Chicken Pot Pie

I mentioned it in my post about the currently ongoing experiment, and so finally, here is the recipe for my first-ever chicken pot pie.  As evidenced by this mess of papers and scribbles, I studied many recipes, did some comparing, mixing, analyzing and matching, and then decided on a combination of them that I thought would work well to make the crust:

As for the filling, I basically winged it as I went along.  Here’s what I did (as best as I can remember)….

CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
• 2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1-1/2 sticks of Butter
• 4 Tablespoons of chilled Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)
• 1 Egg
• 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 cup cold water

CRUST DIRECTIONS

1.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2.  Cut in the butter and the shortening.

3.  Add the egg and vinegar, and mix to combine (like you were hand-mixing a meatloaf).  Also add enough of the cold water (up to 1/2 cup), if needed at all, to make the dough not too dry.

4.  Turn the dough out onto a GF-floured board, and knead it for just a minute or two to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.

5.  Form it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and toss it in the freezer.  (If you are making your dough the night before, no need for the freezer – just put it in the fridge.)

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 2 large Chicken Breasts
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Paprika
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Onion
• 2 large Carrots
• 2 Potatoes
• A good handful of fresh Green Beans
• Chicken Stock
• Milk (I used 2% lactose free), probably about 1/4-1/2 cup worth
• 2 Tablespoons Tapioca Flour
• 3 Tablespoons water

FILLING DIRECTIONS

1.  Pre-heat oven to 400-degrees.

2.  Season the chicken breasts using whatever amounts of the above-listed seasonings are to your liking, and cook it in a large skillet until done.  Set the chicken aside to cool and let its juices redistribute.

3.  Chop the onion and start it cooking with the butter, in the same skillet that you used for the chicken.

4.  While the onions are cooking, chop the carrots, the potatoes, and the green beans.

5.  Chop up the chicken into whatever size pieces you desire, or you can even shred it if you want.

6.  Put all the veggies into the skillet, and season with whatever spices you like.  I think I used salt, pepper, thyme and savory.  Cook for a few minutes.

7.  Then, add the chicken and enough Chicken Stock to at least coat the entire bottom of the pan….but probably more like enough to come up a quarter of an inch.  Also add the milk, and then bring it all to a simmer.

8.  Mix the tapioca flour and 3 Tablespoons of water into a slurry, add it to the pan.  Stir, and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

9.  Pour the filling into your deep baking dish, and set aside.

10.  Get the dough ball from the freezer and roll it out to as close a size as possible to cover the baking dish. 

11.  Place it on top, patching any holes or tears with extra bits of dough that were cut off from the edges.

12.  Bake the whole thing for up to an hour or until the crust is golden brown and starting to crisp.

13.  Allow the pie to cool for abut 15 minutes before slicing.

We served it with a side of fresh steamed broccoli:

COMMENTS

For a first attempt, I really liked this chicken pot pie.  But I wish the sauce/gravy was creamier and thicker.  Maybe I should have used a different milk/chicken stock ratio (i.e. more milk and less chicken stock), perhaps some heavy cream (which I didn't have on hand that night), and/or a higher concentration of tapioca starch in the slurry.  In any case, the unexpected dinner guest that we had that evening certainly liked it enough to go back for seconds.  And we would have had seconds too, if we were hungry enough.

The next day, however, wow! -- the leftovers were even better.  By then, the crust had time to soak up some of the juices and get a little bit gooey, moist, and gummy (the way I personally like my pot pie crust).

In keeping with the all-natural road we are currently trying to stay on, I think it should be possible to make this meal again without the xanthan gum, because it’s certainly okay (and some might even say better) to have pot pie crust flake apart and get all mixed into the filling while eating it.  Don’t most people chop it up and mix it in anyways?  I do.  In any case, as I have mentioned in the past, I am venturing to perfect a gluten-free crust (savory, sweet, or otherwise), and now hopefully one without any chemicals or xanthan gum.  If we continue to have to eat gluten-free after the experiment and I ever come up with anything good, I will certainly let you all know.

Finally, there will be no nutritional values given for this dish, because obviously I didn’t measure anything exactly (was just sort of eyeing it) nor did I weigh anything.  Plus with all that butter in the crust, who really wants to know, right?

Shepherd's Pie

*** this recipe is NOT gluten-free ***
*** but certainly can be made gluten-free (see below) ***

We had plenty of ground bison leftover from when we made tacos on Sunday night (the meat having been cooked and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and paprika)….so on Monday we made this Shepherd’s Pie that we’d been planning on lately.  It was a quick, easy, nutritiously hearty, and very tasty weeknight dinner (with plenty of leftovers for lunches and another night’s dinner).

INGREDIENTS

Meat:

• 1 pound of Ground Bison, crumbled and cooked with spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and paprika)

Potatoes:

• 2 Russet Potatoes
• 15 cloves of Garlic (no vampires here!)
• 3 Tablespoons Salted Butter
• 1/4 cup of Milk (I used 2% lactose free)
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper

Pie Filling:

• 2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
• 2 large Carrots
• 1/2 of a large White Onion
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• 2/3 cup of Frozen Peas
• 2/3 cup of Frozen Corn
• 1 cup Water
• 3 Tablespoons of Flour

Topping:

• 1/8 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese (also leftover from taco night)

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to 350-degrees.

Chop the potatoes and drop them into a pan of water along with the garlic cloves.  Bring it to a gentle boil and cook until the potatoes are tender and ready to be mashed.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop the onion and the carrots into 1/2-inch pieces.  Put them in a large skillet with the oil (if your meat is not already cooked ahead of time like mine was, now is the time to also put the meat in the pan), season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.

If your meat was pre-cooked, wait the five minutes of cooking time for the carrots and onions, and then add in the meat.

Add the peas, the corn, and the water, and stir to combine everything.  Bring it to a boil.

Add the flour and stir until the gravy comes together.  (If you want to make the dish gluten-free, just use tapioca flour or corn starch instead -- it should work similarly, but might taste a bit different than wheat flour gravy.  I just figured since we are in the midst of our gluten v. gluten’s trashy friends experiment, I’d throw some “real” flour in there.)  Turn off the heat and set aside.

By now, your potatoes/garlic should be ready.  Drain off the water, and mash them with the milk and butter.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Lightly grease your casserole pan (I used cooking spray), and pour in the pie filling.

Top with the mashed potatoes, creating a flat, even layer.

Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until it starts bubbling and the cheese/potatoes begin to brown.

This was a big dinner.  You should be able to get at least 5 large servings out of this (or 6 semi-large ones, especially if you are adding a side vegetable or salad, etc).

Each of 5 servings contains:

472 calories

23 grams protein

42 grams carbs

23 grams fat

6 grams fiber

268 mg sodium

Each of 6 servings would contain:

393 calories

20 grams protein

35 grams carbs

19 grams fat

5 grams fiber

223 mg sodium

Apple Pie

It’s full-swing Autumn here in New England, and you all know what that means – apple season!!

We waited until it was almost too late (read: farms running out of crop and the one we originally planned to go to already being shut down), but over the weekend Hubby and I finally went apple picking at Parlee Farms.  We were relegated to whatever they had left, which was a mix of Cortland, Golden Delicious, Macoun, Empire, Cameo, and possibly a couple others that I cannot remember specifically right now.  Here’s what’s left of our 1/2 bushel-20 pound bag (there's going to have to be more apple recipes in the upcoming weeks):

As you can see most of the varieties look pretty much the same (at least they do to me), so when I made my Apple Pie, I just took a random sampling from the bag that added up to the poundage I needed for this recipe.



Gluten-Free Apple Pie

CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup white rice flour
• ½ cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup potato starch
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 2-¼ pounds of apples
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, made into a slurry with 2 Tablespoons of cold water
• Freshly grated Nutmeg, to taste
• Cinnamon, to taste
• 1 egg, beaten
• Sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all the dry crust ingredients in a mixing bowl, or the bowl of your food processor if you have one.  Mix (or pulse the processor) until well combined.
2. Add in the cubed butter and toss to lightly cover it with the flour mixture.  Then begin to incorporate the butter into the flour by “cutting it in” or pulsing your food processor if you’re using one.  If you don’t have a butter cutting tool as shown in the linked video, you can use two forks for the same purpose (that’s what I did).  You want to end up with something that is the texture of coarse bread crumbs or coarse cornmeal.
3. Form a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add the egg and apple cider vinegar into the well.  Using a fork, incorporate the liquids into the flour mixture until you get a sticky, clumpy mix (the final consistency should feel moist, but not too wet -- you can always add a little more rice flour if you think it’s too wet and/or sticky).
4. Form it into a smooth ball, wrap the ball in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.
5. While the dough is chilling, it’s time to prepare the filling.
6. Pre-heat your oven to 350-degrees.
7. Peel, core and slice the apples.
8. In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest.
9. Add the sliced apples and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring to coat the apples with the liquid mixture, until the apples just begin to soften.
10. Add the cornstarch slurry, and cook for one minute more, stirring gently.  This will thicken the liquids and cause them to coat the apple slices better.
11. Strain the apples in a colander and discard the extra juices which run off.  Add your desired amounts freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon to the colander and gently mix into the apples.
12. Remove your dough from the fridge and using either two sheets of wax paper, parchment paper, and/or rice flour for dusting, roll it out so that it’s more than large enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie pan.  You want the dough to be no more than ¼” thick, and making it this thickness should allow that you will have enough left to cover the pie, too.
13. Gently pick up the dough and place it in your greased pie pan, making sure it falls into the corners.  Trim off the excess (there should definitely be some), form the excess into another ball, and roll it out.  This will become the top of your pie.
14. Pour the apples into the now bottom-crusted pie pan, spread them out to create an even layer, and then use the remaining dough to cover the top (either in one full sheet, or a lattice pattern, or any other design you might endeavor to create).  Just make sure there are a couple of holes/slits for steam to escape while cooking.
15. Bake for 30 minutes.
16. Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg, sprinkle with some sugar, and bake several minutes more (or however long it takes) for the crust to become golden brown and fairly crispy looking.

This was only my second attempt ever at making an apple pie (the first being years ago with regular wheat flour).  It was not any easier or harder this time.  Making pie, as you probably know, is a little time consuming and can be a bit of a pain in the buttocks, but it’s always well worth it.  It was delicious, and well-liked by the non-GF-ers who I served it to, as well.

Here are a few thoughts and suggestions based on my experience with this particular recipe and the ways I went about making it:

First, I want to note that there was no xanthan gum in the crust.  This doesn’t pose any problems whatsoever as long as you are serving the pie cold.  When cold, it slices well and holds together very nicely.  See?

But when we re-heated the pie (in the oven) for serving, the crust easily crumbled and fell apart some when slicing and picking it up out of the pan for plating.  Perhaps this could have been alleviated by slicing it cold, and then re-heating individual pieces in the microwave.  Alternatively, perhaps the addition of a little bit of xanthan gum to the dough might help this issue, and also allow us to reheat it without worry of it turning into an apple cobbler.  (I notice a lot of other crust recipes do include xanthan gum.)  I guess it all just depends on how you like to eat your pie (hot or cold) whether you want to experiment with xanthan gum and/or different re-heating processes.

I found that I had to bake my pie longer than the 30 minutes it should have taken.  I think this was because my dough was too wet.  I should have added a bit more rice flour to the dough before chilling it, and probably also should have dusted my surfaces with some rice flour before rolling out (I had some issues with the dough sticking to my wax paper).  You always see the TV chefs dusting their surfaces every time -- why I didn’t think to do this I have no idea.  Lol.

Finally, I am not going to calculate and give the usual nutritional information on this pie, like I do with other recipes, because, well….it’s meant to be an indulgent dessert, there’s a ton of butter in it, you're probably going to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top anyways, and....does anyone really want to know?  ;)