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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentine's Day Dinner

Chicken Pot Pie

I use what I have around, but usually potatoes, carrots, leafy greens work good and are healthy. On your right (from back to front) on the cutting board are tri-color carrots (one orange, one purple, one white, amazing what they can grow these days), a peeled Yukon gold potato, a slice of yellow bell pepper, a peeled baby turnip, and four small leaves of rainbow chard, which are from my garden. I chopped them all up in bite size pieces and put them into a stoneware baking dish that is about the size of a soup bowl that you might get at a restaurant.
  
Below right is the easy part. Add one jar of chicken gravy. Oh yeah, I also chunked a cooked chicken breast and added it to the vegetables. It might not seem like enough gravy, but as it
 heats up, the gravy get more liquid-y. (Spellchecker didn't give me a problem with liquid-y.)











Now I defrosted one sheet of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and placed it on the pie (above left) and pinched it all around, and then I got creative and cut out little stars and trees and free-formed the crescent moon. With a touch of egg whites, I applied them all and coated the whole surface.
  
Baked at 350 degrees until golden brown. It should look kind of like the last picture. This took about 45 minutes. 
  
This was a signature dish for me for years. I used to make my own gravy and pastry too. I have to admit the gravy part was always the wild card, so I decided the jar stuff is just fine and who needs the anxiety. The pastry part though was really fun and easy, and it usually tasted better than Pepperidge Farm, but if you don't have those techniques down, you can make a perfectly acceptable pot pie this way. 
  
And nothing says I Love You, Honey like home cooked meal. 



















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