The Hand Pie Made Easy. This Stuff is Already in Your Fridge and Pantry. I Make Lives Easier.
I’m running through this one pretty quick. I got stuff to do tonight. It’s going to mostly just be the facts. Try to keep up.
Two chicken breasts relaxing in a dish. Salt sprinkled on both sides. I just let that hang out on the counter for 15 minutes.
I filled the dish with chicken broth and put that in a 350f oven for 35 minutes. That’s about the right amount of time to prevent the chicken from boiling. That would be bad.
Mushroom experiment day 3. Total success. The ones stored in the store container are starting to get the funky slime. The ones stored in the paper egg carton are as dry as the day I bought them. Worth storing them this way if you want them to last a few days longer.
For the pies I’ve got the delicate ingredients together and the heartier ones together. The hearty goes in first and delicates and the end. You’ll see.
My side is black beans and rice cooked in the pork stock I made yesterday.
OK, the onions and celery were cooked on medium heat just until they started to brown a little. I salt as I go in layers. Once satisfied I added the mushrooms and garlic. I cut everything smallish to better fit in a pie.
Followed immediately by my chicken which I shredded after a 15 minute rest.
Just a little browning is fine.
Now I softened it all up with some white wine, Worcestershire, and another splash of broth. I stir and cook until the liquid is gone.
A flour tortilla. Now for the fun part. I added the skillet mixture with a slice of cheese on top. Had I been thinking I would have put it on the bottom to get a jump start on the melt. But I’ll save that segment for the end of the article.
Alright, my crimping skills have obviously not improved.
I did this by getting the edges of the tortilla good and wet. I folded it into a pie and really worked the edges together, really working the water in until the flour starts turning back into dough. Then I finished with a fork.
I made 3 to practice. Then I walked away. Here’s the deal:
I want as much of the water as possible to evaporate. If I put these in the pan now the steam would break the seam of the tortilla. So just let it dry out for a few minutes.
I decided to change things up for sauces. I’m just a little tired of mayo based sauce. It’s kind of boring the crap out of me. So I picked up some Greek, non-flavored, yogurt. It’s healthier anyway. I’ve got sour cream and yogurt in equal portions. About a quarter of a lemon’s worth of lemon juice. There’s dill and salt and-
That’s pretty much it.
NO!
Then I ran back to the fridge. One last thing. Pickle juice. Just a little more than a splash.
This is what I learned, in about 1/8th inch of oil I started the frying on the belly side first. Then I just used a fork to slowly roll the pie towards me to ensure browning on all sides.
To really get those corners I leaned the pies against the side of the skillet. No doughy parts allowed if you can help it.
3 crispy chicken pies, ready to go. The seams held up just fine. Each one only took 1 1/2- 2 minutes to brown
First I tried the obvious plating scenario. Very simple.
A little edible flower would have really sold this.
The next I cut like a sandwich with a little leftover veggies from the pan.
This way showed off a little cheese ooze. It’s the one I ended up eating for dinner.
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda.
This would obviously have made a fantastic potato pie. Next time I try it I’ll do that for sure.
The tortilla lacks flavor of it’s own. But I can’t go too crazy because I need it to stay foldable etc. I think on the next round I’ll just spritz it with some salt water and let it totally dry before folding and crimping.
I need to practice the aesthetics. It’s a delicious, flaky pie but it looks rough. I may go so far as to buy one. I think that could look awesome.
The tortillas I used were low carb so I’m also thinking of trying some regular one’s from the Mexican market that’s close by.
And that’s that.
Shit I gotta get to work.
Orzo says Hi.
