Leftover Pot Pie

There comes a time when holiday leftovers need a breath of fresh air. I usually love a second and sometimes third holiday meal in its original form and then on to being creative. 

This year Mr. Ramon cooked a 10lb prime rib. Crazy!!! The size of that roast was daunting. Our fear was not cooking it right and ruining all that local, grass fed cow goodness. He did all of his research on techniques and actually pulled it off. It cut with a butter knife and was soooo juicy!!

We wanted a fun recipe for the leftovers that would reheat well. Mr. Ramon looked around online for recipes and decided he wanted a pot pie. The great thing about a pot pie - besides the whole gravy/pastry part is that you can use any protein you have available or even just roasted vegetables. In this recipe we are using proteins that are already cooked - so all you need is your leftover turkey, chicken or roast. We also cheated a little by using pre made biscuits - you could also make your own. 

Leftover Pot Pie

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Filling

• 1 1/4lb leftover protein - cubed or shredded  turkey, chicken or roast
• 4 carrots peeled and sliced into rounds
• 1 onion diced
• 4 ribs of celery washed and diced 
• 3 small red potatoes washed and cubed 
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• olive oil

gravy

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cup beef broth
• salt/pepper

Biscuits

• 1 container of biscuit dough - 8 biscuits. Or homemade biscuit dough - 8.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add onion to the pan and sauté until tender. Add the mushrooms, thyme, rosemary and salt/pepper to taste. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and potatoes - cook for 10 minutes.

While that is cooking make the gravy. In a medium saucepan, add the butter and melt. Whisk in the flour. Then whisk in the milk and broth. Season with salt/pepper and bring to a boil then simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Take the skillet off the heat and mix in the protein and add the peas. Stir in the sauce.

Pour ingredients into a large casserole dish and top with the uncooked biscuits. Bake in oven for 35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving. 

Slab Apple Pie

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I had planned on a week of great posts on making stock, prime rib, stuffing etc. Instead I took orders from friends for pies and desserts and have been baking my week away. While this baking makes me happy and helps me have some holiday money it also makes me sad I can't squeeze more hours into a day to share all sorts of wonderful things with you. Ahhh life!

I am continuing my love affair with apples - especially apple pie. With Thanksgiving you might be feeding a huge crowd. If so this easy and differant approach to an apple pie might be right up your alley. Slab Apple Pie - sounds like a tasty dessert that resembles concrete. But wait - this slab is flakey, buttery and filled with the pure goodness of apples. There are many variations of slab pie - 2 crust pie, frosted crust pie and this version - the crumb top pie. 

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

Crust

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 8 – 10 tablespoons cold water

Apple Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 1/2 pounds Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced 

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped

Crust

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers work butter through flour until the butter is in pea sized amounts and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or cut in with a pastry blender). Sprinkle water over flour mixture 1 tablespoons at a time; folding and pressing with a spatula until all of the flour mixture is moistened and combined. Press into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. 

Roll out the dough to approximately a 17×12 inch rectangle, on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Transfer to a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Roll edges under and press down onto the rim of the baking sheet. Trim off excess parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator while you prepare filling.

Apple Filling 

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until apples are evenly coated. Pour into dough-lined pan, spreading evenly. Refrigerate while you make the crumb topping.

Crumb Topping 

Stir together oats, brown sugar, and flour until well combined. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over apple filling.

Bake at 375ºF for 45-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly near the centre and crust is browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Keep at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Makes: 20-25 servings

Apple Cake Crisp

Fall is magical - the weather gets cooler and a crisp feeling is in the air. You begin to bundle up and walk in the neighborhood to watch green turn to gold to orange and red and then fall from the trees. This is a time of change and wonderment. I love fall. Along with the beautiful nature I love the flavors that accompany fall - squash, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and nuts. These ingredients are at the best and are begging to be roasted, baked and turned into soup and hearty casseroles. 

Apples are what we celebrate here in the PNW come fall. I know just how to turn their tart flesh into a carmelly, spicey masterpeice. I love pie and crisps so I tried something new and ended up with this apple dessert that is not quite a cake, not quite a pie and not quite a crisp. But it is marvelous. 

Apple Cake Crisp

Filling

• 4 pounds Granny Smith Apples - peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Place apples, lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and toss to combine. Place mixture into a colander and set over a bowl to catch juices from mixture. Let drain 30 minutes. 

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 sticks cold butter cut into small pieces

Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and work into flour with hands or a pastry cutter until the butter is no larger than peas and is incorporated into the flour mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Press 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom and half up the sides of a 9 inch spring form pan. Fill the crust with the apple mixture. Scatter the remaining crust mixture over the top of the apples. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes then loosen edge of pan with a knife to remove spring form ring. 

Ba Bar Breakfast

Breakfast in Seattle is a curious thing. Great breakfasts are few and far between. The places that are really great have 2 hour waits and are always clear across town. With my schedule it makes it hard for that scenario to work. 

There is a restaurant near us that has good food and even better pastries. What they were missing was breakfast. Not any more!! Their pastry chef invited me and Mr. Ramon to a friends and family breakfast to try out the new menu and offer feedback. Yes please!

Ba Bar is the creation of Sophie and Eric Banh. They grew up together eating street food in Saigon and that inspired Ba Bar. Their lunch and dinner menu are full of soups, noodles and delicious small plates. Karen their pastry chef makes a mean almond croissant! 

We showed up for breakfast with open minds and empty stomaches. Mr. Ramon had the - Eggs Benedict with Black Forest ham, housemade brioche, caramelized onion, hollandaise.

I could not resist the temptation of biscuits and gravy with poached eggs. 

I was really overwhelmed with the flavors of this meal. I can say it was probably one of my top 5 breakfasts of all time. So well seasoned with a depth that was unexpected. Love! 

The rest of the menu looks just as good. From omelette and granola to steak and eggs. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my breakfast. I hope you get a chance to check it out soon!

Sleepy Sunday Roast Chicken

Summer slowly wraps up here in Seattle. These last few weeks have been busy ones. Between friendly outdoor gatherings to enjoy these last sunny moments, or dog emergencies and of course regular life stuff, I can say we are tired. It is on Sundays that I always fully realize this. I try to spend Sundays in the store not doing any type of actual business work. No paperwork, planning or organizing. I try to catch up on a book or a mindless tv show between customers as I think about how to make the upcoming week successful. Today I feel like napping on the counter and cannot stop thinking about how nice it would be to sink into my soft cool pillow. 

It is these sleepy moments when it would be easier to put something bad into my mouth for dinner that roast chicken comes in handy. Roast chicken conjures up memories of crispy skin, moist meat and a type of salty goodness that is pure heaven. How to get this kind of roast chicken is a mystery to most. They think it will be hard or take to long. They are worried about flabby skin and overdone dry breast meat. 

I have the perfect solution. Simple and easy this roast chicken recipe will leave you with the perfect meal for those sleepy Sundays and some to spare. 

You will find no vegetables here, no herbs under the skin, no oil. trust me - this is going to be amazing. My goal is to not add anything to the chicken or the cooking that produces steam or moisture. We want crisp skin!

Roast Chicken

• 1 whole roaster chicken - at room temperature
• kosher salt 

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, placing a rack in the lower part of the oven.

Take your chicken and remove the organ meat and neck if stuffed inside the cavity (If you have a dog around - hand out that chicken neck like it is a prize. Great for Fido’s teeth). Rinse chicken under cool water - inside and out. Dry with paper towels and place into a roaster or shallow baking pan. 

Use some kitchen twine to tie his legs together. 

Grab your kosher salt and sprinkle heavily over skin front and back and inside the cavity as well. I good dose of salt is important for the crunchy skin you are looking for. 

Place your chicken in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn down to 350 and roast until temperature in the thigh is 155-160 degrees. If your chicken starts to get too brown, tent a piece of foil and loosely place it over your chicken. 

Remove your chicken from the oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before carving. 

And here you have a super juicy, flavorful roast chicken for dinner and leftovers for lunch! Enjoy!