Who Say's You Can't Have Pie for Dinner?!?

We recently moved so I haven't had much time for cooking; between getting our house in order and catching up with school work. But now that things have settled down a bit I have more time for leisure things like cooking. And today I felt like doing some serious cooking. So, I perused the Food Network site some more and came up with chicken pot pie. I also made apple pie with the apples that I canned last year. And I made strawberry rhubarb pie, because we brought some rhubarb home from Amish country that needed cooking. Are you beginning to see a theme to my cooking today? PIE!!

I decided that chicken pot pie is great because: you only have to make on dish for dinner, and you don't have to worry about if you are getting the vegetables you need cause they are all in the pie. :D And pie is good for dessert because it just tastes good, and it's all homemade!

So the crust that I used for all three pies is:

4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup butter (right out of the fridge, no leaving it on the counter while you are getting ready or it will not work right)

1 egg

1 tbs vinegar

1/2 cup ice water (approximate)

You gently mix the flour, salt, brown sugar, butter, and shortening until the butter and shortening is the size of small peas (don't over mix or your crust will be tough)

Then you add the egg and vinegar. After that is all incorporated, add the ice water slowly until you have a soft dough that sticks together. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.

This makes approximately two single, or one double pie crust with a bit left over.

For the Chicken Pot Pie, I used Emeril Lagassee's recipe from Food Network:
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup half and half
2 cups diced potatoes, blanched
1 cup diced carrots, blanched
1 cup sweet peas
2 cups shredded chicken, cooked
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 recipe Basic Savory Crust (recipe follows)
Salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 9 by 2-inch square baking pan.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the onions and celery and saute for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the flour and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes for a blond roux. Stir in the chicken stock and bring the liquid up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken. Stir in the half and half and continue to cook for 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, peas and chicken. Mix the filling thoroughly. Line the baking pan with one of the crusts. Pour the filling into the prepared pan. Place the top crust on top of the filling. Carefully tuck the overlapping crust into the pan, forming a thick edge. Crimp the edges of the pan and place on a baking sheet. Place the sheet in the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crispy.

Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Authors note: I boiled the carrots, and the potatoes so they would be well done. And you can add corn to the mixture before dumping in crust or even have it on the side like we did.

For the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie filling I used:

3 stalks rhubarb, chopped small

1 pint strawberries, slices thinly

1 1/2 cups white sugar (yes 1 1/2 cups, no cheating)

4 tbs flour

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Take the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour and vanilla and cook on the stove until soft.

Pour into pie dish lined with crust. Lattice the top of the pie and sprinkle a bit of white sugar on top for a little sparkle.

Bake uncovered until the filling is bubbly and appears to have thickened, and the crust is golden brown. About 20 minutes, but it will vary depending on the size of dish, thickness of crust, and texture of filling, so keep an eye on the pie after the 15 minute mark, and continue cooking until it's done.

For the Apple Pie I just used the crust listed above and apple filling that I made and canned last year. You can use your own recipe, or if you leave me a comment, I will post that recipe later.

All the recipes above were a success. I do NOT take credit for the Chicken Pot Pie filling though. That came from Emeril Lagassee at Food Network. Hope you enjoy cooking any of these recipes for your families! I did!

Blessings,

Tiffany Raye

The Remedy for a Chocolate Craving

Yesterday I felt like cooking some kind of dessert so I perused the Food Network site until I found something interesting. And I came across Chocolate Cream Pie by Emeril Lagassee. It turned out great. Here is the recipe. All rights go to Emeril Lagassee, and Food Network. The only change I made was that I did not have Oreos, so I used Graham Crackers. Enjoy!!

Ingredients: 
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream, plus 1 3/4 cups
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch salt
4 egg yolks
4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1 (9-inch) Chocolate Cookie Crust, baked, recipe follows

In a small saucepan combine sugar, 3/4 cup heavy cream, buttermilk, cornstarch and pinch of salt, and whisk until smooth. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, whisking from time to time for the sugar and cornstarch to dissolve and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking at a low boil for an additional 5 minutes, whisking constantly.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly. Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and whisk over the heat until thoroughly combined and very thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Continue whisking until thoroughly combined (mixture will be very thick). Cover the mixture with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Place 1 3/4 cups heavy cream in a chilled mixing bowl and add the confectioners' sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cool chocolate pudding mixture, then spoon the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust and refrigerate until firm and cool, at least 4 hours. Refrigerate the remaining whipped cream until you are ready to serve the pie.

When ready to serve, top the pie with the remaining sweetened whipped cream and serve immediately.

Graham crackers to yield 2 cups crumbs

Crust:
Chocolate sandwich cookies (white centers removed) to yield 1 1/2 cups crumbs (recommended: Oreo)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the graham crackers and chocolate cookies to make crumbs.

In a bowl mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter with your hands. Press the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. (It will seem like an excessive amount of crumbs, but will compress down quite a bit with pressure.) Cover the crust with plastic wrap and top with another 9-inch pan, pressing quite firmly to make a smooth surface. Remove the pan and the plastic wrap from the pressed crust prior to placing it into the preheated oven. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

Remove the crust from the oven and let cool completely before filling.

I hope you enjoy making this yummy pie!! I sure did!!

Blessings,
Tiffany Raye

Touring Amish Country

Sorry I have not posted sooner, I was really busy when we were there, and then we were busy coming home. But here it is.

On Saturday morning I got up early and went to help the owner of the bed and breakfast we are staying at make sausage quiche, and hash browns. She was unable to let me do as much as we wanted due to their kitchen safety laws, but it was fun helping her out.

After breakfast we went to a museum explaining the different kinds of Anabaptists (Amish, Hutterite, Menonite...) It's amazing to know that because they seek a quiet, humble life, they are sought out and badgered with questions and pictures. Many probably think that they are crazy, old fashioned people. However, they are just people who wish to remove the idols and distractions, and serve God with everything they have. They also seek to be plain and not stand out and be unique. At first I thought this was strange because I cherish the thought that I am unique and there is no one like me. But I had it explained this way. Their church is like a quilt, many different pieces sewn together to make a whole. Not one is more important that another, but each piece is required to make a whole, otherwise it is not complete. I thought this was a wonderful illustration, and that maybe instead of trying to reach a better social position and making others feel that they are unimportant, we should take an example from the Amish, and encourage each other to accept who we are and be humble servants of God.

Later, we went back to town, to do some shopping. While we were shopping we saw our tour guide/driver, and we went to say "Hello" and our conversation went like this:

[us] "Hi Albert!"
[Albert] "no way! Hi there girls. Hey come on, let's go for a drive."
[us] "But Albert, we didn't pay for a drive today."
[Albert] "I don't care, there's nothing to do right now anyway."
[us] "But what if another customer wants a ride."
[Albert] "Well then they can just call me on my cell phone, I like being called." (this from an Amish person, lol)
[us] "Very funny Albert."
[Albert] "Just get in the buggy girls."
So we got in the buggy and Albert and his horse Bob showed us the town. 

Blessings,
Tiffany Raye

Amish Life

So, I went on an amazing tour of an Amish dairy farm, and had an authentic dinner in an Amish family's home. Let's start with the dairy farm.

We got on a horse and buggy in town and rode out to the farm where an "Amish-Menonite" guide led us around, showed us what they use for farming, and gave us a little history lesson. I got to hold the most adorable baby kitten, feed a baby calf milk, watch the horses eat grain, ate amazing ice cream made with fresh milk, and got to milk a cow. After I was done with milking the cow, the owner of the farm told me to open my mouth really wide and he would let me taste the milk straight from the cow. So I believed him thinking that he had a good aim (probably not the best idea). So I open my mouth and closed my eyes, and got a big surprise!! Instead of getting a mouthful of fresh, warm, vanilla greatness; I got a face full of of warm, sticky milk!! It was okay though, I did get to taste the fresh milk. :D

After we were done at the dairy farm we got back into the buggy and rode to an Amish family's farm where we had the most amazing, homemade dinner I have EVER eaten! First, we had salad made with homegrown vegetables and homemade bread. After that, we had breaded and baked chicken, that was the moistest I've ever eaten; fluffy potatoes with gravy; green beans; moist meatloaf; and homemade noodles cooked in chicken broth. For dessert we had pecan pie with a custard filling, with the flakiest crust I have EVER had. I know I sound like I am crazy, but it really was amazing (and I know a thing or two about food).

I have learned that though the Amish appear to have very little, they really have far more than we do in the way of blessings and contentment. And though they work very hard, God will reward them for being faithful to Him. When I was on the farm I felt so calm and relaxed and decided that if I ever had a mind to, I might just become Amish. ;)

I will write more tomorrow after I have helped cook breakfast for the bed and breakfast we are staying at, and have done some more exploring.

Blessings,
Tiffany Raye

Amish Country, Here I Come!!!

In the car on the way to Amish country. please say a quick prayer for our safe travels!

Visiting Amish Country

I know I have not written in forever, but I have been really busy with school, so there is not much time for cooking. Therefore, not much to write about. However, now that summer is here, there will hopefully be more time for cooking and blogging. I was also thinking about opening up and writing about more than just food. We'll see how this goes.

So, tomorrow I am going to Amish country for the weekend. I will have the chance to eat at an Amish family's house, and cook in the bed and breakfast's kitchen. :D I'm really thankful that God has given me the opportunity to test out my cooking skills, and see if this is what I want to do with my life! I'll post about my Amish adventure soon!

Blessings,

Tiffany Raye