rustic essentials: beef, chicken, or pork, pot pie

How To Make rustic essentials: beef, chicken, or pork, pot pie

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  PREP/PREPARE
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  What will you need? If you have a single serving springform pan, that would be ideal, but any good ovenproof bowl or ramekin will do just fine.
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  What is it? This is what you would call a rustic pot pie. You blind bake the crust, add the veggies, and protein (chicken, beef, pork), if using, put on the top crust and bake in the oven until golden brown. While it is baking you make, or warm up your sauce/gravy. And when the pie is served to your guests, they pour the sauce through a hole in the top of the crust. Seems a bit “pretentious,” but I have been called that before :-)
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  What to serve with it? Pot pies really are a meal in themselves, possibly a small salad and a beverage of choice are all you will need.
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  How to store it? You can assemble these, up to the point of baking, then freeze. If they are properly stored, they will last several months. When you are ready, bake them while still frozen, then serve and pour in the gravy.
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  The Puff Pastry Puff pastry, regardless of the brand comes in fairly standard sheets. They are frozen and folded into thirds. When defrosted and unfolded they usually measure 9.75 x 10.5 inches (24.7 x 26.6 cm). You will need one sheet of puff pastry per pot pie.
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  The Veggies and Taters If you are using fresh veggies and dicing them, you will need to blanch them in boiling water for about 90 seconds, and then drop them into an ice bath. If you are using bagged, frozen veggies, this step is not necessary. However, make sure that they are fully defrosted and at room temperature before cooking. If you are using diced potatoes, then they will have to be blanched in boiling water (90 seconds), like the fresh veggies. The purpose of this step is to partially cook the veggies/potatoes. The they will finish cooking as the crust is browning in the oven, and will come out perfect.
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  The Beef, Pork, or Chicken (optional) You do not need to add a protein… It tastes great with just veggies and the sauce; however, if you are planning on using some, do not add raw; they need to be precooked. This can be accomplished a day or two ahead of time and kept in the fridge until needed.
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  The Ovenproof Container Here are two options for baking the pot pie. Each one of these is about 4 inches (10cm) in diameter, and about 1.75 inches (4.5cm) in depth. They are capable of holding about 8 – 10 ounces (235 – 295ml). The amounts listed in the ingredients are portioned for this volume.
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  The Sauce/Gravy The French tend to call recipes like this a sauce; while other parts of the globe, like the US and GB would say it is a gravy. Whatever term you choose to call it, it is a very important part of this rustic pot pie. Its yummy flavor binds all the other ingredients together, and makes it lip smacking good. This is my favorite recipe to create an amazing sauce for just about any pot pie: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/sauce-spread-other-sauce-spread/french-sauce-supreme.html But, whatever sauce you choose, make it flavorful, and maybe add a few spices to give it some heat.
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  Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
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  Make your gravy/sauce, and reserve until needed.
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  Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and roll out the defrosted puff pastry sheet. Since most puff pastry is made to a standard size, roll it out until it is about 11 x 12 inches (28 x 30.5cm). No need to be precise, just somewhere in the ballpark.
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  Measure the diameter of your ovenproof bowl and cut a piece of the puff pastry to fit the top. My container was 4 inches (10cm), so I cut a cut a round piece out of the corner… like the illustration.
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  Place a rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350f/175c.
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  Grease your ovenproof bowl and add the puff pastry. Then use a fork to “dock” the dough.
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  Docking is a process where you punch holes in the dough (usually with a fork). This keeps the dough from puffing up too much. In addition, I put the pastry into the container in a very haphazard way. This is a rustic dish, so let the crust spill over the edges…
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  Add a piece of parchment paper to the container, then place some pie weights or dried beans in and push them down. This will prevent the puff pastry from puffing up during the blind baking process.
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  While the pot pie is blind baking, prep the veggies and meat/poultry.
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  Bake in the preheated oven until the exposed edges are beginning to brown, about 10 – 12 minutes. Remove the pie weights, and fill the shell with the veggies and meat/poultry filling.
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  Add the top and cut a hole in the middle. I used a small round cutter.
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  Whisk the egg with a bit of water and brush over the top.
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  Bake until the top is golden brown, about 12 – 15 minutes… Yummy.
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  PLATE/PRESENT
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  Serve with the gravy/sauce in a small pouring bowl.
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  Let your guests pour it though the hole, and then eat. Enjoy.
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  Keep the faith, and keep cooking.
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  Namasté
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