Curry Chicken Pot Pie

By popular demand, here is an improvised version of curry chicken pot pie.

The good doctor requested fall food because the outside air temp dropped below boiling. We had a curry in London that resembled super smooth butternut squash soup with chicken bits, and decided that we could make that happen at home. After several attempts we discovered that we were missing some fat source be it cream / butter / ???. We shelved the recipe in favor of a Korma recipe that is always solid only to return to the idea when the weather turned cool(ish). To do this you'll need:

cubed butternut squash
cubed sweet potato
diced carrots
peas
a toe of garlic smashed
a small hand full of raisins
diced chicken parts (we used breasts, though thighs would def. amp up the flavor values)
curry seasoning (make your own if you feel sassy)
nutmeg
a bay leaf
salt and pepper
pie crust (if you make your own then you win) (trader joes is pretty alright, pilsbury is more than alright)
pyrex or similar oven safe bowls (though some consumer groups say that pyrex aint what it used to be... so be careful when dealing with wild temp swings and glass cookware)

The ratios of this are really not hard math, I used a bag of butternut squash cubes from trader joes (because lazy), 4 carrots, two small sweet potatoes from my garden. I roasted half the veg to roast, and half the veg for the sauce. I ended up with thee of the 2 cup pyrex individual pot pies. I used the left over crust to make a flower top for decorative / more pie crust goodness

Method:

I roasted half the sweet potato and butternut squash along with the carrots to add flavor / texture dimension to the final product. I tossed the veg with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and curry powder prior to roasting in a 450 degree oven. I removed the veg when brown / starting to blacken on the edges (about 25 minutes). I dumped a handful plus of frozen peas onto the roasting pan after I removed it from the oven (both arrests the cooking of the veg and thaws the peas). While the veg is roasting I add the remaining butternut squash and sweet potato (you can also add some carrot / parsnips) to a 2 quart sauce pan with just enough water to cover, plus salt and pepper and a dose of curry seasoning, and bring to a roiling boil. Boil this mixture until the veg falls apart, and mash in the pan. At this point the liquid in the pan should be fairly runny. Add the diced chicken parts to the pan with another dose of curry seasoning, the bay leaf, a pinch of nutmeg (my secret weapon...) and the smashed garlic toe. Simmer until the chicken in cooked through and the sauce is thickened to your desired taste. Add the roasted veg + peas + a handful of raisins to the pot and simmer out any additional liquid. As this happens have your oven preheated to 425 (YMMV). Portion out your sauce / chicken / veg mix into your baking dish(s), and cut your pie crusts to hang over the edges. Cut some vents and bake until the crust is golden brown. (an egg wash will help with browning, but isn't necessary for flavors). Basically this is a boiler plate for seasoned chicken pot pie with no dairy. You could use (gasp) tofu, ginger, lemongrass, green thai curry etc etc etc etc as flavor enhancers.

you're welcome.

2002 Rewind: Game Twenty-seven

MINNESOTA 6, TAMPA BAY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with a double.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jason Conti was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Ben Grieve was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.  Chris Gomez was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Twins scored three in each of the first two innings.  That was all they got, but it was enough.  In the first, Kielty had a leadoff double, went to third on a bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Doug Mientkiewicz.  Buchanan then singled and scored on Hunter's two-run homer to make it 2-0.  In the second, Dustan Mohr doubled, A. J. Pierzynski singled, and Denny Hocking walked to load the bases.  Kielty singled one home, another scored on a ground out, and a third came in on an error, making it 6-0 Twins.  The Devil Rays got on the board in the fifth on a two-run double by Conti.  Grieve homered with two out in the eighth to finish the scoring.

WP:  Lohse (2-1).  LP:  Ryan Rupe (3-2).  S:  Guardado (10).

Notes:  Kielty played left, giving Jacque Jones a day off.  He batted leadoff...Jay Canizaro again played second, going 1-for-2 with a walk...Buchanan was the DH and raised his average to .321...Hunter raised his average to .371.  He couldn't be expected to keep that up, of course, and he didn't, batting .270 the rest of the season...Mohr went 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .366.  He couldn't keep it up, either, batting .247 the rest of the way...Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .316...Denny Hocking played short, again replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 1-for-2 with a walk...Guardado's ERA dropped to 1.38...Steven Kent pitched two shutout innings for the Devil Rays.  This was his only season in the majors.  He was a Rule 5 player and Tampa Bay kept him all year.  He started the season pretty well, and had a 3.77 ERA through June 19.  He didn't do so well after that, though, finishing the season 0-2, 5.65.  Oddly, after keeping him on the roster all season, the Devil Rays waived him in November and he went to Florida.  He eventually went to the Colorado, Atlanta, and Houston organizations, never making it back to the majors.  He had an excellent season in AA in 2004 for Atlanta and did well in AAA in 2006 for Houston, but didn't have much other success.  He started playing independent ball in 2007 and continued to do so through 2012.

Record:  Minnesota was 16-11, in second place, a half game behind Chicago.

Happy Birthday–October 31

Harry Smith (1874)
Cal Hubbard (1900)
Ken Keltner (1916)
Jim Donohue (1938)
Ed Stroud (1939)
Ed Spiezio (1941)
Dave McNally (1942)
Dave Trembley (1951)
Mike Gallego (1960)
Matt Nokes (1963)
Fred McGriff (1963)
Eddie Taubensee (1968)
Steve Trachsel (1970)
Tim Byrdak (1973)
David Dellucci (1973)
Mike Napoli (1981)

Cal Hubbard was an American League umpire from 1936-1951.  He is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Dave Trembley was the manager of the Baltimore Orioles from 2007-2010.

David Dellucci was drafted by Minnesota in the eleventh round in 1994, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 31

2002 Rewind: Game Twenty-six

MINNESOTA 3, TAMPA BAY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, April 29.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Randy Winn was 2-for-4 with a double.  Brent Abernathy was 2-for-4.  Joe Kennedy pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

The game:  Tampa Bay took the lead in the first on three singles, the last a run-scoring hit by Ben Grieve.  The Twins took the lead in the second.  Hunter led off with a double.  Mohr tied it with a one-out single.  Pierzynski doubled to put men on second and third and Denny Hocking followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 Twins.  The Devil Rays tied it in the fifth when Russ Johnson led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on Abernathy's single.  The Twins got the lead back in the seventh when Mohr doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on another Hocking sacrifice fly.

WP:  Milton (4-2).  LP:  Kennedy (1-2).  S:  Guardado (9).

Notes:  Jay Canizaro again got the call at second base and also batted second.  He went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .175...Matthew LeCroy was again the DH and went 1-for-4, making his average .344...Hocking started at shortstop, replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 0-for-1, but delivered two important sacrifice flies.  Guzman apparently had a minor injury, as he would not play again until May 4...Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .306...Hunter raised his average to .366...Mohr raised his average to .368...Pierzynski was now batting .320...Guardado's ERA fell to 1.50...This was probably Joe Kennedy's second-best major league season as a starter.  He went 8-11, 4.53 with a WHIP of 1.32.  He spent six seasons as a starter in the big leagues and only once had an ERA below 4.50.  For his career, he was 43-61, 4.79, 1.47 WHIP.  Oddly, his best season as a starter came when he was playing in Colorado:  9-7, 3.66.  He had a fine season out of the bullpen for Oakland in 2006, going 4-1, 2.31 in 39 appearances (34 innings, leading one to think he may have often been used as a LOOGY).  It's possible that if he'd remained in that role he might have stuck around a long time, but the Athletics put him back into the starting rotation in 2007 and he went back to pitching the way he had the rest of his career.  He finished 2007 with Toronto and then his career was over.

Record:  The Twins were 15-11, in second place, a half game behind Chicago.