Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Crust and all!

It's been a while, but I'm roasting two chickens this morning.  I was at Whole Foods on Monday and they had priced chickens at $1 per pound less when you bought two.  I stood there, in front of them, contemplating whether or not I wanted to carry two (I had a hand basket, and I was tired!), since I only went in for one!  I walked away...  I also needed to decide whether or not I wanted to deal with two birds when I only really wanted and needed one.  But I did in fact need one, but for a 25% savings I dealt with having to carry both!

That got me thinking about what I wanted to do with two birds.  I don't like freezing an already previously frozen bird (which was also part of my resistance to buying 2).  Roasting two birds is not much more work than one, and it will certainly not go to waste!  I think I'm going to make a chicken pot pie, crust and all! I used to make a pretty mean pie crist, let's see if I still got it!

Chicken pot pie can be loaded with vegetables, winter or spring.  It's a basic white sauce, yes, a bit of flour too.  Herbs are a must, in fact I could probably make an herby crust?  Would that be fun?  Okay, let's not get all fancy smancy!

What are your favorite vegetables and herbs to eat in a chicken pot pie?  Crust or no crust?  Homemade, or store bought puff pastry?  I think I'm going to use tarragon and make my veggies big and chunky, and I'm going to give my old pie crust making skills a bit of a test!

onion (I read a recipe that used pearl onions, yum!)
celery
carrot
leeks (yes please!  especially with tarragon)
mushrooms
peas (frozen)
string beans? (frozen)
root veggies, parsnips, potato, turnip, etc
red bell
spinach?

The possibilities for ingredients is endless, and even the sauce technique is very forgiving.  Here is a video of Curtis Stone's technique originally aired on the Today show.  Looks like I'll be getting out my cast iron pan!  Fun stuff!

http://www.today.com/id/49790183/ns/today-food/t/one-pot-comfort-chicken-pie-winter-veggies/#.UUm_DhesiSo

6 comments:

chrystad72 said...

oh yum! can't wait to see how it turns out. Sounds delish. My favorite veggies in a pot pie are the root veggies. Root veggies with lots of fresh Italian parsley. And of course celery, onions and carrots. I pretty much make mine with similar veggies actually..Adding spinach would be great though too I think. I thought it was funny about the chickens too since I shop the same way. If its on sale why not? right?=)Its a good deal!

Tracy Reifkind said...

chrystad,

I love sweet potatoes on their own! I've been adding them to so many stews that I'm missing them by themselves! And here we are, middle of March, and I'm kinda tired of the roots! You can never get away from the magic of onion carrot and celery, but the only other thing I've got in the house is mushrooms and spinach.

The market I was close to today was the Safeway near San Jose State and they cater to students that don't cook so there was nothing in the produce section except the usual. I thought I might pick up a handful of brussels, but none to be found....I did find tarragon however! Miracle!

chrystad72 said...

Oooh yea! Love sweet potatoes too. They are great on their own too. Ive been adding them to protein shakes too recently. Reminds me of sweet potato pie a bit.

Brussles would be so delicious too along with the tarragon. Great combo.

Now Im hungry for pot pie. Ha! I think Im going to have to make some this weekend now....=)

Tracy Reifkind said...

Chrystad,

I have a recipe in The Swing book for butternut and cottage cheese smoothie! It reminds me of pumpkin cheesecake! Adding cinnamon too of course!

Mark Reifkind said...

and it was YUMMY YUM YUM! crust and all.

chrystad72 said...

omg! thats awesome! I have the book so looking that smoothie up now. yyyuuum. Btw, just got the Top 40 DVD too and am excited.