Mighty Make-Aheads: Pot Pie

If there's an overarching theme to all the baby books and websites, parenting magazines and new mommy blogs, it's time: not having enough, how it flies, and how to save it.

I find myself running out of time even before the little one has arrived (as evidenced by my lack of a post in two months) and I have a feeling that being overwhelmed and "losing track of time" is a fairly universal sentiment. So. My next few posts will highlight recipes to be made in bulk, popped in the freezer and reheated when you find yourself in dire need of a few extra minutes--to calm a crying baby, wash another load of laundry, or simply spend a few (fingers crossed) quiet minutes with your loved ones.

Before my little peanut comes barreling out to unsettle the relative calm of our household, I've been stowing away meals: a mama squirrel burying nutritious provisions for the coming arduous weeks. I make one serving for dinner, and find with these recipes it's not much more effort to double or triple the quantity and stow the remaining servings--just make sure you have plenty of Tupperware or disposable aluminum pans and room in the freezer.

Biscuit-topped Pot Pie

Makes 3 eight to nine inch pies, 5-6 servings each
Active time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 30 min

Filling:
2 Tbs Vegetable oil
5 stalks celery, washed and diced (1 1/2 cups)
1 large onion, peeled and diced (2 cups)
3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced to 1/2 inch cubes (3 cups)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen or canned mixed vegetables of your choice
       (Costco carries a great organic frozen mix with edamame for protein)
1 1/4 lb diced cooked chicken or beef (Rotisserie chicken makes a great shortcut here)
      or 2 cups additional chopped vegetable if making a vegetarian pie
      (broccoli and cauliflower both work well)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 qt low sodium stock or broth: chicken, beef or vegetable
2 tsp salt 
1 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (omit if you are a strict vegetarian--contains anchovies)
1/4 tsp dried ground mustard
dash cayenne pepper
additional salt and black pepper to taste

Biscuit crust:
3 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
9 Tbs very cold butter (1 stick plus 1 Tbs)
1 cup very cold milk (plus 2-3 Tbs for brushing crust)

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add celery and onion and cook, stirring several minutes until they start to sweat and soften. Add potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring 2-3 more minutes. Add the mixed vegetables and the chicken, beef or veggie addition of your choice along with the flour. Stir vigorously to coat and mix well. Add stock, stir, and increase heat to high while stirring. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer and add 2 tsp salt, dried thyme, Worcestershire, mustard, and cayenne. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, 30-35 minutes.

While the filling simmers, prepare the biscuit crust.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into very small pieces (if you have a box grater, it is much easier to simply grate the butter over the largest holes) and rub into flour mixture with your fingers, so that there are small pea sized pieces distributed evenly throughout. Make a well in the center and add the milk, mixing with a fork until absorbed and a shaggy dough begins to form. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead several times until it forms a cohesive mass. Divide into thirds. Gently roll each third on the floured surface into a round that will cover the top of your pie pan. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap until ready to use.

Once filling has simmered 30-35 minutes, it should have the consistency of a thick stew. If it is too thin (it may vary depending on the meat and vegetables you choose,) you can vigorously whisk 1 Tbs flour with 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl and add to the filling, stirring to distribute evenly. It will thicken slightly while baking. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Divide filling amongst 3 eight to nine inch pie pans and allow to cool slightly before placing the biscuit crusts on top.  Brush crusts with milk and cut several slits in the center to vent filling.

To store: Tightly fit plastic wrap over the crust, followed by a layer of aluminum foil secured around the edges. Place on a flat surface in the freezer until fully frozen, to prevent filling spillage.

To bake: Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake, uncovered in the center of the oven 30-35 minutes if fresh, 40-45 minutes if frozen, until crust is golden brown and filling is hot and bubbly.

The freezer is my friend...

 

Frozen Fruit Smoothie

6 oz vanilla greek yogurt
1 heaping cup frozen fruit (bananas, berries, peaches, pineapple...)
1/2 cup juice or milk (I like orange or apple juice)

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve in a chilled glass.

 I hate wasting food. My least favorite chore is cleaning out the refrigerator because it's inevitable that I find some spoiled food item that was purchased or prepared with the best intentions, and promptly forgotten about.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are the worst. I painstakingly troll the grocery store or farmer's market, picking out the freshest, most beautiful, usually organic produce. I come home with my gastronomic booty and put it in the crisper--the drawer where vegetables go to die.
Best case scenario I use anything perishable within a couple of days, but with my new unpredictable Preggo appetites, there's no telling when I might feel like kale again.

Enter the freezer.

My generation seems to have eschewed the stand-alone and chest freezers of our elders for the notion that the only good produce is fresh produce. (There is a growing resurgence in the canning and pickling department, but that's irrelevant here, as there's no way I'm going to spend all day canning tomatoes--maybe when I get that second trimester burst of energy I keep hearing about.) However beneficial fresh produce is, it's worthless when it's wilted, rotten, or moldy. With the proper preparation, frozen fruits and vegetables can retain much of their nutritional value, while drastically increasing their shelf-life.

In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee recommends blanching vegetables before freezing to limit "the enzymatic breakdown of vitamins and pigments (p 278.)" This is a quick process of immersing the vegetables in boiling water for one or two minutes, draining, and placing in an ice water bath to stop any further cooking. I've personally used this method to freeze green beans, kale, corn (I cut the kernels from the cob after blanching,) broccoli, cauliflower and peas.

There is no need to blanch fruit before freezing. For delicate fruits prone to browning like peaches and plums, you might think about covering them with sugar syrup or making freezer jam--which is generally fruit cooked with sugar syrup, then frozen.
When I have berries that have seen better days (not moldy--just starting to get slightly battered looking) I wash and trim them, cutting any large berries into smaller pieces. Then I dry them briefly with paper towels and drop them in a freezer bag to be frozen. Overripe bananas I simply peel and freeze--blend frozen bananas up with some milk for a creamy confection to rival a milkshake!