Chicken Pot Pie 美味雞批

If you ask a person what their favorite comfort food is, I guess chicken pot pie might be very high on the list. Not only is it popular in America, it was also one of my favorite foods when I was growing up in Hong Kong, where it is usually served in a personalized size. No matter if it is big or small, it is still very yummy.

 

Ingredients to make 10 small pies (7cm in diameter)

Pie Dough:

150g salted butter, RT

55g milk, RT

55g powdered sugar

280g All purpose flour, sifted

Chicken Filling:

one chicken leg & thigh, boneless, about 350g

200g frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, onion, beans, corns, etc)

20g butter

50g milk

15g AP flour

Egg Yolk Wash: one yolk diluted with a teaspoon of milk or water

Prepare the pie dough:

1) Beat the softened butter with a handheld mixer until creamy. 

2) Add powdered sugar and mix until blended. 

3) Add milk and continue to mix.

4) Add sifted flour and gently mix until no dry flour remains.

5) Divide the dough into two portions: 300g for the crust and 250g for the pie top. Wrap them in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Chicken Filling:

1) Dice the chicken meat. Marinate with your choice of seasonings. I used salt, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper powder and oil.

2) Heat up a pan and cook the chicken completely through, then add the defrosted vegetables. Remove and set aside.

3) Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour, cooking until the butter hydrates all the flour. Turn the heat to medium low and slowly add the milk to make a thick, creamy roux. 

4) Turn the heat back up and add the meat and vegetables. Mix well. Let it cool to RT and refrigerate until ready to assemble the pie.

Assembly:

1) Preheat oven to 400F.

2) Roll out the crust dough to about a quarter millimeter thick. Cut out with a round cutter about 1-2 mm larger than your pie tin. Gently lay the dough inside the mold with about half a millimeter higher than the rim. Do not stretch the dough: lift the edges and let it fall into the tin so that it makes complete contact with the bottom and corners of the pie tin.

3) Spoon a generous amount of chicken filling in.

4) Cover with the top crust and seal the edges.

5) Brush with egg yolk wash. Use a toothpick to slightly score lines.

6) Bake in the preheated 400F oven for 25-30 mins or until the crust is golden.

Recipe Reference: 飲食男女 Eat and Travel Weekly

Coconut Tartlet 一口椰撻

I often regard coconut tart as a twin of egg tart. Both are a staples in Asian bakeries. However, I think coconut tart is easier to make and has a higher successful rate than egg tart. By using a smaller size tart mold makes it so cute and have no guilt feeling in eating more than one!

Black Forest Tart (No Bake) 黑森林撻 (免焗)

This is a nice summer-friendly, no-bake variation of the traditional black forest cake. I used dark chocolate mousse as the filling and dark sweet cherries. Use the finest chocolate for best flavor. Both homemade or store bought tart crusts do not require baking, so it is a superb dessert for hot summer days. If you keep the tart in the freezer and eat it frozen, the texture of the chocolate mousse becomes almost like ice cream.

Special note about silky and smooth chocolate mousse: the temperatures of the three different mixtures--egg, melted chocolate and whipped cream--have to be very close, if not the same. If the chocolate or egg mixture is too warm, the whipped cream will deflate, resulting with a dense mousse. If the cream is too cold, the chocolate will seize into flecks, making the mousse grainy.

Walnut and Date Tartlet 合桃棗蓉撻

This is a great finger food for parties because it involves minimal preparation. All the ingredients are store bought--date paste, puff pastries, and walnuts. I call it semi-homemade. The date paste is made with 100% dates, no sugar added, so it is naturally sweet. It is very convenient to use and work with and can be found in Mediterranean/Middle Eastern or international grocery stores. Puff pastries are also available in the frozen section of most American grocery stores. I always keep some in my freezer. The spices in this recipe--nutmeg and cardamom--are best whole, and freshly ground right before being used.

Lemon Bar 檸檬吧

One of the benefits of living in Southern California is the abundance of sunshine. Many people have backyards with different types of fruit trees: lemon, peach, orange, loquat, pear, passion fruit.....Even though I don't have any, I am blessed to know friends who do : )

What can I with so much fruit, especially lemon, other than making lemonade? Here is a great recipe to make lemon bars with the right balance of sweetness and tanginess.

Portuguese Egg Tart Recipe Comparison 葡撻大比拼

Ever since I posted the Portuguese Egg Tart recipe a few weeks ago, I have been thinking how I can make improvements on it. After doing more searches and experiments with different recipes, baking temperatures, etc, I am very pleased with the final results.

All the tarts in the following experiment have been made using the same store bought puff pastry as the crust.

Recipe references: dimcookguide.com (with video); "The Birth of an Egg Tart" by Egg Tart King ( "一個蛋撻的誕生" 蛋撻王著)p.40-41; morethanbread.net Portuguese Egg Tart

Portuguese Egg Tart 葡撻

A few years ago when I took a trip to Hong Kong, I also had a chance to visit Macau. The infamous Portuguese custard tart was the number one food on my list to try out. My friend in Macau brought me to Lord Stow's Bakery, which is extremely popular with the tart. The multi-layered puff pastry is crispy and the filling is silky and full of egg flavor.

After coming back to Los Angeles, I tried tarts that were made in different local bakeries and restaurants. They were very disappointing and did not come close to the original and authentic ones so I decided to do some research and experiment on my own.

Chestnut Tartlet 小栗子撻

These bite sized mini tarts are perfect to be served at a party without the hassle and mess of cutting a whole tart. Many people seem to enjoy finger foods more! The tart crust can be prepared one to two days ahead of time and the filling can be piped in the same day of serving.

Raspberry Tart with Almond Cream 紅桑子杏仁醬撻

Raspberry is often referred to as the king of berries. It is often used to make all kinds of yummy desserts. When it is paired with the other king of nuts--almond, it makes a superb tart.

紅桑子被稱為莓中之王，實至名歸，用來做各款甜點，都大受歡迎。另外，杏仁也有果仁之王的美譽，將兩者用來做這個撻，實在相得益彰。

Lemon Cream Tart 檸檬撻

When pastry chefs develop recipes, there are a few elements that they always have in mind. Being able to incorporate different textures is important in producing a delightful dessert. Furthermore, it would be wonderful if the dessert also has some acidity to balance the sweetness. Therefore this lemon tart truly satisfies all of the above: a creamy, smooth and tangy lemon curd with a sweet and crunchy meringue topping a flaky tart shell. A dessert made in heaven!!

一款美味的甜點，除了甜味之外，如能有不同的質地去提升口感，便能雙得益彰。就以這個檸檬撻為例，甜中帶酸，餡料幼滑，撻皮鬆化，加上脆口的法式蛋白餅，實在是一款絕頂的美點。

Valentine's Day Fruit Tartlets 情人節水果撻

Here is another Valentine's Day treat: fruit tartlets with chocolate pastry cream.

Mini Fruit Tarts 袖珍水果撻

These little munchkins are good for parties, potlucks, or to end any dinner. You don't need to worry about cutting a big tart; just pick up one and bite right into it. After pre-baking the tart crust, you can put in any pastry cream, Sabayon, Bavarian cream or custard in the bottom, then top it with any fruits you like and it will surely please any palate.

Chocolate Silk Pie 朱古力派

My kids have asked me to make a chocolate pie for a long time and I finally got my hands on the recipe. This pie is good as a summer time dessert since it is a no-bake pie (if you use a store bought ready-to-use pie crust). The eggs are sanitized by heating to 160⁰F so it is safe to eat even without further baking. The chocolate filling is so rich and trufflelike that it will surely satisfy any chocoholic!

Hong Kong Egg Tart 蛋撻

I admit that making egg tart in puff pastry is quite a challenge, especially in the summer. Roll out the dough, fold, refrigerate, repeat... it requires not just skill but a lot of patience, but making it in butter dough is a lot easier. I usually make a big batch of the dough and keep it in the freezer. Whenever my family feels like having egg tart for a snack or dessert, then I will beat up some eggs and it will be ready in a very short time.

Egg Tart in Puff Pastry 酥皮蛋撻

Egg tart is one of my all time favorite pastries. It is best to have it right out of the oven (maybe after a few minutes to cool ^_^). The egg custard is sweet and soft while the crust is buttery and crisp. I prefer puff pastry crust to cookie crust. Those layers of crust are just superb and irresistible. The way to make the crust is the same as other puff pastries in which a slab of butter is sandwiched in between a dough and rolled out. But for this type of crust, the slab of butter is mixed with some flour before rolling out with the flour dough.

Fresh Fruit Tart with Chocolate Pastry Cream 朱古力水果撻

I am supposed to make a birthday cake for my husband, but he wants something different. So I said, "How about a fruit tart?" I bought a fluted tart pan with a removable bottom a while ago but did not get a chance to use it. I read a few books from the local library and came up with this fresh mixed fruit tart with chocolate pastry cream. The tart pastry can be pre-made and needs to be refrigerated before rolling out.