daily bliss: vegetable pot pie

"What are you making for dinner?" my friend A asks as our conversation draws to a close.

"Vegetable pot pie!"

"Have you ever used tamarind? We just discovered it and are putting it into all kinds of dishes!"

"Um, I'm making pot pie, not pad thai," I laugh, stirring the caramelizing veggies a bit more and chatting a few more minutes before setting down my pinkberry (affectionate name for my newish pink-be-skinned blackberry).

I had super intentions of giving you all a real recipe. I searched the interwebs. I compared recipes. I wrote down my own adaptation.

And then I left my notebook on the couch, took off for the kitchen and started my usual process of improvisation.

What you'll find here is a rough approximation of what I did. And what I did was...delicious. Just the hearty, flavorful comfort food I needed on a snowy day full of January blahs.

Vegetable Pot Pie

filling:

olive oil

2 small carrots, cut into small chunks

1 yukon gold potato, small dice

1 sweet potato, small dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 red onion, chopped

1/2 bunch swiss chard, chopped

2 tsp minced fresh rosemary and sage

3 cups veggie stock (or a mix of stock + water + wine)

1 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

milk (enough to make a thick roux)

biscuit topping:

(adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt

1 TBS baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

freshly ground coarse black pepper

minced fresh rosemary to taste

4 TBS cold butter

7/8 c buttermilk or yogurt or both

mix dry ingredients. cut in butter with your hands until the mixture is pebbly. add the liquid, and mix until just combined. the dough will be very sticky. gather into a ball, then gently knead 1o times. pat out into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. cut into rounds.

***

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

saute vegetables in olive oil until just browned. place in prepared (buttered) casserole dish.

heat veggie stock.

make a roux with butter, flour, and milk. add veggie stock. cook until reduced and thickened. pour over vegetables. place in oven. bake until sauce is bubbly and veggies are tender, about 30-45 minutes.

place as many biscuits as will fit on the tender, bubbly veggies. bake for 15-20 minutes until tops are golden brown and edges/bottoms aren't doughy.

enjoy with a glass of pinot noir.