TWD - Kugelhopf and Chicken Pot Pies

"Love and faithfulness meet together; 

righteousness and peace kiss each other." 

Psalm 85:10

This weeks TWD (Tuesday with Dorie) project is kugelhopf, which is a pastry I've always liked, so I was delighted to see it come up. I got the kugelhopf started this morning.  Emily helped of course, though she was a bit on the wild side this morning.  First I set her on the task of putting the raisins into a dish, which she did. But then she spotted the dried cherries - her favorite - and she threw those in also. Then I put her in charge of buttering the cake mold.  She buttered both the inside and the outside of the pan.  Then she put raisins down the hole.

The dough went together all right, but after three hours it hadn't risen a smidge.  So then I turned the warming cupboard on to 80 degrees and stuck the bowl in.  It's been in there for 5 hours now, as we all went out on day out - Riley, Annie, Corey and I.  So right now I'm going to go see what disaster has befallen the dough.

So in the meantime, while waiting for the kugelhopf to rise, I made chicken pot pies - something I've never made before.



Chicken Pot Pies

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 14 ounce can of chicken stock
3 cups of homemade chicken stock that has been reduced and defatted

3 cups of diced left-over chicken
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced small
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced rather small
6 white mushrooms, sliced up rather thin
1/2 cup frozen peas
French herb mix, about 1 teaspoon
salt and pepper
puff pastry, cut into squares big enough to top the chosen baking dishes
1 egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash

The other day I made roast chicken for dinner. I had stuffed it with chopped carrots and onion. The vegies didn't cook, but after dinner, I pulled all the left-over meat off the chicken, then I put the carcus and vegies into a pot and added a bunch of water, not enough to quite cover the chicken. I put on the lid and cooked for a while. Then I took off the lid and smushed down the chicken into the water, and cooked the whole lot for a while more. When it all looked quite cooked, with the bones all falling apart, I put the whole thing through a strainer - the cone shaped kind. I put the strained liquid back into the pot and cooked it a while longer to reduce it. Then I put it into a bowl and then into the refrigerator. When it was all cooled down the chicken fat was nice and solid on the top, and I scooped it off - saving it, as it was lovely rendered chicken fat. It was this remainder that I used in the pot pies - it was probably about 3 cups, but I didn't measure it.

So for the filling for the pies I got a large saucier, melted the stick of butter and added the onions. I cooked those for a while, until the onions seemed tender, and then I added the flour, and cooked that for about 2 minutes. Then I quickly whisked in the chicken broths, stirring vigorously to make sure there were no lumps. I then added the carrots. With hind sight, I think that I would have put the carrots in a bowl with a bit of water, cover them with plastic wrap, and cooked them for a couple minutes in the microwave, as it took them a while before they were cooked. So when the carrots seemed well on their way to being cooked, I added the potatoes. These I then cooked for about 10 minutes. then I added the chicken, mushrooms and peas and simmer the whole thing for about 5 minutes.

I had preheated my gas oven to 400 degrees. The filling that I made would probably fill 8 pies, but I only made 4. I used 10 oz. soufflé dishes. These are big enough for a dinner for a man. I did not eat all of mine, and I think maybe a 6 oz dish would have been enough. But anyway, I filled the dishes. Got my puff pastry squares cut to size and brushed then with egg wash, and press them down onto the dishes. Then I baked them for 20 minutes.


We all liked the pies very much. As I said, I didn't finish mine, but I covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator and I plan on having it for lunch tomorrow. We all thought that it might be nice to try and make pasties out of the remaining filling.

It seems to have risen.  I know that there were extra futsy things to do with the recipe, but I just put the dough into the well buttered pan and put it into the warming cupboard to rise.  Then, when I thought it had been in there long enough, I heated up the oven to 375 and stuck it in.  I looked at a lot of recipes for guglehopf on the internet and they didn't seem as complicated as Dorie's, though I'm sure hers will get wonderfully perfect results.

So right now mine is in the oven, and we shall see what we shall see.

Well I took it out of the oven after 20 minutes. It sure looked done to me. I even stuck it with a tooth pick. I promptly turned it over onto a wrack to cool, hoping that it would fall out on its own, which it did eventually. When it seemed cool enough to dust, I put it on a plate. It was light to handle, and that seemed light a good sign. We then all had a piece after it was dusted and photographed.


verdict: I really liked it. Then only thing I would change is that I would mix up the dough in the evening, turn it out into the prepared pan, and let it sit and rise over-night, ready to be baked in the morning. I thought that is was just sweet enough, though I think that I added an extra tablespoon or two of sugar. I think I could be great soaked with a simple syrup with rum or brandy.  And one could add some different things to it, like nuts or chocolate.  I'll definitely make it again.

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." 

Albert Einstein