General Meals

Fall has officially arrived now. The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are dropping at night, even though they may reach 80 during the day. This is my favorite time of year! The leaves are just starting to change color here, which means it is time for comfort foods.

When I was a child we would play outside all day long on the weekends, weather permitting, of course. Some of the best times I remember were in the cool, crisp fall weather, building forts in the woods in my friend’s yard. Since she lived almost next door, I was often able to smell the aroma of what my mother was cooking for dinner wafting across the backyards. As the sun began to set, there was nothing better than heading home with chilled hands and noses, knowing that mom had a hot pot pie waiting to be eaten.

Once I began the gluten-free diet, the pot pie is one of those dishes that I missed, even though it wasn’t something we ate on a regular basis. Shortly after mentioning that to my mom, she was able to create a gluten-free version on one of her next visits. The results were nothing short of spectacular!

Beef Pot Pie

• 1.25 lbs beef stew meat1 lb carrots, cut to bite size pieces
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled & cut to bite size pieces
• 4 stalks of celery, cut to bite size pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 TBSP Kitchen Bouquet
• 3 TBSP Cornstarch
• 2 TBSP Vegetable Oil
• 3 cups water total, divided
• 1 10oz box package of frozen mixed vegetables
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Thyme or Marjaram, to taste, approx. 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Cut beef into bite-size pieces. Heat oil in a pressure cooker; brown meat. Remove meat from the pressure cooker to insert the cooking platform/basket; add ½ cup water and add beef to the basket. Seal the pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes after the rocker/pressure is reached.
2. Cool the pressure cooker to remove the lid. Add all veggies (including frozen ones), salt & pepper, add another ½ cup water; seal the pressure cooker, bring to pressure, and cook for 5 minutes. Cool the pressure cooker to remove the lid.
3. Dump the basket of food back into the pressure cooker pot.
4. In a gravy, shaker adds 2 cups cold water, 3 TBSP cornstarch, thyme, or marjoram & Kitchen Bouquet and shake well.
5. Bring the pressure cooker to a boil then add the cornstarch solution. Stir until boiling & thickened. Taste, and add more seasonings if necessary.
6. Pour into prepared pie crust (see additional instructions).
7. Top with remaining crust
8. Bake at 350 for 30 – 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned.

Pie Crust for Pot Pie

• 3 cups Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
• 4 tsp sugar (omit for savory crusts, like pot pie)
• 8 TBSP unsalted butter
• 4 TBSP vegetable oil
• ½ cup ice water

Yield: 2 9-inch pie crusts or 1 9-inch top & bottom

Combine mix & sugar (if using) in a bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with 2 knives until butter is in very small pieces. Add oil, then ice water, slowly until the dough comes together, not sticky. You may not need all of the water. Roll dough between sheets of parchment or wax paper. ***We were able to press this right into the pan for our pot pie without rolling and then form the top on a piece of wax paper without rolling. Foil can be placed along the edge of the crust to decrease the edge’s browning.