ice cream cone life

Family, I have a confession to make.

I am not an herbivore.  Now, before you start dreaming of the steak dinners and pork chops that we will share when I come to visit, hold back those meat-a-saurus urges and listen.  In my house, we cook and eat many things.  On any given week you might find Pablo or I whipping up some pesto pasta, risotto, tortilla española, curry, lentil soup, quiche, beet salad, peirogi, mac & cheese, arepa, lasagna, frijoles, or any number of other dishes.  We do, in fact, make a menu on Saturdays so that we continue to eat well even during the busy week.  And, of the things we make, I would say that 90% of our eats include lots of cream, butter, eggs, and cheese but no real animal flesh.  However, from time to time a bit of sausage in our beans, fish in our wok, or chicken in our pie seems like a good idea.

So, last Sunday I got the wild idea that I would leave pie-hibernation in style.  You see, a few months ago for a friend’s birthday I made a sugar cream pie and I was sorely disappointed with the results.  The crust was a bit soggy and worse, the sugar cream filling was so sweet I could feel the cavities forming in my teeth.  It was a five hour project that could have been accomplished by pouring a jar of arequipe into a half-ass crust.  Needless to say, I was pie scarred.  I even told Pablo, “I am never making pie again.”  I guess I am an all-or-nothing kind of girl.  Do something awesome or don’t do it at all.

Hence, the Chicken Pot Pie.  After months of pie avoidance do I choose to make a tried and true pie that never fails?  Heck no.  I find the recipe that is five pages long and set to work.  First, I made some stock; chicken carcass, carrots, garlic, onion, herbs, salt, and celery were boiled (Side note, apparently celery can only be bought in huge bunches in Chile.  I now have several pounds of chopped celery in my not-so-large freezer).  Then, I roasted some chicken thighs and mixed the drippings with (more) celery, tomatoes, garlic, and pisco for the base of a gravy.  Next, I chopped up some potatoes, (more) carrots, and onion and roasted that until soft.  Finally, I made a roux to mix with the gravy base.  Once I combined the roasted veggies, pieces of chicken, and gravy I had something that very much resembled Dinty Moore… delicious canned goup of my childhood.  Throw that into a double pie crust and voila, you have chicken pot pie.

I must admit, it was really good.  The chicken bits were incredibly tender, the gravy was tangy, creamy, and salty all at the same time, and the thing really looked like a pot pie!  I feel reassured in my ability to make an edible pie!  And so, in summary, yes, folks I eat meat.  I think I will never have a pallet for that metallic flavor of a grilled steak- really beef flesh, pork chops, pork tenderloin, and ground beef are not something I like- but, if you dress up some bits of meat in a pie, or add a piece of this or that to a soup, I will not object and neither will my stomach.