Chicken pot pie with a sweet potato crust

I love this recipe. My dad first came across it as a use for leftover Thanksgiving turkey (using up the leftover sweet potato casserole and leftover veggies as well), but I usually use leftover roast chicken. I don't make it that often because it always seems a bit fussy to have to make both the filling AND the crust, but the last time I cooked it, I realized it was really actually pretty simple. I've typically just boiled and mashed the sweet potatoes, but I think roasting them might make for a fluffier crust - that takes some planning though.

You can add other vegetables as well - it's a great use for leftovers. Potatoes, green beans, or asparagus would all be nice additions.

Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust

Serves 6

3 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped carrots

12 small whole white onionscut in half, or 1 large onion, chopped

½ cup chopped celery

1 tsp dried thyme

1 cup cooked peas (or frozen peas)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

6 tablespoons butter

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons flour

1 cup cream or half-and-half

2 cups chicken broth

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes - let cool first

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute until softened, a few minutes. Add the thyme and cook for one minute more.

Put the chicken, carrots, onions, celery, peas and parsley into a 2 ½ quart baking dish.

Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the 6 tablespoons of flour and stir over medium heat for one minute. Whisk in cream and chicken broth slowly. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper. Continue to stir until the sauce boils and thickens. Pour over the chicken and vegetables and stir gently to combine.

In a medium sized bowl mix 1 cup flour, baking power and ¼ teaspoon salt. Use a fork to mix in the sweet potatoes, oil, and egg. Roll or press out dough on a lightly floured board to about ¼ inch thickness.

Cover baking dish with dough and pinch edges all around. Make a small slit in the center. Bake for 35 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Recipe from dad, and tweaked by Gwyneth

Cauliflower in cheese sauce

When I was a kid, pretty much the only way to get me to eat vegetables was to bury them in some sort of high-fat dairy product. Even our salads had a mound of cheddar cheese on top, which I then covered in Marie's Creamy Italian dressing, which tasted like Ranch but was nearly as thick as mayonnaise. So it's no surprise that smothering cauliflower in cheese sauce was, and still is, one of my favorite ways to get my five a day.

This is a pretty simple recipe which goes very nicely with steak, and is so tasty that even kids will eat it.

Cauliflower in Cheese Sauce

1 cauliflower

1½ cups grated cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon butter

1 heaping tablespoon flour (about 1½ tablespoons)

1/4 cup milk (or more, depending on creamy you want your sauce)

Pinch of dry mustard (like Colman's)

about ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

splash of ketchup (about 2 teaspoons)

Put about ½ inch of water into a large saucepan over high heat. Toss in ½ teaspoon of salt.  Turn heat to high.

 Cut the leaves off the cauliflower and scoop out the stalk.  Put this stuff into the saucepan.  When it boils, put on the lid and turn the heat down to a simmer. (I often skip this step). 

  

15 minutes before you want to serve dinner, put the cauliflower into the pan, put on the lid, and turn up the heat to medium so it boils a little faster.

 Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and stir to make a nice creamy roux. Cook without browning for at least 1 minute.

 Test the cauliflower by puncturing it with a knife. When it is the softness you want, take off the heat and drain enough of the cauliflower water into the roux to make a thick sauce.  Whisk the sauce quickly over high heat until thickened. Add the milk gradually until the sauce is a nice smooth consistency.

 Turn the heat under the sauce to low. Add the cheese, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup to taste.

  

To serve, put the cauliflower in a bowl and pour the cheese sauce over the top.