July 9, 2015. Beef Pot Pie

July 9, 2015 Beef Pot Pie

Last night Suzette and discussed the use of PPI stew and decided to make a beef pot pie by thickening the beef stew in the same way we added a béchamel sauce to the cod and mashed potatoes last night.  I mentioned wanting to get rid of a package of frankfurters in the freezer and Suzette said, “You could buy a roll  of crescent rolls when you buy the pie shells and crusts for the pot pie at the store and make pigs in the blanket for the neighborhood cocktail party.

And that is exactly what I did.  On my way home from the Law Library today, I stopped at Lowe’s and bought 2 Pillsbury pie shell in their individual tins, a package of 2 pie crusts and a tube of 8 crescent rolls.

I was really hungry when I arrived home at 2:45, so I heated up a BBQ pork steamed bun and then made a pot of miso noodle soup with shrimps and pork balls and chard.  Very delicious, with lots of small cubes of medium tofu.

When I arrived home after picking up my billing at Shahin’s I found Suzette with a Pyrex pie pan ready to start on the pot pie.  

I stopped her and fetched the two pie shells.  She had put the PPI beef stew in a pot to heat.  Suzette said she wanted a nice Burgundy with the pot pie.  I asked if a nice pint noir would do instead and she said, “Yes.”  So I went to the basement and found a 2013 bottle of Kudos Oregon Pinot noir.  

We then made a roux with 1 Tbsp each of butter and flour and after the roux had cooked several minutes we added 2 ladles full of broth from the stew to the roux to thicken the broth into a sauce and poured the thickened sauce back into the stew and cooked it for a minute or two until the broth became thickened.  

 

I then ladled the stew into the pie shells and we covered each pie shell with a crust and Suzette showed me how to crimp the top crust to the bottom pie shell crust and cut small holes in the crust to let the steam out.  

We then put the pot pies on a large cookie sheet and baked them for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven until their peaks had turned a golden brown.

Dinner was simply wedges of pot pie and glasses of Pinot.  A perfect dinner. The pinot was light and elegant.  I will buy more bottles of it.

This is first time I have made pot pie and I loved it.  I was a little upset with the cost of the pie shells and crusts, but forgot about their costs when I saw and tasted the delicious meat pot pie.  I would gladly pay for read made pie shells and crusts next time we have a PPI stew and make pot pies, now that I know how easy it is.

The fun of eating pot pies is that you get to enjoy the meat and vegetables along with toasted pie crust.

Bon Appetit