Christmas Ham Pot Pie!

We hope that you are staying warm, have people you love close by, and love in your heart. We have prepared for you a wonderfully simple and delicious shitake mushroom and Christmas ham pot pie. You can make one gigantic one or you can make 5 or 6 small ones!!

Merry Christmas!

*you can make your own pate brisee, we have recipes for that, but don’t feel any shame in using frozen pie dough!

Ingredients: serves 6

2 large carrots
1 turnip
1 yellow onion
1 cup diced red and purple potatoes
5 medium shitake mushrooms
3 garlic cloves
Pre-cooked glazed ham (2 cups worth)
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
¾ cups flour
2 chicken bullion cubes
5 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt plus a pinch
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 egg
2 packs frozen pie dough

 



Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees, and dicing all of the vegetables and ham into small pieces, leave pie dough out so it softens.

Place the potatoes and turnips on a sheet tray and sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and bake 10 minutes, until partially cooked but not completely raw.

In a medium sauce pan heat 5 cups of chicken stock, then dissolve the bullion cubes in the stock.

In a large sauce pan melt butter. Once butter is melted add onion, garlic, and rosemary. Cook until onion is translucent.

Reduce heat to low, add flour and salt to the butter and whisk constantly until thickened, about 2 minutes. After two minutes add chicken stock, stirring constantly until completely thickened. Add salt, then take the mix off the heat and add in all of your vegetables and ham and fold in.

Spoon mix into the bowl or bowls you will be baking in. Mix the egg in bowl, and brush the outer edge of the baking dish. Place pie dough over the top with at least ½ and inch over the edge, then pinch the dough where it meets the baking dish so that it adheres. Brush the top with of the dough with egg, and using a really sharp knife make four small slits.

Place in oven and bake 45 min to an hour, or at least until the dough is golden brown.

Let them cool at least 10 minutes, otherwise you may sear your tongue!

Enjoy, Merry Christmas!!

Veggie and Beef Stew...squash that flu!

We are a little over  2 weeks into the New Year, and the theme seems to be a hopefulness of change, the revving up of engines to kick-start one’s resolutions, a slight sluggishness from over eating the whole holiday season, and….the flu. It seems to be that not only did we eat whatever we wanted, but I ended up with a month long cough, which was the opposite of awesome. After a week of a massive obsessive overhaul and quarter life crisis, in which we cleaned out all of our “junk”, we are so ready to start up some new adventures. But…before we can muster the energy to look at the stair-master or cleanse, we need this delicious hardy bowl of vegetable beef stew. The spice will clear your nose, and give you a little pep in your step, the vegetables will warm you from the inside out, and the beef will give you that last umph of meatiness that you crave.

So enjoy making this!

Ingredients: serves 4 people take about 3 hours

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

7 Tablespoons flour

16 oz low sodium beef broth

16 oz water

3 medium turnips

4 medium to large carrots

3 large stalks of celery

8 small red bliss potatos

1 ½ pounds beef tenderloin

1 white onion

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 Tablespoon salt

½ Tablespoon pepper

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

2 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ Tablespoon garlic salt

This dish can be made in either a crock pot or a slow cooker, whichever you prefer.

To start, create your mise en place by cleaning your vegetables and chopping them. Mince garlic, chop carrots and celery to be the same size, about a ½ inch wide, and the turnips, potato, and onion into thin half moon shapes, all the same thickness as well. Place all vegetable and fresh herbs into your crock pot or slow cooker, with no heat on. Now take your beef tenderloin and cube it into 2 square inch pieces and roll in a mix of 3 Tablespoon of flour and a teaspoon of salt, and set aside.

In a sauce pan, we are going to create a roux which is going to help thicken our stew a bit. In a large sauce pan, melt your butter and by Tablespoon add the flour constantly whisking until mix thickens. 

Next add your cooking liquid (beef broth and water) about 2 cups at a time, whisking constantly. Add your spices and whisk in completely. Bring to a boil, and drop meat in. Cook for three minutes, then pour everything into your crock pot or slow cooker, and cook on low for about 3 hours.

The lovely thing about this is that you can leave your food and you don’t need to pay attention to any of it. You can go have a cocktail, read a book, have a nap, whatever you want. Once done, get a large spoon, and dig in!