With Dave coming home from the deer hunt yesterday, (gone 6 days, and our state is minus 3 deer and 1 elk), I decided it would be a perfect day to make the Barefoot Contessa's Vegetable Pot Pie.I will clarify on the deer hunt...he went with 3 other guys. Only one of the deer is ours.
The last challenge was such a stinker at our house, that I just knew from reading the Pot Pie recipe, I would have to do some editing.
- I left out the squash, the pearl onions, the saffron and the Pernod (licorice flavored liqueur). And I cut back on the butter by 1/2 a stick. Sorry Ina. The butter requirement was insane.
- To keep this gravy vegetarian for my daughter I also used vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth, with great success! It also turned the gravy a really pretty dark color.
- I added my own homegrown frozen sugar snap peas, haricot verts (french green beans), and chicken breast to the large pot pie. I left the small one alone for my daughter.
- Did any other BB's find that this recipe made twice as much as you thought it would? Mine would have fed a very generous 6+.
- There was tons of extra pastry, so I made it into sugar sprinkled treats.
- I loved the addition of the fennel bulb. I will be purchasing this on a regular basis from now on, I can think of lots of ways to use this. Before, I had only eaten it in salads, and it was just ok. I think the fact that I took the liberty to caramelize the onions and the fennel, added great depth to this gravy.
- Oh, and I also found some of those great "albino"asparagus at Sunflower Farmer's Market! Only .99 a pound!
- I will be making variations of this again.
He got 3 deer and 1 elk? Wow. The pot pie looks gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I meant the pot pie looks delicious. It's early. What can I say.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Your pie looks wonderful and I love the substitutions you made. I got seven dishes out of the recipe- I think Ina is usually pretty generous with her portions.
ReplyDelete3 deer and 1 elk.
ReplyDeleteWhooooooo Hooooo!
We had tons of leftover filling. I added chicken to it, so we are eating it as chicken stew.
I agree! This made so much food. I have the leftover filling and crust in my freezer. Your adjustments look great.
ReplyDeleteThe butter was insane, but the recipe was oh so good! 3 deer and 1 elk, I hope you have a HUGE freezer. LOL
ReplyDeleteWow -- this had to be amazing with your homegrown vegetable assortment! I'm with you on the butter issue -- what is Ina thinking? I'm so glad that you enjoyed this more than the last challenge! Your pot pie looks great!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those recipes that is open to inspiration:D
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. I too cut the butter and had a whole giant pie leftover(in the freezer for a snow day).
ReplyDeletep.s. I did use the Pernod, check back in my comments section for details.
ReplyDeleteYour substitutions sound great and your pies turned out so well--great job!
ReplyDeleteIt is a great recipe for playing with. I got 6 out of it as well, but have generally found her recipes to be generous.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had fun with it and made it your own, we loved it too.
All the variations sound wonderful! I can only imagine how good it must have been with all those fresh grown vegetables in it and I really like the idea of the vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Glad you liked it. I did too!
ReplyDeleteCynthia:
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes, this looks fantastic! I love all your changes. I agree that veg broth has such a beautiul color. 3 deer and 1 elk? Wow!
That looks delicious! Too bad I have no idea how to cook or I would have to try it, can you dumb it down a bit for me (as in tell me where to buy everything...) Your family is very lucky to have you around. A personal family chef.
ReplyDeleteHomegrown sugar snap peas? Nice! Your changes sound delicious.
ReplyDelete