A Very Pie-day Friday

Recently, my little sister Caroline sent me this cute little Pusheen cartoon on instagram:

Caroline is coming for a visit this weekend. She'll be hearing me sing a concert version of Verdi's Macbeth at the National Opera Center, and after I'm sure we'll run around town and have a ball.

Caroline's birthday is just a few days away, and she requested that I make my maple-bourpon pumpkin pie with chocolate streusel for her. Naturally I said yes, and had a cute little idea. Pie is almost universally a comfort food, be it savory or sweet, so why not have one savory and one sweet? We'll enjoy a very speedy (and delicious) chicken pot pie when she arrives, then I'll serve the pumpkin pie for dessert! 

This particular chicken pot pie is very straightforward, easy, and very rewarding. Fort this quick and easy version, I use a few shortcuts for it. First, I use leftover chicken, or I buy a rotisserie chicken for the meat, and I use a sheet of puff pastry for the top. Both of these save at least an hour, and the result is hard to argue with. In fact, it's much better than many versions you can buy out. I often find chicken pot pie disappointing when I try to eat it outside of my home. Pablo happened to have a little bit of a macrobiotic chicken pot pie (whatever that means) and let me tell you, it can't hold a candle to this one, if I do say so myself!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 stalks of celery, cubed (cut down the center of the celery stalk and chop!)

2 carrots (I really like carrots, so I use almost an entire small bag. Just please don't use baby carrots in this...that would be gross.) I like these cubed, but slices would be fine.

About a pound (12-16 oz) of cooked chicken (rotisserie or leftover is great for this!)

1 tablespoon of butter

1/3 cup of all purpose flour

32 oz box of chicken stock (homemade is really best, but boxed broth works in a pinch)

1 cup of frozen peas

Method:

1.) Prepare the puff pastry by allowing it to defrost on the counter.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop the onion, carrots, and celery, and sautée in a big pan.

2.) Move the vegetables aside, and add 1 tablespoon of butter. After it melts, add the four, and stir for a few minutes (this will take away the raw flour taste.)

3.) Add the chicken broth slowly. This will make a delicious gravy! You could also add a glub of marsala, sherry, brandy, or a bit of white wine. 

4.) Chop the leftover chicken, and add the vegetables and gravy.

5.) Add the frozen peas, and heat through. Taste for seasoning (depending on your broth and chicken, it may need some salt and pepper, and a pinch of thyme.) 

6.) Roll the defrosted puff pastry out a bit so that it will fit over the top of your baking dish.

7.) Fill the baking dish with the pie filling and top with puff pastry.

8.) Bake 35-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

9.) Let the pie rest a few minutes and enjoy!

Hazelnut brownies

Chocolate pairs beautifully with a number of other flavors: for instance, I love to receive chocolate oranges in my Christmas stocking. I enjoy pairing a raspberry puree with flourless chocolate torte, and many people enjoy a raspberry mocha on occasion. These pairings are wonderful, but my favorite companion for chocolate is hazelnut. I know I'm not alone in this, as people the world over eat Nutella every day. In New York at grand central station there is a wonderful Belgian chocolate shop called Neuhaus, and they sell little pieces of chocolate, many of which are imbued with hazelnut.

Most of us know that chocolate is lovely, and I am a devotee of that squidgy, yummy confection we all know and love: the brownie! I don't always make homemade brownies; they can be kind of fussy, and one often has great results with boxed mixes. I am happy to report that I enjoy making and eating these hazelnut brownies, and I think you will, too. There's a bit of coffee in these, but it doesn't really come through in the final taste: coffee often is just a way to intensify the flavor of chocolate. The hazelnut flavor is also not too strong; it is more of an accent to the chocolate.

These make quite a few brownies. I recommend baking these in a half sheet pan, but if you don't have one, just make sure you increase the baking time by 15 minutes or so, as your brownies will be big and tall.

Ingredients

3 sticks of butter
2 bags of chocolate chips (I used 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate)
4 oz semisweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of frangelico (you could use a teaspoon of hazelnut extract, too)
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons of espresso powder (you could use instant coffee instead)
1 cup of cake flour (pastry flour would work, too)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 bag of chopped hazelnuts
pinch of salt

Method:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour a half sheet pan.
2.) Melt the 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate, one bag of the chocolate chips, and the butter together, using either a double boiler, or microwaving in 30 second intervals. Set aside to cool.
3.) Mix together the eggs, sugar, frangelico, vanilla, and coffee together with a whisk.

The start of something wonderful...

4.) Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips to the dry flour (this will coat them and prevent them from sinking).
5.) Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

The promise of good things to come!

6.)  Bake for 30 minutes.
7.) Enjoy! You might conisder dusting with confectioner's sugar. Allow brownies to cool a bit before slicing and eating.