Veggie Shepherd’s Pot Pie
- At December 30, 2013
- By megan
- In carrot, favorites, pie, pie crust, Potato, Recipes, sweet potato
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I must admit- I’ve really started slacking at cooking since Sean and I met. He’s such a talented chef and spent the last year cooking for us many nights each week, regardless of his work schedule. All of that changed since taking on his new role as Kitchen Manager at Zeal. He spent a month getting the place up and running and now, almost two months into his new job, is hardly ever at home, so I have stepped back into my role as an avid home cook. He deserves it, and it’s fun for me, too.
As it’s winter, I thought something hearty would be enjoyed for dinner. I’m calling this one a Veggie Shepherd’s Pot Pie. It is pretty easy to prepare, but takes some time, so allow a few hours from start to finish.
First, I made the pie crust by basically following THIS RECIPE but adjusting it for just one cup of flower. After making the dough, I let it sit in the fridge for a little over an hour to chill.
While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I started chopping a yellow onion, four or five stalks of celery, four rather large carrots, and a peeled garnet yam. I added these to a sauté pan with a little olive oil and let them slowly start to cook. Next, I chopped up two Smoked Apple Sage Sausages (vegan sausages, of course) made by Field Roast, an artisan grain meat company. Sean introduced me to this company and I’ve come to really enjoy some of their products. It’s not typical fake meat trying to imitate meat and meat products. Field Roast makes a variety of sausages that are clearly not meat, yet are versatile and tasty additions that complete many of our vegetarian dishes here at home. And, the ingredient list on their sausages meets my high standards.
So, into the pan went the chopped sausage, a few splashes of homemade veggie broth, and I let this all cook on medium for thirty or forty minutes. Then I salted and peppered to taste, added a pinch of dried crumpled sage, a little parsley and thyme. I chopped a handful of kale and added it to the mix at the end and took my pan off the heat. It was now time to roll out my dough, make my bottom crust in a pie pan, and add the filling.
Don’t forget to PREHEAT THE OVEN, by the way, to 350 degrees.
I boiled water and cooked a white Hannah yam while making the filling, but set it to the side for the first 15 minutes the pie was in the oven. When the yam was cool enough to touch, I mashed it and spread it over the pie (which I had briefly taken out of the oven, of course) and then let it bake until the top was starting to develop a crust and turn brown and the pie crust was golden and crispy (20 more minutes or so). The look on Sean’s face when he returned home after another fifteen hour work day was all I needed to know I had really shown him how much I care. After all, we all know the way to a man’s heart…
One slice of this was definitely not enough for either of us. I must admit- this was one of my best dishes in a long time.
Apple Pie
- At December 3, 2010
- By megan
- In Apples, pie, pie crust, Savory Spice Shop, thanksgiving
- 0
- 3 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3.5 sticks chilled, unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces
- 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1/3 cup iced water (ice cubes removed) mixed with 1/3 cup cold vodka
When the crust will stay together when handled and form a nice ball, divide it into 3 or 4 smaller balls. Wrap them in wax or parchment paper, and freeze them for a few hours. Let them sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before rolling them into thin circles. I like to roll my crust between to sheets or wax or parchment paper. If it gets too warm and mushy, put it back in the freezer for a few minutes to chill it before putting it a pie pan.
Let this cool. In the meantime, crust has been made, frozen, thawed, rolled, placed in a pie pan, and possible re-placed in the freezer. Make sure the pie crust is cool and the apples are not hot before adding the apples to the pie pan.
I am no expert pie baker. I unfortunately missed the pies and desserts classes at The Culinary School of the Rockies this fall. Maybe next year. But, I did try my best at a woven top and it worked. I wove the strips of pie crust on a piece of parchment paper and then transferred them all at once to the pie. Then I crimped the edges, brushed the top with beaten egg, sprinkled it with Spiced Vanilla Bean Sugar from no where else but Savory Spice Shop, and started to bake it at 450 for 20 minutes.
After 20-30 minutes, lower the oven to 350, remove the pie, and tent the edges with foil to prevent them from burning. Then continue to bake until the top crust is nicely golden brown and you hear and see the apples boiling inside.
Let it cool enough so it won’t burn your mouth, and then enjoy. I like to serve it with homemade maple whipped cream.
Deconstructed Rhubarb Ginger Pie
This was a lot of fun. I did not have the time to prepare a “real” pie crust, and since I would NEVER purchase a pre-made crust, I got creative. I made the dough for a whole wheat crust and baked it like cookies, which took no more than 10 minutes. I served the pie “deconstructed” so you could take as much crust and filling as you like.
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 5 TB walnut oil
- 2 TB maple syrup
- 2-3 TB cold water, depending on the texture of the dough
- 6-8 stalks rhubarb, rinsed and cut into small pieces
- 1 TB freshly grated ginger
- 2 TB maple syrup
- 1/2 cup water
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