Stockin' up on Pie

You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.

Julia Child

Let's start with what I made tonight. I don't have a recipe for this, but the fiance had a craving for pot pie, so I came up with something. Sorry, I don't have any progress pictures, but I do have the end result, so that will have to do.

To start with, I needed poached chicken, and chicken broth. I looked at commercial broths, but at 570mg sodium per cup for the LOW sodium kind, I decided to make my own. As an added bonus, I managed to poach the chicken I needed, as well.

Before we go into the stock, though, we need to talk about vegetables. More specifically, let's talk about the leftover bits you always have when cleaning celery, peeling carrots, and chopping onions. There are three words: Save that shit.

Your squash ends, your tomato cores, carrot peelings, onions skin, celery tops, bell-pepper tops, etc - save everything vegetable related that won't adversely flavor your stock (broccoli and asparagus leavin's are bad, for example). Stick 'em in a freezer bag or other air-tight container and toss it in the freezer.

You don't have to use the scraps. An onion, carrot, and celery stalk or two will work fine, but why spend the money for 'em when the scrap is free?

Chicken Stock ( ~ 6 cups)

Note: You can use the same recipe for beef, pork, or vegetable stock. Just add the appropriate bones, or extra vegetables.

Vegetable Scraps or 1 small yellow onion, three celery ribs, and one carrot - all roughly chopped.

3 or 4 Chicken leg quarters (I use them because they're 59 cents a pound, but breast quarters will work. Bone and meat is what you're looking for.)

Water - lots of it.

8 qt Stock Pot (or larger)

Put everything in the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the meat is falling off the bone, then cook a wee bit longer.

Remove leg quarters from the pot, and pick the meat off the bone. Store the meat in the 'fridge and throw everything else back into the pot when you're done. (Yes, the skin is going to release a lot of fat, but it's also releasing flavor. We'll skim the fat off when we're done.)

Continue simmering until the half the liquid evaporates. Top off the pot with cold water and return to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer until half the liquid evaporates, again.

Strain through a colander, a tea strainer, or cheesecloth (or all three). Place the strained stock in the 'fridge and let cool. If you let it cool long enough, the fat will gel and you can peel it off the top. Otherwise, skim the fat if you need the broth immediately.

If I'm not going to use it immediately, I pour the broth into a muffin pan and freeze. Once frozen, I dump my stock-cicles into an airtight container and pull as needed.

Chicken Pot Pie (4 servings)

1 can Veg-all, drained (or your favorite veggies, small-diced)

1 can Regular Croissants or pie shells

1 1/2 c. Poached Chicken

1 Tbsp Margarine or Butter

3 Tbsp Flour

1 1/2 c. Chicken Stock

Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste

Baking dish

Small saucepan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir well to create a roux.

Slowly add the chicken stock a little at a time, stirring to incorporate completely before adding more. Once all the liquid is added, it should resemble gravy. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and anything else (I like garlic), and it *is* gravy.

Spray the baking dish with cooking spray to make cleanup easier (pro tip!). Line with half the dough, spreading to the edges of the pan. The thinner, the better.

Too thick, and the pie will be doughy.

Mix the vegetables and the chicken. Place into the baking dish or pie shells. Spread the gravy over the chicken-veg mixture, and top with the remaining dough.

Bake for 10 ~ 15 minutes until the the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 ~ 10 minutes.

Now get it in yah bellah and enjoy!