add the wine and bring to a simmer. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the warm stock and cook until thick, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of cream. Add more cream if needed but without making the sauce too thick. Season well with salt and pepper and add in the paprika. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables and mix gently to combine thoroughly.
• To assemble the pies, spoon the filling into two 9" pie plates. Divide the pastry into two disks, roll out rounds and lay over the filling, pressing to seal the edges. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Brush the tops of the pies with egg wash and cut three slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake 25 minutes. reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking until the crust is deeply golden and crisp, about 30 minutes longer.

Recipe from Dinner Chez Moi, by Laura Calder

Individual Fruit Pies in Cream Cheese Pastry

I'm a fan of foods that come in individual sizes: Timbits, Halloween-sized chocolate bars, Altoids Smalls. It just seems less overwhelming to see a box of Timbits than an entire box of donuts, or if someone offered me a small chocolate bar, I'd be much more inclined to take it over a full-sized one. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no illusions that I'm not going to eat the same amount as a full-sized anything -- in fact, I'm likely to eat more -- but when something comes in a small package, it just seems less overwhelming. Mind over matter, my friends.

Using that theory, I jumped at the chance to make these individual fruit pies instead of making a whole one. With just two of us at home, it seems a little gluttonous to make a whole pie, but four individual ones? A perfect way to satisfy a craving without eating half a pie (though, it's totally possible that by eating two of these individual ones, I did anyway).

This recipe, like any pie recipe, is totally adaptable, and can be filled with whatever you have on hand. I just happened to have the items it called for, but next time, I might omit the Craisins and put in more apple or pear.

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Pastry:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• milk and granulated sugar (for glaze)

Directions

Cream Cheese Pastry

• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, cream cheese and salt until smooth
• Add icing sugar and 1/2 cup of flour at a time until just combined
• When the dough starts to ball up around the paddle, stop the mixer and scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface
• Gently knead the dough. Divide into four balls, flatten each into a 1/2 inch disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll -- about an hour. 

Pies

• In a medium saucepan, combine the orange juice, apple, pear, cranberries and 2 tbsp sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover and cook for three minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tbsp sugar, cornstarch and spices. Stir the mixture into the fruit and cook, stirring for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
• Let the fruit cool.
• Use a floured rolling pin to roll each piece of dough into an 8 inch circle.
• Spoon about 1/4 of the filling over half the dough, leaving a 3/4 inch border along the edge.
• Moisten the edge of the pastry with a finger dipped in a little water, then fold the empty half of the dough over the filling. Pinch the edges together to seal.
• Place on baking sheet. Brush each turnover with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar. Poke a few holes in the top to let steam out while they bake.
• Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 F and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. For even browning, rotate baking sheet halfway through baking.
• Transfer the turnovers to a wire rack and let cool.

** Freezing: You can freeze the unbaked turnovers on a baking sheet until they're firm, then wrap in wax paper and put in resealable freezer bag. Store in freezer for up to one month. To bake from frozen, just add a few minutes to baking time.

Recipe from Ezra Pound Cake

Peach and Vanilla Bean Pie

(it was hard to take a pic with eight people watching and wondering what I was doing!)

I love vanilla. It's one of my favourite ingredients to cook with and when I saw this recipe over at Ezra Pound Cake, I was excited for the opportunity to bake with a vanilla bean. I found whole vanilla beans at a local/organic type shop (The Big Carrot in Toronto) and the smell was divine. Even the grocery clerk smelled it and I enjoyed the scent wafting from my bag all the way home.

Using the bean was easier than I thought and I simply sliced it open and scraped out the paste. I feel like I've crossed another culinary milestone by using this fresh ingredient!

The vanilla took this basic peach pie over the top and I was excited to bring it up to a friend's cottage as a "thank you." I found it a little nerve-wracking taking up a dessert I myself had never tried (it's rude to cut a slice out before bringing it, right?), but the response was an overwhelming success! Whew!

Ingredients

• 2 basic flakey pie crusts
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 5 cups peeled, pitted, and thickly sliced
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape the seeds from the bean and place them in a food processor. Add the sugar and process for about a minute. (I did this with my hand mixer/immersion blender and it worked fine). 
• Take 1/2 cup of the sugar and put in another bowl and mix with cornstarch. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the peaches, sugar-cornstarch mix and lemon juice. 
• Roll the bottom layer of the pastry and place in pie plate. 
• Fill pie shell with peaches and dot the top of the fruit with butter.
• Drape top layer of pastry over filling. Cut off excess pie crust and tuck top layer over bottom layer and fold into pie plate. Flute edges with fingers and then poke steam vents in top of pie with a paring knife.
• Place the pie in the centre oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 40-45 minutes, untill pie is browning and you can hear the juices bubbling. 
• Transfer the pie to a wire rack and immediately sprinkle half the remaining vanilla sugar (about 1/4 cup) over the top.
• Let cool for at least two hours.

** have some extra vanilla sugar? Try it in your coffee!!!

Recipe adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

Plum Tart

Black plums are my favourite. They're in season right now and they're just massive in size and ridiculously delicious. We went to a new grocery story the other day that sells mainly local and organic foods and the plums were calling my name. As much as I love them though, I couldn't eat as many as I bought before they went too mushy so I decided to make a plum tart and boy was it incredible.

First of all, as a new baker, my presentation isn't always the best, so I love anything that is not only simple, but is easy to make look impressive. This one hit all the senses: it smelled amazing, it looked incredible and it tasted heavenly.

The decadent part of this tart is the sweet crust and the creamy custard. Sigh. This didn't last long in our house!



Ingredients

• 2 cups thickly sliced plums (pitted, but not peeled)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Pat-in Sweet Pastry:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions


Pat-In Sweet Pastry: In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and cornstarch. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture clumps together. With floured hands, press evenly into 9-inch (23 cm) round tart pan with removable bottom. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.


Arrange plums, cut side up and slightly overlapping, in circular pattern over pastry. Sprinkle with all but 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the sugar.


Bake tart in centre of 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until plums are softened.

Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together cream, egg yolks, vanilla and remaining sugar; pour over fruit.


Bake tart for 25 to 30 minutes longer or until set, golden and knife inserted in centre of filling comes out clean. Let cool on rack. (Make-ahead: Set aside at room temperature for up to 3 hours.)

Apple Pie with Caramel Sauce

T. was going away for a boys weekend, so I thought I'd make something special for the guys to enjoy. He was kind enough to bring me back one slice (as I could hardly send a pie with one slice missing -- could I?) and it was delicious!

This amazing recipe had nearly 3,000 people give it five stars on www.allrecipes.com. What's special about it is that you pour a caramel sauce over the lattice top and then as it cooks, it seeps into the spaces between the slats and leaves a nice glaze on top. The presentation was amazing and it was a great opportunity to try out a new way to top a pie. 

Lattice was time consuming but surprisingly easy. I simply rolled out a pastry crust like I would if I was going to put on a regular top. Then, using a fork, I measured out even sections, and then I used a pizza roller and a box of tin foil as a guide to cut them. Then I draped every other piece over the pie -- this is important so they're even on the pie. Then, going the other direction, I wove slats through the pieces already on the pie -- one over, one under. What I found really helpful is each time I went to weave a new piece, I flipped up all the slats that it was going to go under, then I could just put it down, and flip the pieces back over. I found www.youtube.com very helpful for this visually!

Ingredients

• 2 flakey pie crusts
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used Royal Gala)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to make a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer, stirring often until forms a caramel consistency.
• Toss apples with cinnamon.
• Place the bottom crust in pie plate. Fill with apples, mounded slightly.
• Cover with a lattice work of crust. When finished latticing, tuck top crust into bottom crust and tuck into pie plate. Pinch crusts together with two fingers.
• Gently pour the sugar sauce over the crust. Pour slowly so it doesn't run off. Pour right over crust too, as it will seep into holes while cooking, but will leave a nice glaze on crust.
• Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Blueberry Pie

I made another pie! This time it was made with fresh Ontario blueberries and I learned a few tricks along the way.

I spent some time on YouTube to learn how to roll the crust out and better make edges. The first time I made pie, I just cut off all the edges -- resulting in a pretty thin crust. This time, I learned to trim off the excess crust but to leave about an inch of dough around the edges, and then fold the top layer over the bottom layer and tuck inside the pie plate. I didn't do a great job, but I also tried fluting the edges here. So two pies down and already a vast improvement. 

I had this pastry dough in the freezer from the first batch that I made and it still tasted delicious. I had frozen the remaining pastry dough into balls (each ball makes one pie crust). To use it, I just left it in the fridge for a couple of days to thaw, then I rolled out as normal. 

With the pastry already made, this pie really just took about 20 minutes to prepare and then I popped it in the oven! Like the strawberry-rhubarb pie though, the fruit is really runny when it comes out of the oven, so it needed to sit for about three hours to firm up before I could cut it. It was worth the wait, for sure!

Ingredients

• 1 Flakey Pastry Crust
• 4 cups blueberries
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon and sprinkle over blueberries. Toss together.


3. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust.


4. Cover with remaining pie crust. Cut off excess dough and fold edges (top over bottom) and tuck into pie plate. Slice air vents into top of pie.
5. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven at 425 for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another 35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Download printable recipe for Blueberry Pie

Butter Tarts

I eat my food in sections. I have done this my entire life and continues to mind-boggle my parents. If you gave me a plate with three different foods on it, I would eat them one at a time, starting with the vegetables and ending with the meat. In the case of desserts, I always eat butter tarts with a spoon. I first scoop out the filling and eat it, and then I eat the pastry. It's weird. I know. But that's how I roll.

Anyway, I'd had a pining for butter tarts for awhile and I always resist them in the grocery store, but after I made the strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry pies, I had one pie crust left in my freezer -- perfect for a batch of butter tarts. A quick search online told me that I had all the ingredients I needed on hand and away I went.

The most challenging part of these was getting the pastry into the muffin tins. I took timbit-sized balls of dough, rolled it out and then manouvered it into the pans. They weren't pretty, but for a first try they were acceptable. If nothing else, they tasted delcious and way better than those ones you buy in a grocery store. And, for the record, I ate these with a fork and enjoyed the pastry with the filling and it was good!

Ingredients 

• 1 unbaked Flakey Pastry Crust
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup raisins, walnuts or pecans

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


2. Roll out pastry and fit carefully into 12 muffin tins.


3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, then beat in brown sugar. Stir in vinegar and vanilla extract. Mix well, then stir in melted butter (make sure it’s cool). Fold in rasins or chopped nuts.


4. Carefully spoon mixture into tart shells.


5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 8 to 10 minutes, until set.




Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Download the printable recipe for Butter Tarts

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb season is almost over so I wanted to try one of my favourites -- strawberry rhubarb pie. Once I overcame my fear of pie crust, making an actual pie was easy.

This was my first attempt at pie so it wouldn't have won any awards for appearance, but it certainly made up for that in taste. It was the perfect blend of tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries and it certainly didn't last long in our house! I speak from experience when I say there is nothing wrong with pie for breakfast...

I now have big plans for peach pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie... the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, cleaned and cut
• 2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp flour
• 2 pastry crusts

Directions

In a 9" pie plate, insert/drape a rolled out pie crust. Cut off excess dough.

In a separate bowl, mix strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and flour. Stir until well combined.

Pour fruit mixture into bottom pie crust.

Moisten edges of bottom pie crust with water (using your fingers is fine), and drape over second pie crust on top. Using your first finger and thumb, pinch together bottom and top crusts. Cut off excess dough.

Using a paring knife, mark slits in top of pie crust, which is both decorative and functional.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-45 minutes.

For a fruit pie with lots of liquid, like strawberry-rhubarb, when you take it out of the oven, the liquid will be really thin, so you need to let it cool for three to four hours before serving so the mixture thickens up (hence the flour).

After a few hours of cooling, I put my pie back in the oven on the warm setting is it was warm when we ate it and it was delicious.

Flakey Pie Crust

Pie crust is something I have been wanting to make, but I have been really intimidated by it. For a recipe -- and advice -- I called my Aunt Linda who is the pie baker of the family. I have never known anyone else to bring a pie to a family event, it's always Aunt Linda and her pies are delicious. As a wedding shower gift, she bought me a pie making bowl, a pastry blender (I didn't even know what this was) and a box of Tenderflake, so I was all prepared (10 months later) to start baking pie crust. 

Pie crust is surprisingly easy to make and it's possible it's one of the most rewarding things I have ever made. It was delicious and flakey and it made my home smell amazing. I think this year is going to be the Summer of the Pie! 

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pound of lard
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 tbsp vinegar
• cold water 

Directions

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together.

Add lard and use pastry cutter or two knives to blend into mixture. You want it to be the consistency of oatmeal.

In a measuring cup, break two eggs and beat slightly, add vinegar, and add cold water to make volume 1 cup. Stir.

Make a well in the flour mixture and mix in liquid to help ingredients stick together.

Lightly flour a flat surface and turn dough out onto surface. Form into a ball. 

Divide into five equal sized pieces. Each piece is enough for one pie shell. If you want a top on the pie (a double crust pie), you'll need two of these pieces. 

At this point, you can wrap them well in saran wrap and a freezer bag and freeze individually.

To use, take one piece on a lightly floured surface, and flatten slightly with your hand. Lightly flour your rolling pin and, always starting from the middle, roll north, south, east, west, until flat and large enough to cover an 9" pie plate. (If your plate is larger, you may need more dough). 

Drape crust onto rolling pin and roll into pie plate. Pat down so it's in the pan and cut off the excess dough around the ages.

For a top crust, repeat process. Before putting on top of pie, wet edges of bottom layer with water to help top adhere. Use your fore finger and thumb to press edges together.

Key Lime Pie

My family loves desserts and my mom makes the most impressive ones so it's always hard to top when I host dinner. I always look for something different and to balance out a heavy dinner of chicken parmesan, I wanted to make something lighter.

This key lime pie is an easy make ahead dessert and I make it in a springform pan which makes it look elegant and delicious. This one got rave reviews!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup key lime juice
• 1 tsp grated lime zest
• 1 cup whipping cream

Directions

• Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar to form pie crust
• Press into pan (trust me, you do not need to grease it!) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

• Mix together condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime zest
• Pour on top of pie crust 

• Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until tiny pinhole bubbles form on the surface. Be careful not to brown!
• Chill well
• Make whip cream and cover on top. 
• Add lime garnish