Dim Sum Sunday Anniversary

Carla Hall's recent chicken pot pie win on Top Chef started a lot of back channel chatter from those of us who participate in the Dim Sum Sundays meme. Some of the participants wanted to do a Pot Pie but my Culinary Godmother had to point out that we already had as our very first Dim Sum! I went back and looked and sure enough back in March of 2009 there was the Java Junkie's lovely puff pastry chicken pot pie. I thought we should mark the occasion of our two year Dim Sum Sunday Anniversary with a revisit to the wonderful world of Pot Pies. On Sunday, March 13th, bring your best pot pie to the table. You can go back and try the Junkie's delicious recipe or you can try Carla's recipe that I snatched off Bravo's website. I have no idea how many servings it makes but if you want to watch how it's made step by step here's chef Rick Moonen's video at Bravo.


Chicken Pot Pie by Carla Hall

Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pound unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2/3 cup water

Method:
1. Chill bowl and paddle of KitchenAid standing mixer.
2. Dissolve salt and sugar into water. Place in fridge.
3. Toss butter pieces in flour and coat each side. With the mixer on low, cut butter into flour. Pour water into mixer all at once. Increase speed to medium and mix until a dough is formed.
4. Divide dough into 8 parts, form into discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes. Roll dough 1/8'' thick. Trim dough into 4'' rounds. Place dough rounds on top of greased balls of aluminum foil covered with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water.) using some of the dough scraps,make a small ball and place on top of the round to create the top of a cloche. Place balls on parchment lined sheet pans and place the dough scraps on a second sheet pan. Bake at 400 until golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool, and carefully remove the dome from the ball.

Chicken Filling
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound carrots, cut into 1/2-inch moons
6 ribs celery, halved lengthwise and cut on the bias into 1/2-inch thick pieces
4 quarts chicken stock
4 onions, diced
Pepper, to taste
2 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Salt, to taste
4 sprigs thyme
2 whole chicken, 2 pounds each, broken down into 6 pieces

Method:
1. In an 8-quart pressure cooker, heat 3 tablespoons canola oil. Sauté half the onions, carrots, and celery with half the thyme, rosemary and sage for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 2 quarts chicken stock, add chicken breasts. Bring the stock to a simmer and place lid on pressure cooker. Cook for 30 minutes and remove from heat. Allow pot to cool before opening lid. Run cold water on the top if need be.
2. Remove breasts and set aside. Strain the broth into the large rondeau with the other vegetables and place the vegetables onto a sheet pan to cool. Remove the herbs.
3. When the chicken meat is cool enough to handle, tear it into bite size pieces. Set aside.

Chicken Veloute
4 ounces butter
3 tablespoons canola oil
8 ounces flour
10 ounces frozen baby peas
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Method:
1. In the meantime, heat 3 tablespoons canola oil in another large rondeau.
2. Sauté the other half of the onions, carrots, and celery with the other half of the thyme, rosemary and sage for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 2 quarts chicken stock, add chicken bones from carcasses, wings and dark meat (legs and thighs). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 90 minutes. Strain. Note: Remove dark meat when meat starts to pull away from the bones, about 45 minutes. Set aside. When the meat is cool enough to handle, tear it into bite-size pieces. Combine with the breast meat.
3. In same pot, melt butter then whisk in flour until smooth. Slowly whisk in the hot stock. Bring to a boil then simmer. Mixture should be the consistency of heavy cream. Stir in heavy cream. Bring to a boil again, then simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Garnish
10 baby carrots each, with 1-inch tops, halved lengthwise and roasted
Dehydrated peas, powdered with salt
10 leaves sage, fried
10 sprigs thyme, fried
Method:
1. In a medium-sized pot, combine the pulled chicken pieces, vegetables and enough sauce to generously coat the veggies. Reheat until hot, then stir in peas.
2. Place dough scraps in the bottom of individual bowls. Spoon chicken mixture on top, then ladle more sauce, if necessary. Top with the dough cloche. Place the fried herbs and roasted carrots on the side of each dish. Sprinkle the rim with the pea salt. Enjoy!

So come join us on the 13th with your favorite pot pie, be it chicken, turkey or beef. Or maybe you've got something a little more outside the pie pan up your sleeve for our anniversary? Can't wait to see the results.

Utter and Complete Joy

You know, I could do a whole poke and prod about the last episode's Elimination Challenge, a thorough deconstruction of each contestant's dish, who won, who should have won, who lost and why they lost. But here's the thing. This particular segment of this episode was about joy. The Joy of Cooking With Carla. If you haven't figured it out yet, Carla loves to cook.


Actually Carla looks like she just - loves - LIFE! Frankly it's a welcome relief from the anger of Marcel, of the puffery of Mike, or the constant navel gazing of Blaise. Besides the Westminster Dog Show is on and I've got dogs to watch.

So the chefs go on the Jimmy Fallon show and pick from among many of Jimmy's favorite dishes by cell phone shoot out. Carla was hoping to get Chicken Pot Pie. Do you think her trigger finger is quick enough?

Oh yeah, let the Joy Explosion begin....

...just be careful when she starts whipping that hair around. So Carla draws Chicken Pot Pie and she is over the moon. Does the joy stop there?

Hella NO!

No disasters in the kitchen, Dale pisses and moans about not wanting to be anywhere near her, gets all her food out on time


(with a little help from Dale). Which always helps to get to the top three dishes.


Can I say for the record, I thought I was into chicken pot pie.....


...but this woman is into chicken pot pie on a cellular level. I bow down to the Master.

And the Beef Tongue Song?


BRILLIANT!! It's an amazing thing to make all the judges smile and clap at the same time.


The best thing about it was what came after.


Winning the challenge....

...getting to go on Jimmy Fallon's show...and...and.....


...winning a six day trip to Tokyo.

That, my friends, is the joyful face of someone who's had three Elimination wins and three travel prizes. Carla is the last of my original four favorites to take the whole thing. Can she last that long? She's only been in the bottom three once, there's four more episodes and the finale (probably with three finalists) to go. Can she hold on? Or is she peaking at just the right time? I have no idea I just know she's entertaining as hell to watch. GO CARLA GO!!

Dim Sum Sunday - Pie

Fall means many things but to me it means apple harvest and with apple harvest comes apple pie. This Sunday any pie will do, savory, sweet, even pizza. Grab hold of that bag of flour, chill that butter and dive into the mystique that is rolling out a flaky crust. (The ingredient that dare not speak it's name)

While we're talking pie, you know the TV Cooking Mavens have gone mad with TV Power don't you? How else to explain this much meringue...Martha Stewart's Mile High Lemon Pie

... or the madness that is Paula Deen's apple monstrosity. (Must be 18 or over to make.)Paula Deen's Savannah High Apple Pie

Now you can go crazy like Martha or Paula or you can exercise some restraint but either way come back Sunday and have a slice. (We won't tell your cardiologist.)