"Tastes Like Chicken" - Flaxen Love-itt Pies - Recipe 6, Dinners

Yum.
Saturday Night:
Well, it smells good!  :)  I could have started this with a little better organization - but I was feeling wild and crazy and not organized AT ALL.  So, I didn't.  I made a HUGE mess, but it was ok.  I was exhausted.

I spent all day Saturday in Indiana at the "Rebel Race" cheering Mooie Kip on.  So, it's okay.  Regardless, I got home so early that I thought - why not?  Let's get this show on the road.
So, it starts.. once again, here I am kneading dough for the crust.  Knead, knead, knead.  Roll, roll, roll.  Cut cut - ok ok you get it.  This is what I got from that below:

The Tops

Yeah I have a big one because this made alot more than the three lil crocks for the Fuqua girls on Monday.  I have - a WHOLE CASSEROLE, ladies and gents.  It's Sunday night's dinner.  ;)

So then, it was onto the pearl onions.  Now, I've never cooked with pearl onions before, and they are a MESS!  A MESS I say (you think I got a picture of my mess, don't you?) HARDLY.  I don't show you my big messes!  If I did, you'd see the bottom of my cheesecake stuck-on oven. ;)  No thankyou.   Anyway, cutting onions, dicing potatoes, cutting celery, garlic - what else, oh FOR HEAVEN SAKE - the meat of this 'meat pie'  the TEMPEH!  Goodness I love tempeh.  I can't explain how much.  Tofu is nothin compared to tempeh.  mMmmM.  Anyway, yes I diced up tempeh.. then started the filling... and got it all to it's creamy, bubbly mixture all ready to pop into their crock

The mixture - not quite bubbly yet

So - after that was done - (you'll notice I was boiling the peas seperatly, because the sister hates them.. see em over there far left?!)  I added the one pie w/o peas, and then mixed those green balls of goodness into my mixture and made the rest of the pies.  They were smelling pretty nice.  Then it was time to put the crusts on top of the things.   This was actually easier than I thought.  I thought my crusts would plop over the top of the bowls but they actually fit very nicely inside of the pots so they were nice and neat.  I put a little 'v' in the one for my sister so that when we cook them on Monday we'll know which one is 'pea-less'.  Lol   And for the record here are the 'raw' pots getting ready to go into the ol' oven. I even left one 'open' for you to see it's innerds!  Yum.. these things are going to taste lovely.

pies ready to bake!

So baking, they started to smell even better.  And hey, look, I made a hidden mickey in the picture to your right!  I'm ready to eat these things.  But I only have til tomorrow to wait to eat the larger casserole.. but I won't report on it til the Fuqua ladies have it after our run on Monday.

Monday:
So, what's the consensus?  Did it 'taste like chicken'  Are the Flaxen Love-itt pies a hit?  I do have to say - of the four people that ate these- I've had nothing but positive comments from everyone.    I do have to say, I think next time I'll roll the topping thinner.  But regardless, the whole refrigerating and re-popping them in the oven worked just perfectly.  :)  I'm happy, the ladies are happy.

So, now I'm sitting here - just waiting for "The Playboy Club".  I'm excited.   2011 autumn shows are actually pretty good.   Gone is the ridiculous hospital and police, private eye dramas of the early 2000's and (hopefully) slowly fading away is the "Let me show you what I can do" reality tv crap.. and "IN" is the 60's.   I really enjoyed 'Pan Am' last night.  These shows remind me alot of "American Dream" and "The Wonder Years"  which I loved!   So, I'm happy.
Since, however, this isn't a tv blog.. I digress...  the food is digested and I sit here with my furkids and my cereal snack, ready to enjoy the rest of my night.

Til next blog post, kids.   Happy eating!


Music Enjoyed while cooking and writing this blog:
Poe - Dolphin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr52ckuomGE

Garbage - The World Is Not Enough - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7KxEerCYo&feature=fvst

Natalie Imbruglia - Leave Me Alone- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqDlLpPV2PA

Frou Frou - Breathe In - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naLr4q8OYEs

Plan B  - Backside Grind 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCrf0QEd6bs

Lush - For Love - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F4aHdMxM0k

Siouxsie and The Banshees - Arabian Knights - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP-ZUbSmkRM

Walt Disney's Lion King - I Just Can't Wait To be King - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXs8OS6EdAE

Massive Attack - Karmacoma - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi76bxT7K6U&ob=av2e

Air - Le Solieil Est Pres De Moi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r3RY0-zELU

Gotan Project - Epoca - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbh-jn8V54c

Charles Webster- The Gift Of Freedom - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2i68FV4yUk

Delerium - Silence - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA-je1_Ejq0

Moby - Isolate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrW7N4ojGvU

Current Craving - A pot pie!!


Current Motivation - a muddy heathen.  ;)

Ladies and Gentlemen! Your attention please!!?

The Infamous Todd and Lovett.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?
Are your nostrils aquiver and tingling as well as that delicate, luscious, ambrosial smell? Yes, they are,I can tell!  Well, ladies and gentlemen that aroma enriching the breeze, is like something compared to its succulent source as the gourmets among you will tell you, of course. Ladies and gentlemen you can't imagine the rapture in store, just inside of this door! There, you'll sample Mrs.Lovett's meat pies. savory and sweet pies, as you'll see. You who eat pies Mrs. Lovetts meat pies conjure up the treat pies used to be!"
...Toby (2007 Sweeney Todd- The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

Okay - so I'm going to make 'meat' pies.. right??   RIGHT?!   Ah, I can pull nothing over on you guys.   I am.. but  I can tell you one thing - these pies will not have cut up people in them.. :)   I haven't met Sweeney Todd yet to go in business with him.  ;)

So, here's what Wikipedia tells us about pot pies.  "A pot pie is a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape.
This is in contrast to the Australian meat pie and many British regional variants on pie recipes, which may have a top of flaky pastry, but whose body is made from heavier, more mechanically stable shortcrust, hot water crust or similar pastry.  The pot pie is a variation of the pasty.
An American pot pie typically has a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas)."

So, a few changes in store here for these pies.  1. They will not be in tins.  I am putting them in little crocks.  I'm also cutting the complete crust layer and only putting a top on my pies.  This not only cuts the calories, it cuts the carbs for you carb-conscious folks out there.     I muddled over and over what kind of 'pie' I wanted to make and made the decision that I wanted to do a version of chicken pot pie.  Since I've already done beef stew - it's time to play with 'chicken'.    Then I mulled over what I was using FOR chicken.. since being vegan means - um - NO FLESH OF ANY KIND (every now and then we need to be reminded.) I started thinking of what my favorite substitute was for chicken.   There are so many different subs out there.. but - and even though it has no resemblance whatsoEVER to real chicken - I really enjoy flax tempeh.  :)   So, the 'chicken' in my pot pies will be 'flax tempeh.'  

So - as to that, these pies need a name.   My fancy little name generator - (my head) has come up with:
Flaxen Love-itt pies.   (Ms Fuqua has flaxen hair and we're using flax tempeh, and well, we'll spin Mrs Lovett  into this a little bit too) - why not?  She's my motivation today. 

Here's the ole numbers aye:
Traditional Chicken Pot Pie                                 Flaxen Love-itt Pies
Calories - 550                                                              360
Fat - 34g                                                                      11
Cholesterol -   21mg                                                     0mg
Sodium - 826mg                                                           600
Carbs -  45g                                                                  26
Protien - 16g                                                                  10
Fiber -   2.3 g                                                                4.2g
WW Points -  15                                                             6         

So, there you have it.  Wouldn't it have been more fun to do the numbers for Mrs Lovett's meat pies?   lol. Um, ew!
Anyway - these are going to be tried and tested once again on the savvy Fuqua ladies.  One will be minus peas.. because my sister has an aversion to peas, and anything with the word "bean" in it. (which may include, but is not limited - to bunnies named Bean or Jellybeans).

And to end this silly blog - because I thought it was fitting - Gonzo being all Sweeney Todd, and BEAN here getting ready to be cut.. and back in Jr. High several of the kids used to say I looked like Janice (no clue why) I leave you with this lovely bunch of cocoNUTS.  

I'll be playing master photographer on Saturday - so these pies will be created on Sunday... probably afternoonish.   I want to make them so they're easy to pop in the microwave on Monday for a couple mins.   I guess I need to research freezing them..  hhhmmmmm................more reeeesearch!  Wonder what Mrs. Lovett would do?   WWMLD?  Probably a lil something like this - so I edit to add:
Preheat the oven to 300º, cover the pie with foil, put it in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes remove the foil and turn the oven up to 375º without removing the pie. After another 10 minutes shut off the oven but leave the pie inside with the door shut for  about 10 minutes. Take out pie and serve!





Music Listened to whilst blogging:
Subsonic's 96K Disney Radio! (I know, I know)

Current Motivation - "Cleaning up" the meat pie mayhem.

Current Craving - Chicken Fried Tempeh.  :)