Friday, October 24, 2008

Another Classroom Find

Today is all about comfort food... I'm sick (again!) and didn't really feel like cooking much else than canned soup or tea today. However, that's going to have to change this weekend! I, along with my schoolfriends Sabrina, Johana and Princess, am a proud part of the Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals now - and I'm even on the fundraising committee! Hallowe'en means bakesale time, which means I'm getting my butt in the kitchen to do what I do best and make some cashola! Of course, I'll take gratuitous photos and share everything with you guys too, how can I not?

I wrote a couple weeks ago about one of the recipes on the curriculum of my Kitchen Production class, and I figured it was time for another one (well, that and the fact I was running dry on material tonight!). I had actually intended to tell you guys about it closer to when we actually made the darn thing, but I forgot so I didn't! I'm catching up though... don't worry!

At any rate, here's what we did. It's your standard chicken pot pie, made with boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breast meat for the extra iron (though if you have leftover turkey still hanging around from Thanksgiving it would be great in this too!). Instead of a heavy butter/flour/cream sauce, richly caramelized onions blend with evaporated skim milk and chicken broth to lower the fat content while still giving it a creamy texture and rich flavour. The usual carrots and frozen - yes frozen! - peas make their appearances too... I don't think pot pie would be the same without them.

I took the liberty of adding more herbs than the original recipe called for (which was, FYI, only salt. That's it!), and I'm sure the end result is far and away a better one than the mass-production one. If you have time (and we didn't in class... *sob*) please make your own crusts! It's the only way to go. Really.

Chicken Thigh Pie
Serves 8
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, diced
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
2/3 cup sliced celery
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup diced onion
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup evaporated skim milk
Prepared pastry for a 9" double-crust pie
  1. Preheat oven to 425F.
  2. Boil chicken, carrots, peas and celery in a pot of water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  3. In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and cook 7-8 minutes.
  4. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and herbs, cook 2-3 minutes or until browned.
  5. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk.
  6. Simmer rapidly, stirring, until thick.
  7. Add chicken mixture, stirring well. Remove from heat and allow to cool 15 minutes.
  8. Fill bottom pie shell with the chicken mixture.
  9. Cover with top crust, seal and cut 2-3 slits in top crust.
  10. Bake 20 minutes.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 329.6
Total Fat: 16.1 g
Cholesterol: 56.1 mg
Sodium: 632.4 mg
Total Carbs: 27.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.9 g
Protein: 18.0 g

And before I forget, I recieved a wonderful package today from the awesome folks at FoodBuzz (no thanks to Canada Post, though... the poor envelope came torn to shreds and re-wrapped in a Ziploc baggie - my tax dollars at work!). It's a brand-spanking-new apron and spatula to commemorate their official launch which happened on the 13th of October. Thanks FB!

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