Marketing is the art of persuading prospects to purchase a product or service. What does marketing have to do with a food column, you may ask? Well, marketing food is one serious business. Have you ever heard of ‘hand-tossed’, ‘homemade’, ‘slow-roasted’, ‘fresh-cut’, and ‘hand-selected’? These carefully chosen words are used to market an ordinary product as extraordinary by talented advertisers.
Guess who else can reinvent them self into an appetizing ad-man? You! Next time you’re asked “What’s for dinner?” do not respond with “Leftovers.” Carefully choose your words, too. Leftovers sounds as if they should be ‘left-alone’, ‘left to rest’, or completely ‘over with’. Be a little craftier with your response. Re-purpose yesterday’s extras so that you can achieve the equivalent of a ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ deal. Inform your hungry prospects that they will be dining on the blue-plate special: Pot-Pie Du Jour.
I personally believe old shoes baked into pastry dough would turn out delicious and satisfying. Use the following basic pot-pie recipe to create unlimited variations of pot-pie du jour. You are only limited by your imagination and by what’s in the fridge. And do me a favor; just utilize what is actually in your home. Don’t go shopping; this defeats the purpose and luxury of leftovers. Sometimes my pot pies have onions and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they are filled with chicken, sometimes ham. You get the idea.
Ciao, Bella
Pot-Pie Du Jour
2 cups (chicken or beef or pork, etc) cooked, cubed
2 carrots diced small
2 stalks of celery sliced thin
1 russet potato, peeled and cubed small
½ cup of frozen peas
½ small onion diced
2 bay leaves
3 cups chicken stock
½ cup milk
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoon butter
1 pastry dough, thawed out, from a 17 oz package
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In medium sauce pan, melt butter and sauté onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaves and peas for 10 minutes. Stir in flour. Then add chicken stock and milk and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick and vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add meat and warm thoroughly. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste. Divide mixture into 4 ramekins. Cover ramekins with circles of pastry. Press overhang to sides. Make a few slits in top of pastry so steam can escape.
Bake in oven until golden brown, 30-35 minutes.
Larry’s tips: If you don’t have ramekins you can use oven proof mugs, dishes, or one baking dish with 2-3 inch sides.