Savory Vegetable Hand Pies

Day 299

After a day of making jam and harvesting some things from the garden, we were completely starving and ready for a yummy reward.

Savory Vegetable Hand Pies

Savory Vegetable Hand Pies

Vegetables and cheese in a savory pastry. Mmmm. All Laura's idea and doing. We used a few things from the garden and some organic produce from the store.

Filling Ingredients
Vegetarian chicken breast, fried & diced
Carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
Mushrooms, chopped
Broccoli, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
Cheddar, grated

Vegetables sautéing

Pastry Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
2 tbsp minced flat-leafed parsley
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg

Combine flour, cheese, parsley, sugar and salt in a medium bowl, then cut in butter until you have coarse crumbs. Gradually add water until a ball can be formed.

Ball of pastry dough

Divide into 4 equal parts, roll each out into a 7" disc.

Making hand pies

Add a handful of grated cheddar to each disc, followed by about 1 cup of cooked "chicken" and vegetables. Fold the pastry around the mixture and seal edges using water.

Egg wash

Lightly beat the egg and add 1 tsp water and brush over each hand pie. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Savory Vegetable Hand Pies

Reviews/Comments

I knew this was going to be good, but they were still surprisingly amazing. Maybe it was because I was soooo hungry, but I savored every mouthful. Lunch is going to be sooo good tomorrow.

Vegetable Samosas with Chickpea Curry

Day 235

Laura slaved over these yesterday and we had them for both lunch and supper. These are a treat because they're a bit of a process to make, so we don't have them a lot even though we love them. We eat a lot more mini pizzas than samosas.

Vegetable samosas with chickpea curry

Get the Recipes

If you're looking for the recipes, you should check out the blog entry from the last time we had them, on Day 148.

Chickpea curry

Vegetable samosas

Reviews/Comments

Lunch got a 7 and dinner got a 10. The difference? Lunch was reheated in the microwave at work. The samosa dough was soggy...boooo. Supper samosas were reheated in the oven and the curry on the stove top and it was sooo good.

Vegetarian Picadillo Empanadas & Mexican Rice

Day 154

We used to make Beef Picadillo Empanadas sometimes when we lived in Fredericton. And again, by we I mean Laura. Once or twice I took a batch of them to work and made some friends for life. I remember Dave DeJong and Becky Grant, in particular, were big fans of Laura's empanadas.

Vegetarian Picadillo Empanadas & Mexican Rice

Vegetarian Picadillo Empanadas

For these we just substituted the beef for veggie ground. You would be surprised how close they are, especially in something like this.

Empanada Dough Recipe

Original recipe here

Ingredients

1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tbsp vinegar

Directions

1. Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in shortening.
2. Beat the egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until combined.
3. Knead the dough a couple times and then form it into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge or an hour.

Empanada dough

Picadillo Empanada Filling

Original recipe here

Ingredients

1 package of veggie ground
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
4 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
20 green olives, pitted and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp butter and a splash of water for sautéing

Directions

1. Peel, chop, mince and prepare everything.
2. In a frying pan, heat the butter. Sauté the onions, red pepper and garlic until soft.

Onions, red peppers & garlic sautéing

3. Add the potatoes, veggie broth and tomato sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

Potatoes, tomatoes & veggie broth added

4. Remove the cover. Add the olives and cook uncovered 15 minutes or until the liquid is fully evaporated, then add the veggie ground last.

Picadillo empanada filling

Ready to fill your empanadas.

Making Empanadas

Divide the dough into 12 and roll each piece into a flat disc. Add 1/2 cup filling to the center and fold over into a crescent shape. Wet the edges, turn them back and press firmly to seal.

We spread a hefty amount of coconut oil on the pan before placing the empanadas on it, so they will be nice and crispy. The tops have an egg brush.

Filled empanadas, ready for the oven

Into a 350 degrees F oven they go for 10 or 15 minutes until heated and browned. We served them with sour cream and a side of Mexican Rice.

Vegetarian Picadillo Empanadas

Mexican Rice

Original recipe here

Ingredients

1  onion
2 jalapenos
2 cups long grain white rice
1⁄4 cup coconut oil
4 minced garlic cloves
2 cups veggie broth
1 cup canned tomatoes
3 Roma tomatoes
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
1 lime for serving

Chopped olives, jalapenos, garlic, onion, red pepper

1. Wash and dry the rice. Cook it in a skillet in oil on medium heat until golden brown.

Browned rice

2. Add half the chopped red pepper, jalapeno and garlic.

Rice with peppers & garlic

3. Whiz the onion and the other half of the red pepper. Add 2 cups of it to the rice.

Pureed pepper & onion

Tomato & onion added to rice mixture

4. Add 2 cups veg broth. Bring to a boil. Take it off the heat, pour it into a casserole dish and cover.

Rice in casserole dish

5. Cook 250 degrees F oven for 40 minutes.

Mexican Rice

Vegetarian Picadillo Empanadas & Mexican Rice

Reviews/Comments

OMG. Laura has outdone herself again. These are just as good-in fact, better-than the beef version. And nearly as good baked instead of deep-fried. Oh, how I have missed empanadas. Just one more reminder that being vegetarian or vegan does not necessarily mean giving up your favorite dishes.

The empanadas get a perfect 10 from both of us. I give the rice an 8. It would have been better with the cilantro, more jalapenos, and more garlic.

Vegetable Samosas with Chickpea Curry

Day 148

We used to order Vegetable Samosas with Chickpea Curry from the City Square Restaurant, before it was sold and became Chatters, back when it featured Indian cuisine. I worked right around the corner at Lightning Demand Press at the time and would order it for lunch or order two of them and bring them home for supper. We loved, loved, loved those samosas so much! When we have a chance to get vegetable samosas from Boyce Farmer's Market in Fredericton we always enjoy those ones too, and they are very similar, only served cold and without the curry (sauce).

Vegetable Samosas with Chickpea Curry

Vegetable Samosas

Original recipe here
When Laura came up with this brilliant, yet adventurous idea, I was all like, "What do we need?" and headed directly to Sobeys armed with a surprisingly short list, since we already had a lot of the ingredients.

She started off with the dough, since it needed time to rise and rest and whatever things dough does.

Dough Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
Cold water as needed, about 10 tbsp

Directions

Mix flour and salt and cut in cold butter. Once it's cut in, massage the pieces into the flour until it resembles cornmeal.

Add water, a tablespoon at a time, and mix until a ball of dough forms. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

Filling Ingredients

3 potatoes
1 carrot
1/4 cup butter
1 cup minced onion
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno, finely minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Samosa filling ingredients

Directions

Sauté the onions. Peel and chop the potatoes, carrots and ginger. Chop the cilantro leaves and jalapenos. Measure the peas and spices. Add everything but the cilantro to the sautéed onions and cook until carrots and potatoes are tender. Let cool and add the cilantro before wrapping.

Wrapping Samosas

Laura divided the dough into 11 pieces and rolled them into discs.

Balls of dough

Starting with a flat disc, you fold 1/4 the disc toward the center and do the same on the other side so you have a wedge, which you then open like a cone. Use water when folding to bind the dough where the folded sides overlap.

Folding the dough into a wedge

Fill the cone with the samosa filling and then fold the top edge over, sealing it with water.

Filling the dough

Wrapped samosa

We skipped the dipping sauce from the samosa recipe and made the chickpea curry instead.

Cooking Samosas

I did some of the frying. Other than the shopping and taking the photos, this was my only contribution to the process. I used 2 cups peanut oil in a 10" stainless steel pan and fried each samosa about 4 or 5 minutes slightly below medium heat, then carefully turned them over and fried the other side another 4 or 5 minutes.

Frying samosas, sealed side down first

11 samosas

Chickpea Curry

Original recipe here
This sauce is very similar to the one the City Square Restaurant used to serve, and Laura definitely does it justice.

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
2 cans chickpeas
2 onions, chopped
1 small piece of ginger
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup plain yoghurt

Curry ingredients

Directions

Sauté the onions in the butter first, until soft, then add the spices, ginger and garlic and finally the chickpeas and tomatoes. Turn down and simmer about 10 minutes.

Chickpea curry cooking

After the curry has cooked and cooled slightly, stir in the cilantro and the yoghurt. We also served it with a dollop of plain yoghurt on the side and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro as a garnish.

The Best Meal Yet

Vegetable samosas with chickpea curry

Reviews/Comments

All I can say is "Wow, wow, wow"...definitely a 10 - and raised the bar so all previous recipes that had been rated a 10 are now 9's, and all 9's are 8's and so on. Or, we can just call this one 11. My blog, my rules. haha

I hope Laura found it worth the effort and the enormous amount of time it took because she needs to make them again. And again.

Laura loved it too, and rates it a 10 "of course". We both ate too much. Soooo full. Yum.

And Carrie? This is fancy. lol

Veggie Pot Pie

Day 2

Today, it feels like we cheated, but we didn't. We just didn't do the work today.

Several weeks ago, when Laura harvested most of her root veggies, she made a bunch of veggie pot pies. We ate one and froze three. We had one of them for supper tonight...I love easy peasy, no mess suppers like that!

Frozen vegetable pot pie

Laura makes fantastic pie crust, but for these pies, she used the frozen ones that come in pairs because we had a lot of kitchen projects going on at once. They make pie making about as easy as it gets. The pies contain potatoes, carrots, onions, shallots and turnips from the garden, plus some sauteed white mushrooms. For the gravy/sauce she made a roux then added vegetable broth. The fresh sage, thyme and parsley add a lot of awesomeness too.

Veggie pot pie

Reviews/Comments

Another delicious feed, and Missy can vouch for it, as she was here the last time we had one. HAHAHA

Make it Vegan

If not for the butter in the roux, it would have been a vegan dish. Coconut oil would make a great substitute.