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Putting the pot in pot pie

When I knew I was doing Dutch ovens, I knew that I needed to buy a Dutch oven cookbook for guidance and ideas throughout the year. But I found it was real easy to come up with the first few things I needed to try so I put it off.

Finally, though, I went ahead and got “Cook It In Your Dutch Oven” from America’s Test Kitchen. I patted myself on the back for how many of their ideas were things that I’m planning to make this year already, but my jaw dropped (not literally) when I came across the pot pie recipe.

This pie lady never thought of making a pot pie as a not-quite-pie, but definitely all pot.

Chicken pot pie ingredients.

The recipe was for spring vegetables, but I damn well know what goes in a pot pie and I know it’s wintery AF.

And bad mistakes, I made a few.

First of all, the lattice top crust that makes up the top (spoiler: there’s no crusty bottom) is with puff pastry and I am so bad at dealing with puff pastry. I muddled through but it was frustrating.

Second of all, the recipe called for chicken thighs. I got a mix — 1 lb. each of chicken breast and chicken thighs — but I didn’t realize that trimming raw chicken thighs is frustrating and nearly impossible. I should have known by now, but I mostly work with breasts, or thighs that are cut after cooked.

Third of all, seasons. The substitutions I made worked real well for a winter pot pie, but it didn’t occur to me until too late that some of the ingredients made more sense in a spring recipe rather than winter, and I should have probably scrapped them. They are the optional ingredients below — tomato paste and lemon zest (the original also calls for some lemon juice from about half a lemon). I think they’d work better in a real spring recipe (with asparagus instead of potatoes, and tarragon instead of parsley)  than this one, though they didn’t manage to ruin the whole thing.

What I’m saying is, despite my mistakes, and despite the modest frustration, it was still good. Because pot pies are good. And errors can be corrected so that pot pies are even better.

I’ll probably never love working with puff pastry, but honestly, a good hearty (or even spring!) pot pie is worth it.

It sure looks pretty, but it also tastes pretty great.

Here’s what I did (with recommendations for what I should have done):

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
  • 6 T. butter
  • 1 lb. (about 4) leeks, white and light green parts, sliced
  • 4 carrots, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 3 celery stalks, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 lb. potatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 c. frozen peas
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced (I used the jarred stuff)
  • ½ c. flour
  • 1 T. tomato paste (optional)
  • 3 c. chicken broth, more as needed
  • ½ c. heavy cream
  • 1 t. soy sauce (we were out so I used Bragg liquid aminos)
  • 2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (or thighs if you’re a masochist)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 T. dried parsley flakes or chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 T. lemon zest (optional)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Cut a sheet of parchment paper to match the outline of a Dutch oven lid. Set aside. Roll puff pastry sheet into about a 15- by 11-inch rectangle, and then cut (a pizza cutter works great) into 10 1 ½-inch wide strips. Place 5 strips parallel and 5 strips perpendicular on the parchment paper round you created.

There are fancy techniques to do this more efficiently, but weave the 10 strips into a lattice top into whatever is easiest for you. Cut the strips to fit onto the parchment paper round.

Move your lattice top puff pastry using the parchment paper to the up-turned lid of the Dutch oven, and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the pot pie.

Move oven rack to the lower middle position in the oven, and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, melt the butter on the stove top over medium heat.

Add the leeks, carrots, celery, and potatoes, and cook until the leeks are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute. Then, add in the flour, slowly, and stir for another minute. Add the tomato paste, if using.

Then, stir in the broth, scraping up browned bits as necessary. Add the cream, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the chicken pieces, and continue to simmer for a couple minutes before removing from heat.

Put the the up-turned lid with the puff pastry on top of the Dutch oven (still up-turned and do so carefully!), and brush it with the egg mixture (I also added a tablespoon or so of water). Sprinkle with salt, if desired.

Transfer the pot to oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until the puff pastry is puffed and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove pot from oven and carefully transfer the parchment and pastry to a wire rack and remove lid. Stir in the peas, and let sit until heated through about 5 minutes. Add more broth if necessary. Add the parsley flakes and lemon zest, if using, and stir in salt and pepper to taste. Plop (carefully!) the puff pastry on top of the filling, and enjoy!

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Serendipitous simple spinach swirls

I was not expecting to make this week’s dish, but I just happened to have all but one of the ingredients on hand. So, one Sunday morning before a get-together with friends, I whipped together spanakopita-like spinach swirls.

Spinach swirls ingredients.

And they’re a real Frankenstein’s monster of my previous sheet pan recipes.

I had left over one sheet of puff pastry from the sausage “sandwich” I made earlier this year. I had bought a gigantic block of feta for the chicken meatballs, because it called for the brine too, and had quite a bit leftover. I had the basic idea of what it’d take to make it work from when I actually did make spanakopita. We even just happened to have dill around for some reason, and everything but spinach is a regular pantry item. So, I sought spinach.

While I made this frantically, because as usual I was running late for said get-together, it was super simple and comes together quick. Mine didn’t look as pretty as a similar-ish recipe on the back of the puff pastry box but still tasty.

My only issue is I took the back-of-the-box advice to brush on an egg wash on the dough before baking, which was fine, but it made the swirls stick to the pan, so I wish I had used parchment paper for easy cleanup. Oh, and I probably should’ve strained the spinach a bit. Other than that, simple and delicious.

So simple and so delicious.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • 1 sheet puff pastry
  • ~1 c. crumbled feta (I’d bet a 4 oz. container of crumbled feta would be a fine amount)
  • ½ c. Parmesan, shredded
  • 2 eggs, divided
  • 2-4 cloves garlic, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Dill, to taste
  • Flour, for rolling pastry dough

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.

Squeeze out water from handfuls of spinach and place in a large bowl. Add feta, Parmesan, garlic, 1 egg, salt, pepper, and dill to the spinach, and stir well to combine.

Place a small handful of flour on a clean surface, and unroll the puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle with more flour, and then roll out to about 12 inches by 10 inches or so.

Place the spinach mix along the long side of the puff pastry. Roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into about 12 slices.

Place face up on the lined sheet pan.

Mix together the remaining egg with about 1 T. of water. Stir the egg wash on the edges of the puff pastry to coat.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown, and enjoy!

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Sausage “sandwich” is a simple, tasty meal

One of the best cookbooks I got when I was first learning to cook was a collection of recipes from the sides of boxes, cans, etc. It wasn’t fancy, but that’s sort of the point of those types of recipes. Sure, it’s product-related, but it also is usually a quick, easy way of putting together something edible.

Aside from the best vanilla cream pie recipe (from Argo and Kingsford’s corn starch packaging), one of my favorite recipes from the book is a sausage and vegetable mix wrapped in puff pastry. And I knew from when I started this blog that it would be one of the recipes for my sheet pan year.

Sausage puff pastry ingredients.

There was just one problem. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the cookbook.

I scoured all relevant sections, and nothing.

I started to think it was one of those invented memories, like “Shazaam.”

So, I did what any totally normal and sane person would do; I went through the g-d damn book page by pain-staking page to find it. And buried near the end of the sandwich section of all flippin’ places, I found the recipe I remembered from before.

While I might like to complain about the delay, it actually worked out pretty well because we had a nice hot Italian sausage from the farmer’s market from Lucky George Farm that worked perfectly with the recipe. And if I’d made it sooner, I wouldn’t have used this excellent meat.

It was every bit as good — OK, a little better, because did I mention the awesome sausage?! — as I remembered, even if I forgot one ingredient (oops!).

So yummy and it looks pretty to boot.

Here’s what I did, with said forgotten ingredient included as optional:

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm, if you wanted to know which box this originated from)
  • 1 lb. ground sausage
  • 1 small to medium onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 large tomato, chopped (optional)
  • 1 ½ c. shredded Swiss cheese
  • 3 T. parsley, chopped
  • Flour, for rolling out pastry dough

Directions

Thaw the puff pastry at least 20 minutes, and up to overnight.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees, and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage until browned (about 10 minutes), and then add the pepper and onion and cook until the vegetables are tender (another 5 minutes or so).

Remove from heat (pour out fat if there’s a lot but my meat was as lean as you’d want sausage), and add the tomato, if using, cheese, and parsley. Set aside.

Meanwhile, unfold and roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it reaches approximately 14 inches by 10 inches. Transfer the puff pastry to the lined sheet pan (I do this by rolling up the dough around my rolling pin and then unspooling).

Spread the sausage mixture along the 14 inch side, near the edge. Roll up along the long side, like you’re making a jelly roll (this is what the ingredients in the book say too!).

Pinch the dough together to seal and then curve into an oval or horseshoe shape. Cut the dough about halfway through every 1 ½ inches.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden, and enjoy!