Serious Efforts: Pot Pie Crust
I'm going to be doing pot pies to have available at my farmer's market table this summer and I would like your opinions.
I need to produce a homemade crust. I was thinking I could use a pasta roller attachment on my KitchenAid mixer. It is 6" wide and I can roll it out to the right thickness.
It would certainly make my life a whole lot easier than rolling out crusts for individual pies. The size of my tin is approx. 4" x 6" rectangular shape.
Whatdayathink? Thank you! I know I'll get good advice.
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17 Comments:
I *think* it will work okay if you only roll the crust a single time, twice at most. As I am sure you know, crust like that gets tougher the more it is handled and rolled/re-rolled.
I have to admit I have never put flaky crust dough through a pasta roller....never even crossed my mind, even when doing many multiple small crusts at home or work.
If it ends up not working well, I tend to do multiples in steps. I make several batches of the crust, then divide into portions as near the size I need as possible and shape them by hand into rough circles. Then I work as quick as possible to roll out and lay in the pans, keeping some in the fridge if the kitchen is warm. I do the top crusts and keep them to the side well wrapped so I can fill them all, then top and trim and seal all at once, rather than doing one pan at a time from the bottom up.
Big trays to hold the little pans help, as I can whip them in and out of the fridge or storage racks faster and do them in batches by pan.
You can also (especially for top crusts) roll out a large section and use a cutter to make perfect rounds for the tops.
Good luck! Sounds wonderful to offer at a Farmer's Market! We used to have all sorts of people offering fantastic baked goods at our local (Amish in large part) but new food regulation rules pushed them out so only a few stalls can sell, and they aren't that good.
sadiepix at 7:46PM on 01/31/09
I like to sub in some bacon fat for the crust as well as in the filling. Also add some fresh thyme to the crust dough to keep things interesting. And some reduced beef demi glace in the filling make it extra awesome.
sailordave at 8:42PM on 01/31/09
ah, yes, sadiepix, good point ....hmmmmm.... now i wonder if it will work..... i will certainly have to experiment with this... don't want a tough dough. and great idea about the bacon fat (or lard) that will keep it flaky...and sailor, that sounds like a great idea with the demiglace in the filling....
pooch at 10:07PM on 01/31/09
i have a manual atlas pasta machine, i'm going to try that first.... before i make the purchase of the attachment.
i'm just trying to be more efficient in production..... we'll see.... i'd like to make at least 50 at a time.....
pooch at 10:14PM on 01/31/09
It's certainly worth a try. You might have to play with the dough recipe a little, but as long as it's really, really cold - could work! What fat/fats do you use? Let us know how it goes? This corner is rootin' for you! Very ambitious. I'd buy them!
PerkyMac at 10:20PM on 01/31/09
Lucky you that you can sell homemade food at the farmer's market. I'd love to do that, but after I rented a commercial kitchen and rented booth space, I'd have to charge way too much for whatever I sold. In a way it makes sense because they want to regulate what food is sold to the public, but on the other, just about anyone's home cooking is probably safer than the peanut butter plant with the salmonella problem.
dbcurrie at 11:49PM on 01/31/09
I really really hate making crust. So when i make a pot pie I cheat and use puff pastry.
pjracz10 at 12:47AM on 02/01/09
I'm not sure about the pasta machine. I'd be afraid that the crust would come out too tough. That said, make sure it's super chilled. You could even try freezing it and partially thawing the dough before rolling it through the machine. The key to a flaky crust is the pockets of butter that melt when baked.
Have you considered making the pot pies country style and using a drop biscuit dough on top? It's a different creature than the traditional flaky crust pie, but equally delicious. I used a herb cheddar buttermilk biscuit dough that works well. The only caveat is that the biscuit does absorb the wet filling the longer it sits around.
let us know how it turns out!
jackhonky at 4:36AM on 02/01/09
@jackhonky - i actually may think about that, the pies are going to be frozen for sale..... perhaps a biscuit dough is the way to go.... i've got a little while to experiment.
@db - i use a commercial kitchen from my friend who has a restaurant.... so my overhead isn't that bad. i know it's tough to make a buck out there these days.... it's too bad that you couldn't make a go of it.... you're food must be awesome....
pooch at 9:25AM on 02/01/09
I'd try it with your pasta roller and keep very good notes on your efforts. Run your crust through the roller and document how long you let each crust rest. Then, bake them off in pies and see if one is any better than another. Stick to the plan that gives you the most satisfactory results.
Aside from criminally overworking pie dough, it does improve with a rest in the fridge. You may have to work this into your recipe time and compute the resting time into the overall prep of your pies.
Good luck! (Sounds like a yummy undertaking.)
therealchiffonade at 1:21PM on 02/01/09
i'm actually going to be selling them in the frozen state (if i can work out the kinks)....so the resting part will not be a problem. and i may actually try the buttermilk biscuit dough..... that might actually be less problematic than crust rolling.....
it's going to be trial and error.... freezing and heating and eating to see which yields the tastiest results.
i often use organic phyllo when i've made them in the past, it's very good, less work but i must use local ingredients (flour, butter, etc).... no shortcuts allowed.
also doing a cottage pie with mashed potato crust which is so easy....
i have to wait for the potatoes to come in, but that's a real easy one.
i also do tamale pies with locally grown and milled cornmeal.... either on a bed of vegetarian beans or chili con carne.
mmm, i'm getting myself hungry! keep your thoughts coming, it's very inspiring.
pooch at 1:33PM on 02/01/09
@pooch, you're lucky to have that friend. Commercial kitchens around here rent for $100/hour and up, so that's a lot of overhead to have to make up. All of the food vendors at the local market either have restaurants or other existing food businesses, or have their formulas packaged at a commercial facility.
I'm all for food safety, but sometimes I think we go overboard to the point where small startups have to go illegal at the beginning, or they have to have a lot of money to invest. I remember my mom buying home-made pies from other moms at PTA bake sales, and no one was worried about dying as a result. But you couldn't do that sort of thing at a farmer's market these days. It's kind of a shame.
dbcurrie at 4:14PM on 02/01/09
@db, you're right about the over-protection as far as the little people go. how do you think the rest of the world eats....? people preparing foods over fires in stalls WITHOUT GLOVES! IMAGINE A HUMAN HAND TOUCHING FOOD???? i'm always amazed when i see people handling money with their gloves. what's lacking is COMMON SENSE! yes,
i'm glad i grew up in a world where people could buy a pie from another person and not a MEGA food corporation.
you know, maybe you should ask your local fire house if you can use their kitchen. or church basement kitchen, some of these places have BOH approval.... it's too bad it costs so much money to rent a place $100 an hour???? that's insane..... you've got to find someone who would let you use their kitchen.... i go in early in the am before they open..... do my thing and pop out.
pooch at 6:22PM on 02/01/09
The whole purpose of the pasta machine is to knead the pasta to the next level--I think you might get varied results (temp of room, equipment, dough). I've noticed that filo topped pot pies are extremely popular, albeit more difficult to make (or expensive). But, if you are in the NYC area and make a dynamite pot pie, you could do well. I was just at Whole Foods this morning--I'm still reeling from the prices. Ten dollars for a head of treviso? Crazy!
Donnamarie at 4:12PM on 02/02/09
Hmm. Frozen pot pies. Yeah, the biscuit top would work with that, but the freezing would definitely help the crust.
If you do try the pasta machine, you may want to experiment with pastry flour or a cake flour/AP flour mix. Less gluten will help with the tenderness.
jackhonky at 12:56AM on 02/03/09
I don't think you need to use a pasta attachment, a good old rolling pin will do the trick. Heres is a recipe for Cream Cheese Crust that I used to make a potpie a while back - very easy, and I used a rolling pin.
http://www.bakingandbooks.com/2007/03/23/spicy-empanada-potpie-with-cream-cheese-crust/
BakingAndBooks at 9:50AM on 02/07/09
@bakingandbooks - that recipe looks very good.... the cream cheese is a nice touch.
i haven't gotten into my new kitchen yet to try out the various methods, but i'll keep you all posted. thank you all for your tips....
pooch at 11:41PM on 02/23/09