Veggie Pot Pie



I've broken my culinary "dry spell" in one day with two dishes.  Today I made veggie pot pies for another time and tuna curry for lunch.  The pies are frozen for those days/nights when I really don't want to cook.  They're also a way for me to remember another comfort food from my childhood.

I don't want to say that I "grew up on Swanson's Chicken Pot Pies" because that's not all that I ate.  My mom was a single working mother, and there were times when a pot pie was dinner and I was fine with that.  I loved the crust pretty well cooked, nicely browned, flaky.  Come to think of it, I think that was my favorite part!  Anyway, I've been a pescetarian for many years now, and with fall approaching, I was craving pot pies-or maybe craving home and childhood-and since I had the recipe from Barefoot Contessa, I figured now was as good a time as any to make some.  I bought some veggies from the market last Saturday, and picked up a few other odds and ends at Whole Foods Market.  Although I used a couple of recipes for reference, I didn't really follow one.  I am including my ingredient list and a couple of links that I used as guidelines.




Veggie Pot Pie

Crimini mushrooms
leeks
carrots
pearl onions
peas
potatoes
vegetable stock
fresh thyme
flour
milk

You can find Ina Garten's recipe here, as well as a pretty good recipe with photos at Simply Recipes.

Cooking is a living art.  You really don't need recipes once you get the techniques down and know what to look for.  That's how chefs and cooks do it: learn techniques, learn the Mother Sauces, learn to identify when what you're cooking is done and you can cook anything, interchange ingredients.  Don't get me wrong, I love cookbooks.  I get ideas and remind myself of techniques and then let the produce and seafood at the market or grocery store lead me to something fabulous.

I'm excited to bake one of my pies.  As for my tuna curry, that was fabulous, even for canned tuna.  I have a small apartment without a hood so smoking a tuna steak is not really a possibility for me.  Not sure when I'll do some serious baking, but I feel good about this start.

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