7/5/12

Sue Ade - Food for the Fourth - Part 2

Sue Ade: Food for the Fourth - Part 2

Photo by Sue Ade


I never really considered making chicken pot pies for the Fourth of July holiday, but after success with Tovolo’s Petite Pie Mold and their recipes for fruit pies, I decided to give Tovolo’s recipe for Savory Pie a try, and I liked it a lot. Enjoying the concept of mini pies, and liking the rustic, patriotic look of an indestructible cast iron skillet, I decided to blend the two for the Independence Day buffet table. Not only are the pies delicious, but use of some store-bought products, such as pre-made piecrusts and gravy make them “easy as pie” to assemble. While I’ve used refrigerated piecrusts before, I was a little reluctant to use Campbell’s canned chicken gravy, but it turned out to be a good ingredient. In fact, one of my taste testers, who has been eating Swanson’s Chicken Pot Pie, since his college days decades ago, said he preferred this chicken pot pie to the totally made “from scratch” chicken pot pies I’ve fed him in the past, because this pie had a taste that was “familiar” and “comforting.” (Go figure.) If the bottom line is to make folks happy and to have them enjoy them their food, then certainly this recipe achieves that and for this, every cook smiles. If you are thinking about making this pie today, you can do that. You can buy ready-made piecrusts, a rotisserie chicken, the gravy and a package of frozen vegetables. And, sautéing a few fresh vegetables for the mix will take only minutes. Purchasing the products will not only be good for the economy, but it will also give you some freedom from cooking. Today is the Fourth of July and it’s a good day for being free — and eating pie, even if it does remind you a little of Swanson’s.

Sue Ade, a Lowcountry resident since 1985, is a gourmet baker and collector of vintage cooking
utensils and cookbooks. She can be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com.

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