Grazing with Gary: Stay warm with these 3 pot pie recipes

Happy February! And there is so much going on this month: Valentine's Day, Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The weather is cold, and all I want to do is curl up with my dogs and have comfort food. This week, we offer three pot pie recipes. First, we have a vegetable pot pie, which could be made vegan with just a few substitutions. Second, how about a beef pot pie, tender chunks of beef with carrots and onions. It will be a hit. Last, traditional chicken pot pie. Hope you enjoy making these pot pies. Happy Cooking!!! Vegetable Pot Pie Ingredients · 1 package (2 sheets, 17.3 ounces) puff pastry sheets, thawed · 1/3 cup unsalted butter · 1 cup diced red onions, 1/4-inch dice · 1 cup diced carrots, 1/4-inch dice · 1/2 cup diced celery, 1/4-inch dice · 1 tablespoon minced garlic · 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme · 8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms · 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, 1/4-inch dice · 1 teaspoon kosher salt · 1/2 teaspoon black pepper · 1/3 cup flour · 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock · 1 cup whole milk, plus 1 tablespoon for egg wash · 1 cup peas · 1 tablespoon chopped parsley · 1 large egg, whisked Method 1. Thaw the puff pastry overnight in the fridge. If you forget, you can thaw it on the counter: Remove the frozen pastry from its packaging and defrost on a sheet tray until cool but pliable, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable filling. 2. Set a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter to the pot. Once melted, add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme.Sauté until onions are tender and translucent, 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, stir and cook for 1 minute. Add potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir and cook for 7 minutes. 3. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, stir and cook, to reduce the raw flour taste, about 2 minutes.Slowly pour in the vegetable stock and milk, stirring constantly until the gravy is smooth. Allow the gravy to simmer until slightly thickened and potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in and combine the peas and parsley. Taste the vegetable pot pie filling, season with more salt and pepper as desired. 4. Heat your oven to 400°F. Evenly divide the filling among ramekins, about 3/4 cup of filling per serving. 5. Trim 1/4-inch around the edges of the puff pastry; this will help it look neat and allow the pastry to puff a little better. Cut each pastry sheet into four 4-inch squares, making 8 squares total. Place one square pastry sheet over each ramekin, allowing the edges to hang over the sides. Make 4 small slits in the top (1/2-inch long). 6. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Brush the top and sides of the puff pastry with egg wash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.Once your oven reaches 400°F, place the ramekins on the baking sheet. Bake until the puff pastry is puffed up and golden brown in color, 15 minutes. Beef Pot Pie Ingredients · 2 pounds boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed and cut into ¾ inch pieces. Sirloin steak may be substituted. · Salt and pepper · 3 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil, divided · 4 ounces mushrooms, baby bellas, also called creminis, or white button if unavailable, trimmed and quartered · 1 onion, finely chopped – pearl onions are also good · 3 carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces · 2 tablespoons tomato paste · 4 garlic cloves, minced · ½ cup dry red wine, or ½ cup water · 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour · 2 cups beef broth · 1 tablespoon soy sauce · 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce · 1 bay leaf · 1 cup frozen peas · 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided · 1 large egg, lightly beaten · 1 9-inch store-bought pie dough round or your own made-from-scratch pie crust Instructions 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350F degrees. Pat beef cubes dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add half the beef and cook until well browned all over, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer the beef to bowl or plate with the remaining uncooked beef. Note: 1. You will not cook the remaining beef before placing in the pot pie. Cooking half the beef imparts some good flavor from braising but saves time not requiring all the beef to be browned before placing in the pie. It works, I promise. 2. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 ½ tablespoons oil to now-empty pot. Add mushrooms, onion and carrots and cook until vegetables are lightly browned, about 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 3. Stir in wine (or water) and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour until the vegetables are well coated and cook for 1 minute. Add broth, soy sauce, Worcestershire and bay leaf, stirring until combined. Scrape any bits that have stuck to bottom of pan to incorporate into liquids. Add all of the beef and bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook until beef is tender, about 1 ¼ hours. 4. Remove filling from oven and taste the beef to make sure it's tender to your liking. If it tastes chewy, add ¼ cup water, stir and return to oven for another 20-30 minutes. Once meat is tender, remove and then increase oven temperature to 400F degrees. If the meat mixture looks to need more "juice," then remove mixture from pot to a plate and add ¼ to ½ cup water back to the Dutch oven and kind of tilt the pan to scrape off some of the crusty fond that's accumulated in the pot. This should create a thick, meaty sauce to add into the meat mixture and thin it out a bit, plus it only adds to the flavor of the beef. 5. Discard the bay leaf and stir in the fresh thyme and add the peas. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper to taste at this time (up to 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). 6. Spray the bottom of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and add meat mixture to the dish. 7. Brush the rim and interior lip of the pie plate with egg (this will prevent the shell from sticking to the dish and cracking or breaking). Top the filling with pie dough so dough overhangs edges of pie plate only slightly. Fold overhanging pie down inward so folded edge is flush with inner edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie using your fingers. 8. Using a paring knife, cut a ½-inch hole in center of pie. Cut six ½-inch slits around the hole, halfway between center and edge of pie. Brush dough with remaining egg. Season the top of the dough with salt, pepper and remaining ½ teaspoon chopped thyme. Transfer pie to rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown, 20-30 minutes. 9. Transfer pie to cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Serve. Chicken pot pie Ingredients · 4 tablespoons unsalted butter · 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small bite-size pieces · 1 cup sliced carrots · 1/2 cup sliced celery · 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion · 1 1/4 teaspoons salt · 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder · 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves · 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper · 1/4 cup all-purpose flour · 1/2 cup heavy cream · 1 cup chicken broth · 1/2 cup frozen peas · 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley · 2 (1 top and 1 bottom) unbaked pie crusts (could use pre-made refrigerated – 1 box) Instructions · Make sure there is an oven rack on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. · Add the butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, salt, garlic powder, thyme leaves and pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, stirring often. · Add the flour. Stir well, until no dry flour remains. Slowly stir in the cream, then the chicken broth. Cook until bubbling and thick, stirring often, 3-4 minutes. · Remove from the heat. Stir in the peas and flat leaf parsley. Let this cool for 15-30 minutes before filling the pie. · Fit one pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate. Spoon the cooled filling into the pie crust. Top with the second pie crust. Seal the edges of the pie crust together. Cut 3-4 slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. · Place the filled pie plate on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven. · Cool for 15-30 minutes before slicing and serving.