This is going to be a two in one post...first I love to cook I find it to be fun and relaxing. Sometimes making the perfect dish takes time. I have been a little short on cash lately, and when that happens you have to get creative sometimes.
Chicken Savory Pie (lard crust)
At the beginning of the summer my husband and I loaded up on good from Sam's Club to ration out for the summer. Everything has gone according to plan to keep us in food during the summer semester. We purchased large quantities of fish, chicken, and beef. We added jugs of soy, canola, and spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti, frozen vegetables, butter, beef stock, and rice for stock. From Whole Foods in Charlottesville, VA we purchased some chocolate, almond flour, tandoori, sea salt, curry, and cardamom. (They carry a broad variety of spices and you don't have to pay a full bottle price like you do at most grocers! Also it helps you save a little if you carry your own spice jars along.) Lastly we were given an absolutely massive bag of flour by my best friend Debbie.
Winding down to the end of the semester here I had forgotten about the flour completely. :-(
But then it dawned on me! I could make a savory pie. I looked up a pie crust recipe online it read as follows.
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups cold lard or solid vegetable shortening
- 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold lard or 1 1/2 cold stick butter
- 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water
- Spices: I liked it with a mixture of pepper, rosemary, and ginger (optional)
Just put the ingredients in a bowl minus the ice water. If you are using lard the final product will be best if you roll it thickly, but if you use butter it will do better as a thinner crust. I have used this recipe to make crust toppers and a top and bottom style dish...works well either way.
I don't have a mixer so I worked it through thoroughly with my hands until the fat type (lard/butter). It is likely that some flour will still be unmixed in the bowl if you do this by hand; that will fix itself shortly. Add 2 tbsp. of the water and work it through again adding as much flour from the bottom of the bowl as possible. At this point either some will still be in the bottom which means you should add more tbsp a little at a time until it is all together. At this point it will either be smooth or flaky and breaking apart easily.
If it feels/looks really flaky add one more tbsp of water. it should feel similar to cookie dough but not as sticky when you have reached the correct consistency. You should be able to roll the dough between your palms and it should not stick to them. If it is a little sticky just add a pinch or two of flour to the outside to handle it better. At this point if you are happy with the consistency you have the option to add some spices for flavor. I like to use the spices I listed above, but depending on your filling my mix may or may not go well with your dish. always add any spices you like to taste. This dough does not have egg in it so it is safe to taste a little bit of it to see if the flavor works.
I like to go heavy on the spices myself... be sure to let the finished dough set in the refrigerator for 30 min. at least. While it is setting you have some time to prepare a filling.
For the fillings I have made both a chicken and a beef based pie. In them I used:
- 1-2 cups of frozen peas/carrots/corn or 1/2 green bell pepper, 1 Shallot, 1 dill pickle slice all chopped.
- 1 large chicken breast, chunked or cubed stew beef
- 4 cubes of beef stock base
- 1/2 of a large pot of water (sorry not more accurate I don't own a liquid measuring cup anymore and I didn't have any wet beef stock offhand)
- 3-4 tbsp of flour as thickener
- Spices: any combination of pepper, tyme, rosemary, sage, curry, ginger, soy or tandoori
- For my Chicken it was rosemary, tyme, and pepper
- For my Beef it was curry, ginger(light), soy(1 tbsp), and pepper
- In both I added 1 cup of almond milk to the base for creaminess! This is totally optional though- its great with or without.
I allow the water to come to a boil and add the spices and beef base. boil med-hi for 15 minutes. While the water is boiling I begin to cube my meat into either narrow strips or small chunks. Then I bring the base to a rolling boil and add the meat into it. If you meat is cut correctly it should cook in the water in about 30 seconds, so I continually add meat for about 5 minutes in small handfuls.
I will allow that to cook anywhere between 30-60 minutes over a medium heat. Remember that the longer you allow the meat to cook the more tender it will become. If you do not cook it long enough, because of the method, the meat will be really tough. For the Chicken I cooked 30 min and for the beef I cooked 60 because the cut of meat I had was intended for stir-fry or a slow cooker. (I like to add 1 cup of almond milk to my fillings to make them creamy.) Halfway through the stewing you should add your vegetables and your dough will be done.
Retrieve the dough from the refrigerator appx. 15min till filling complete. For a two-crust pie roll out the bottom to fit the pie pan exactly. (be sure to grease your pan- especially if you are doing a bottom crust!) Then for the top, roll it out to appx. the circumference of the top part of your pie dish. (yea no measurements here because they vary) With your crust rolled and your dish ready to go head back to the filling.
Your filling should be close to done now and your entire house should smell like the delicious concoction. To finish up preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then with the filling add 2 tbsp of flour and mix in thoroughly try to avoid leaving any lumps. Take the mixture off of the heat completely because cooling allows you to gauge the thickness of the filling. It usually takes me between 3 and 4 tbsp to reach a med-light thickness. This is something I am afraid you will have to see what best suits you. Do keep in mind though that it will always be a step or two thicker when it is done and cooled at the end so it is better to under do it than to over do it.
Fill the crust in the pan with your warm filling then place the crust over the top. Carefully move the dough to seal the edges of the pan. If a double crust make sure that both crusts come together and overlap the edge of the pan slightly. As a final touch you have the option to do what is called an egg wash. I always do this for my savory pies, but it is definitely optional. crack open one egg and separate the white and the yolk. hold the yolk over your sealed crust and break it onto the surface. and cover the top with the yolk until every part is 'washed' in it. This will make your dish pretty and easier to tell when it is done.
Place the dish in the oven for 30-35 min for thin buttery crust or 40-45min for the thicker lard crust The dish is already cooked, but this allows the crust to finish the dish and for the filling to marinate even further. Watch for the top to become a rich golden brown with a darker spot or two. At this point your dish is complete. let cool for 5-10min before eating. Will keep for 3-4 days.
More pictures!
This dish takes anywhere from 2-3 hours
with appx. 30 min prep.
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