We had the missionaries over tonight so I needed something that could just cook while I cleaned my house so that I could pretend that it always looks neat & tidy. (You're laughing, but if you have kids you do it too my friend.) So I made a rough pastry this morning to use as a crust (I've also just put biscuit topping on it before & that's good too) & did the rest in the afternoon.
Our new Elders nice. I don't really know them yet, but they seem like they'll be hard workers. (They'd better be, because I'm none too inhibited to say something to them if they're slackers.) One of them-Elder Scow (?sp?)-is from Hurricane, near Panguitch. It made me think of the drives I took with Gram & Gramp Stellmon while they were staying with us down there because Gramp like to make up little songs about Hurikin & Laverkin (that's how they pronounce it out there-Hurikin). One drive we took I nearly killed us all not 500 feet from Papa & Grandma's house. It winter there, so we're all bundled up-even Molly (my Grandpas fat little dachshund). I'm driving along & I see that Mollys' front legs have come out of her little sweater so I-brilliantly-let go of the wheel & turn to my right to fix it for her. Just as I get it done Gram shouts "Stop!" from the back seat. I hit the brakes without even looking up which is good because the car stopped about 1 inch from a telephone pole. On one side was a stop-sign and on the other was a guy-wire from the pole. There was about 2-3 inches of clearance on either side of the car. Yep, I'm just that good. I like to blame it on the fact that I was 7 or 8 months pregnant with my first kiddo & not a lot of blood was going to my brain at the time. Who knows. =P But I backed up & off we went to Zion's National Park as though nothing had happened. Gram was either very brave or very desperate to get out that day, I'm not sure which. Anyway, here are the recipes...
Rough Pastry
This is like puff pastry only it takes about 1 hour to make instead of all day. It turns out just as good for anything but the fanciest desserts & tastes exactly the same. This is what professional chefs use a lot of the time to save time.
12 oz flour
3/4 tsp salt
12 oz COLD UNSALTED butter, cut into small cubes
6 oz ICE COLD water
I do it in ounces because that's the way I measure when I'm baking. If you don't have a kitchen scale, get one. Just kidding. 12 oz flour is around 2 1/2 cups give or take depending on your method.
As for the butter, take it out of the fridge right before you mix it into the flour & it will be perfect. You might think, "Ha! I'll just use regular butter and omit the salt. Silly, silly girl. Salted butter can contain as much as 3% salt PER STICK (about 3/4 tsp) but that varies from brand to brand and even within a brand in different parts of the country. Basically, if you use salted butter in anything, then you have no idea how much salt you're putting in. Now, to continue...
Sift the flour and salt onto the cold cubes of butter. Using a pastry scraper or a large chef's knife, cut the butter into the flour. You don't want to actually touch anything with your hands because heat will transfer & it will melt the butter sooner. Puff pastry works because the thin layers of cold butter trapped between the thin layers of dough create little steam pockets of sorts & puff it up when it cooks. If you melt the butter it won't work. Mix it until you have a crumbly mixture. Flatten any large chunks of butter if needed. Add the ice-cold water a little at a time to loosely bind the dough. Mix the dough with the pastry scraper until it just hangs together. It looks messy & useless at this point. Shape the messy, shaggy dough into a rough rectangle and roll it out until it's 1/2 inch thick. (Resist the temptation to overwater or overwork the dough; it will eventually hold together.)
Use the pastry scraper to fold the dough in thirds-the same way you would fold a piece of 8x11 paper to go into an envelope-so that you have 3 layers where you had one. (For even more layers, once the dough gets smooth, fold it up like a book. To do this, fold the two shorter sides into the center and then fold the dough like a book so there are 4 layers.) At this point don't worry if it folds in pieces-it probably will. Turn the package of dough 90 degrees so the folds run vertically. Square off the edges of the dough as you work, but don't be too picky about it. Roll the dough into a rectangle that's 1/2 inch thick, always rolling from open end to open end. Continue rolling, folding, and turning until the dough looks smooth. By five(ish) "turns," the dough should hang together well. Don't do it too much or you'll melt the butter. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for 30 min before giving it two final turns. At this point, you can then use the dough, but another short rest will make rolling and shaping easier. Voila! It makes great desserts (mille foi anyone?) and fantastic entrees and a huge number of tantalizing appetizers. I used a double recipe to put a crust on top & bottom of the pot pie tonight & still had a small amount left over that I'm going to roll bacon, cheese & scrambled eggs in & bake in the morning for 'hot pockets' that the kids love for breakfast. If you're going to make it you may as well make a double recipe because it freezes beautifully. Just fold it, wrap it in parchment/freezer paper & stick it in a freezer bag. When you want to use it put it in the fridge to defrost over night & you're good to go.
Chicken Pot Pie with Saffron & Fennel
Okay, okay. Yes, saffron is a WEE bit expensive. However, you use VERY little at a time (a single pinch in this recipe & it makes a 9x13 pan. Which-BTW-just fed our family & two missionaries.) You can use fresh fennel in place of the seeds if you want. I just always have fennel seeds in my spice cupboard & its less to wash & chop. Fennel smells like black licorice-which I don't like AT ALL-but it complements the other flavors really well.
3 c cooked chicken
2 T butter
2 T oil (olive, veg, whatever)
6 med potatoes, peeled if you want, then cubed
6 med carrots, peeled & cubed
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 tsp fennel seeds, chopped small (or use a spice grinder)
1 pinch of saffron threads, (grind them between your fingers as you put them in to release flavor)
1 T sugar (doesn't make it sweet, just highlights the savory flavors)
2 t salt (plus more or less at the end when you adjust)
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t ground sage
2 c fresh/frozen green beans
2 c fresh/frozen corn
1/3 c chopped frozen spinach or 1/2 c chopped fresh (DO NOT use canned-trust me)
3T flour
1 c chicken broth
1/4 c cream (optional)
1 c milk (you can use more broth if you want)
Just a note about the chicken & veggies. I usually boil a whole chicken, de-bone it & use it for several meals in a week. You could also just boil chicken breasts or thighs if you want. I boil them because it makes for tender, juicy meat. However, you could also just use some store-bought rotisserie chicken, leftover turkey, or cube some chicken & throw it in your butter & oil to cook before you add your veggies (you might need to up the butter/oil to do this though), or you could just leave out the chicken & make a veggie pot pie. I make this often when I have 1/2 cup of 12 different veggies in the freezer that I need to use up. Just throw in whatever you have in the freezer & fridge & it will be fine.
If you're doing a bottom crust, preheat your oven to 425 & bake it about 20 minutes. Poke holes in it to release stem because you don't want the bottom to poof up too big. If you have pie weights use them.
Heat the butter & oil in a big pot. Throw in all the veggies, sugar, salt, pepper, saffron, fennel seed, & sage & give it a stir. Add your chicken & just enough broth to make 1/2 inch of liquid on the bottom of the pan. Pop the lid on & let the veggies soften, stirring every so often. I have no patience & I like a little brown on my veggies, so I do this on medium. The veggies will produce more liquid, so you usually don't need to worry about that, but add more broth if you need to. (You want the veggies to still have a little crunch to them, because they're goin in the oven too, so don't overcook them.) Once the veggies are ready, add the flour & give it a stir. Cook a minute or so & then add about 1/2 cup of broth, the cream if you're using it, 1/2 cup milk & stir it. Add more milk/broth as needed to make a gravy-like sauce on the veggies. Salt & pepper to taste & pour into your pan. Top with your crust (or dollops of drop-biscuit dough if you like) & pop back into the oven (425 for 20-25 min if you're using the rough pastry & 350 for 15 min if you're using a biscuit top). It's ready when it's golden brown on top. Delish!
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