Chicken Pot Pie | Carrot Cake | Chicken Stock

Carrots, onions and celery are the foundation of most soups, and the key ingredients of vegetable or meat stock. In Italy, it's not uncommon to find the trio bundled together at farmers' markets for convenience, labeled "odori" or "aromatics". In French cuisine diced carrots, onions and celery are called "mirepoix." They are a fundamental component of the cook's "mise-en-place", or prepared ingredients, used as a flavor base not only for soups and stocks, but also for braised stews and classic sauces.

Storage

Carrots can be kept, without their green tops, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for six weeks or more.

Root Cellar

Store unwashed roots in a cold, damp cellar (32-34 degrees and 90% humidity) for several months. 

Recipes

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a rich winter dish of fairly elaborate preparation. Start cooking it a day ahead for a special occasion, or just because you love to spend hours in the kitchen creating rich food.

• For the boiled chicken:
• 1 chicken, 2-4 lbs.
• 1 leek or onion
• A few carrots
• 2 stalks celery or some celeriac

Put the chicken in a large pot with the vegetables and cold water to cover. Slowly bring to a boil and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the leg easily pulls out of the socket. Remove chicken and cool. Strain the broth, discarding solids, and refrigerate overnight. (The next day, skim the fat (or schmaltz) from the top of the broth, and save it.) When chicken is cool, remove the meat from the bones and separate it into chunks. Discard the skin.

• For the white sauce:
• 2 cups reserved chicken broth
• 2 cups milk
• 5 Tbsp flour
• 5 Tbsp butter, oil, or congealed chicken fat from the broth
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine the milk and broth in a saucepan and heat to near the boiling point. Add fat and flour to a separate heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook the mixture gently for 2-3 minutes without browning, stirring with a wire whisk. Add the liquid in a steady stream while mixing vigorously with the whisk to eliminate lumps and ensure a smooth sauce. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. It should have a velvety texture and coat the back of a spoon.

• For the vegetables:
• 2 lbs assorted root vegetables, cut into large chunks
• (Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips, celeriac, etc.)
• 1 cup frozen green peas

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add vegetable chunks and boil for 5 minutes, or until "al dente." Drain and reserve. (The peas don't need to be boiled.)

• For the pastry crust:
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine flour and salt in the Cuisinart bowl fitted with a blade. Pulse to combine and start adding cubes of butter, pulsing, until the lumps are pea-sized. Mix cream and yolk together and pour the mixture into the bowl while processing, just until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of saran wrap and form into a disc. Chill for an hour before rolling.

To assemble:

Combine chicken and vegetables in a 9X16" baking pan. Pour in the white sauce and stir to distribute. Roll out pastry to the shape of the pan and drape over top. Trim the edges and use the trimmings to make decorative flourishes on top. Cut a series of vent holes in the dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and flaky.

Carrot Cake

This recipe is originally from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. It also makes fabulous cupcakes.

For the cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs (room temp.)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 lb. carrots, shredded
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

For the frosting:

• 3/4 lb. cream cheese (room temp.)
• 1/2 lb. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour cake pans or cupcake tins. Beat sugar, oil and eggs with the paddle on the Kitchen-Aid. Beat in vanilla and flour. Sift together cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, and add to the wet ingredients. Toss carrots, raisins, and walnuts with 1 Tbsp flour and fold into batter with a spatula.

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and continue baking until a toothpick comes out clean, around 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with the paddle on the Kitchen-Aid until smooth. Beat in confectioners sugar.

If making a cake, cut laterally into two circles after it cools. Spread frosting on top of the bottom layer, place second layer on top and frost entire cake. If making cupcakes, just frost each one.

Quick Chicken Stock

• 1 whole (3-4 lbs) chicken, rinsed
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 bouquet garni (bay leaf, a few parsley sprigs, a few black peppercorns)
• 3 1/2 cups water (or more, if necessary)

Cut the chicken into quarters for quicker cooking, or leave it whole if you're lazy. Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down so it bubbles gently every so often. Cook until chicken is done, about 40-60 minutes. Strain, pressing out all the liquid, and discard the vegetables. Pick the meat off the bones and use for pot pie, fried rice, enchiladas, in your soup, or freeze for later. Refrigerate the stock overnight and skim off any fat from the top (save the schmaltz for cooking!) and either use immediately or freeze in plastic pint or quart containers. Don't forget that this stock is unsalted so you'll need to season it appropriately when you use it.