Sunday, January 31, 2010

Individual Pot Pies

I love pot pie, who doesn't? Years ago I came across a cookbook at the Library titled "Make Your Own Groceries"by Daphne M. Hartwig, sadly it is out of print :-((  But on a good note there are many recipes that you really can use to make your own groceries and one favorite is individual pot pies. The recipe seems daunting but the results are fabulous. Or you could just buy the ho hum ones from the grocery store but these are much better!!

The Ingredients
6 cups cooked chicken or turkey diced
4 1/2 c chicken or turkey broth
2 1/4 c potatoes diced 1/4"
2- 10 ounce each frozen mixed peas and carrots thawed about 3c
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
7 1/2 tbl flour
1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin dissolved in 1 tbl cold water
A few drops Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master-optional for color
12 round, foil, pot pie or tart pans: 5 inches across and 1 1/4 inches deep
1 recipe pot pie crust-see below

Crust
3c flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3c shortening, chilled
5 1/2 tbl butter, chilled
About 9 tbl ice water

Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives cut shortening and butter to get mixture to look like coarse meal. Sprinkle on 2 tbl of the ice water, stirring with a fork so that all water is absorbed before adding more. Add more single tbls of water until dough can be gathered into a ball.
Knead the dough on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Make some indentations in the dough, sprinkle on another tbl or so of water and knead it in. Knead in as much water as the dough will take without it sticking to the surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls, set them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more. This is for a single crust pie, if you want a double crust just double this recipe.

Filling
Bring 3 1/2 cups of the broth to a boil; stir in diced potatoes; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the thawed peas, carrots, salt and pepper, simmer, covered for 5 minutes. Do not overcook any of the vegetables they should be no more than just tender. Remove from stove and add the other cup of broth. cool mixture in a sink of cold water stirring now and again til just warm or tepid. Strain out vegetables and set aside, make gravy with the broth by mixing the flour with a little broth in a bowl or jar til smooth then add to rest of broth in pan, add the dissolved gelatin, stir over low heat until thickened, stir in a tiny bit of Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master for coloring. Cool gravy in sink of cold water, stirring constantly to prevent a film from forming. Measure the gravy and add water to make 4 1/2 cups add vegetables, stir in chicken or turkey; add salt and pepper to taste.

 


  Ladle the filling mixture evenly among the 12 foil pans, giving 
a little over 3/4 cup to each.



On a floured surface roll out the chilled balls
of dough into 5 inch circles or to fit the top of each pan.
Instead of trimming off any excess dough that hangs past the pan's rim, crowd it back into the flat rim. fluting where necessary.


Use floured fork tines to press the crust edge all around the pan's flat rim.
Make 3 knife slashes in the top of each crust.
Set finished pies on a cookie sheet
and place in a freezer overnight or until solid

Package frozen pies, stacked, in plastic bags. Label with cooking directions

 Cooking directions
Preheat oven to 450F. Place desired amount of frozen pies on the middle rack of the oven with aluminum foil beneath. Bake 35 minute or until crust is golden. Allow about 5 minutes longer when heating 3 or more pies.

1 comment:

  1. I LOVE making pot pies... and so do the kids...good idea...I'm putting it on the menu for this week!

    ReplyDelete