The other day saw a return of The Shouty Old Man and an evening of cooking pot pies from scratch, so as an inveterate punster, I had to use the homophones rue and roux in my post. Per Merriam-Webster, with slight editing:
rue (ˈrü) rued; ruing transitive verb: 1. to feel penitence, remorse, or regret for 2. intransitive verb: to feel sorrow, remorse, or regret.
and
roux (ˈrü) noun, pl. roux (ˈrüz): a cooked mixture of flour and fat used as a thickening agent in a soup or a sauce.
Now that the joke has been explained to death, on with the story. If you read the last installment about Shouty, you may recall his objection to a collections fee, and refusal to pay even a dime. Well, he was somewhat contrite when he visited again, but he did not want to pay the full $15. He wanted to pay $5, as a personal check, with the remainder whenever he felt like it later. I had been having a bad day already, and retired to the back room to bite my tongue instead of saying things I might later rue. The manager took over, since she's the one who has to deal with the bookkeeping headache he wants to create anyway.
I have a feeling there will be more unnecessary conflict to come. I totally get being contrarian, but this whole mess is his own damn fault.
Enough of that, though. On to some good stuff: Homemade Shepherd's Pie! Well, Wikipedia says it's supposed to use red meat, and the term shepherd would imply mutton, but I'm a rebel and used chicken instead. It's a mashup of shepherd's pie and chicken pot pie. Whatever. It tastes good!
First up, the roux. I used a medium skillet at medium heat to melt two tablespoons of Earth Balance butter alternative, and then stirred in two tablespoons of unbleached white flour. After that, I realized I had two cups of leftover storebought broth from my crock pot chicken experiment, and this much roux was only enough to make a thick gravy with one cup of liquid according to my old cookbook. I hastily added two tablespoons of olive oil, remembered to snap the picture above, added two more tablespoons of flour, then poured in the broth while stirring intermittently and preparing the rest of my ingredients.
I also chopped two small-ish red onions and started sauteing them in a small skillet. Then I crushed most of my remaining garlic and added that to the onions. I stirred until the onion chunks broke apart at the layers and turned slightly translucent, then dumped the works into the gravy that was thickening nicely by then.
After that, I put a small sauce pan on the now-vacant burner, started some water boiling, peeled and diced the last of the home-grown carrots from last year (about a cup) and set them to boil so they would not be so aggressively crunchy. Meanwhile, I added two cups of diced leftover chicken, one cup of diced mushrooms, and one cup of leftover frozen peas to the gravy, and turned down the temperature so it could wait its turn in the process.
@Generikat's Pi Day post was timely, because she mentioned a no-roll pie crust just in time to give me something new to try instead of the box mixes or old recipes I usually use. My Pyrex single-serve bowls are an odd shape for those traditional rolled crusts, after all.
Finally, after baking the crusts and adding the carrots and some salt and pepper to the gravy, I was ready for assembly. Each bowl was filled to near the top with gravy mix, then I quickly made some instant mashed potatoes (I used the "3-4 servings" quantity) and spooned the top covers into each bowl to seal in the goodies. If you're allergic to dairy, check those ingredient labels! Many national and store brands include butter or milk to be "helpful." Betty Crocker brand is an exception.
I put the bowls in the oven one more time while it cooled to toast the potato crust a bit, then left them to cool before refrigerating them.
I ate one for lunch yesterday, and another today. It was a lot more work than buying cheap food at the store, but much heartier and healthier. It only takes about two minutes in the microwave to adequately reheat it.
Gravy Base (per cup broth or stock)
Melt two tablespoons of butter or any alternative fat/oil you prefer, and stir in two tablespoons of flour until a thick paste forms. Slowly stir in liquid, and stir regularly while it heats so no lumps form and nothing scalds.
Filling (per cup broth or stock)
Sauté one small onion and crushed garlic to taste.
Once gravy base is thickened, add mix of onions and garlic, 1 cup diced meat, 1 cup vegetables of choice, 1/2 cup diced mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste.
Frozen peas, corn, diced carrots, or a pre-mixed variety are convenient if you don't have fresh options on hand. I do not recommend using canned vegetables though.
No-Roll Pie Crust
I omitted the sugar from the source recipe as suggested by @generikat:
Mix 1-1⁄2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt, then add 1⁄2 cup oil and 2 tablespoons of milk (or your preferred alternative). Mix with a fork until it forms a ball. I then separated this ball into four equal portions and pressed them into my Pyrex bowls. It took some work due to the shape, but I was pleased with the result.
Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden. Fill with gravy and goodies. Top with mashed potatoes.
Mashed Potatoes
Follow the instructions on your preferred box mix, unless you really want to use a mixer and make them from scratch. I don't feel like doing that. Regardless, spread over top of gravy to form a lid.
Alternative serving suggestions
Spoon over biscuits or potatoes like chicken à la king or just pour over potatoes like I did with the leftovers after my pies were made.
Remember, if I can manage to make this from scratch, you can, too!
