Thursday, October 23, 2008

Vegetable Pot Pie -- Barefoot Bloggers



A big thanks to the wonderful and sweet Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for chosing this vegetable pot pie for Barefoot Bloggers! First I have to apologize for the pictures, I know, they are sad. This was not the prettiest pot pie I've ever made, sorry. But I really had a fun time with this recipe, the veggie prep was a lot of work, once again with the peeling of the butternut squash, peeling the potatoes, peeling carrots, etc. I changed around the veggies a bit and did not use asparagus but used peas and left out the onions. I love asparagus, and I have some that I bought for this recipe, but for some reason I decided to go with peas instead, maybe hoping that the kids would go for this since they love peas.
I was nervous about the fennel, I've never cooked with fennel before and by the looks of it was a little scared it may be onionish. Thank goodness it was not! I had a piece raw, and the texture reminded me of a cross between a potato and celery, of course the flavor was licorice which was wonderful! I'm not a huge gotta have it licorice fan (like my mom and husband, who search out and eat all the black jelly beans before you can say Easter basket) but I do like licorice, so I did enjoy the fennel. I am excited about having a new veggie to cook with and look for in recipes! I had always shyed away from fennel, but not anymore!

The saffron added a nice little something extra to this dish, I bet the Pernod did too, but I couldn't find it anywhere so left it out. Now I'm interested to find some just to try it. This recipe was really easy except for all of the prep work. I only used 4 tablespoons of butter to sautee the fennel in, 1 1/2 sticks just sounded way too over the top even for someone who is a butter fan. I did notice a bit of a floury taste so would decrease the flour if I made this again, but maybe that was my fault for not using all the butter. Oh-well. Sorry to say the kids weren't too keen on this. My one year old liked it, but my older two were not impressed. They did have fun making cookie cutouts of the pie crust scraps :)

Speaking of the crust I really liked it, it came together so easily in the food processor and was a sinch to roll out. I do not have a 'go to' pie crust but have been using Dorie's "good for almost anything pie crust" lately, but think this one is easier to work with.

Here is the link if you would like to try this wonderful fall dish Ina's Vegetable Pot Pie.

10 comments:

Cathy said...

I think your pictures are great! I love the basketweave pie crust, Andrea! I cut down the butter as well -- 1.5 sticks -- gah!! -- and found my pot pie to be a little dry. Maybe I cut down the butter too much? How fun that you discovered a new veggie that you like in the fennel! I agree this was a lot of work. I've still got a couple in the freezer, so that's a plus! I loved the pie crust as well.

Suzie said...

I agree about all the chopping - definitely not a meal that could be rushed. I love your basketweave - the pastry looks just perfect.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Yeah, I am glad you liked the pick, even with all the work! I love your pie with the weave and the trim--picture perfect! Glad you liked the fennel too--its become a favorite of mine!

Peggy said...

Oh yours looks delicious. Check out my pie crust and you will know how perfect yours is. I loved the pie. You have the same fennel picture I do! I think it is such a neat looking vege.

Veronica said...

Wow...a lattice crust-impressive! It looks so beautiful-I need serious pie crust tutoring. Looks delicious!

chocolatechic said...

Gorgeous.

I used Dories pie dough for this, as I already had one in the freezer.

Cynthia's Blog said...

I liked the prep work, but I don't have little ones running around, so good job on doing this!

Anonymous said...

I'm with your DH (haha!) on this one, I LOVE licorice! Target has really great Australian licorice that melts in your mouth. Splurge on it next time you're there... he'll love you forever! I SWEAR I'll email you tomorrow!
~Cat

Dewi said...

Andrea,
Vegetables pot pie looks very good, that lattice top for the pie require some skill. I am impress!
I love fennel, always have this for my salad. Can't leave it out, or else my family will not eat the salad. Sometimes, we just dip it in olive oil and eat it just like that. Very sweet and fragrant!

Prudy said...

I love your lattice top. I tried to leave a comment yesterday, but nothing doing. I couldn't leave a comment anywhere but I still went around peeking at everyones. I'm glad you liked the fennel.

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