{"id":363,"date":"2019-02-02T02:06:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T02:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christiniacrippes.com\/food\/?p=363"},"modified":"2019-02-02T02:06:57","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T02:06:57","slug":"putting-the-pot-in-pot-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christiniacrippes.com\/food\/2019\/02\/02\/putting-the-pot-in-pot-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the pot in pot pie"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Finally, though, I went ahead and got \u201cCook It In Your Dutch Oven<\/a>\u201d from America\u2019s Test Kitchen<\/a>. I patted myself on the back for how many of their ideas were things that I\u2019m planning to make this year already, but my jaw dropped (not literally) when I came across the pot pie recipe.<\/p>\n

This pie lady<\/a> never thought of making a pot pie as a not-quite-pie, but definitely all pot.<\/p>\n

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Chicken pot pie ingredients.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recipe was for spring vegetables, but I damn well know what goes in a pot pie and I know it\u2019s wintery AF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And bad mistakes, I made a few<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First of all, the lattice top crust that makes up the top (spoiler: there\u2019s no crusty bottom) is with puff pastry and I am so bad at dealing with puff pastry. I muddled through but it was frustrating.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Third of all, seasons. The substitutions I made worked real well for a winter pot pie, but it didn\u2019t 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\u2019d work better in a real spring recipe (with asparagus instead of potatoes, and tarragon instead of parsley) \u00a0than this one, though they didn\u2019t manage to ruin the whole thing.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll probably never love working with puff pastry, but honestly, a good hearty (or even spring!) pot pie is worth it.<\/p>\n

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It sure looks pretty, but it also tastes pretty great.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s what I did (with recommendations for what I should have done):<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n