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I’m ready to make another pie,

I defrost the base, top it with a

freshly made crust, and bake it.

If you refrigerate or freeze your

leftovers with the crust on, you

may have soggy pot pies.

Try the following chicken pot pie

recipes, or use them as inspiration

for your own!

"My grandmother...made the most

delicious, creamy,chicken pot pies."

Chicken Pot Pies A Timeless Comfort Food Classic  By: Casey Archibald 

I remember my grandmother;

she always smelled like a

 perfume called Beautiful.

She spent hours trimming her

rose bushes on hot summer

weekends, she had a big, stinkychocolate lab named Peppi, she

collected hundreds of nativity

scenes and gurines—and

she made the most delicious,

creamy, chicken pot pies. They

were perfect on rainy Seattle

days.

Though I wasn’t a huge veggie

fan, when grandma surrounded

them with a pool of creamy

goodness and topped them with

a buttery, akey crust, the peas

and carrots were just ne.

Chicken pot pies are very

versatile. Add celery, potatoes,

onions, carrots, green beans,

mushrooms, peas, corn, or

whatever strikes your fancy.

When adding our to your base,

make sure you do it a little bit at a

time to prevent lumpiness. I nd

it helpful to use a whisk. It’s okayto add more our than the recipe

calls for if you like your gravy

thicker.

I like to make a giant, double or

triple batch of the chicken pot pie

 base and freeze it. Then, when

What You’ll Need:- Pie crust- Mini Pie Pans- Pie Pan

How to Make Mini Pot Pies

7 

 Flaky Crusts To make flaky, buttery crusts, use

a pastry knife to cut butter into the

flour. The butter should be cold and

hard. Keep cutting until the flour and

 butter mixture is coarse with pieces

no larger than small peas. The secret

is to work quickly without handling

the dough too much so that the butter

remains hard and doesn’t melt.

It’s easy to make personal pot pies

with mini pie pans. If you haveleftovers from a chicken or turkey

dinner, it’s easy to use them in

these pies. This is comfort food at

it’s best.

For this recipe, you will need

leftover chicken or t urkey

meat, leftover or frozen mixed

vegetables, and gravy. For pans,

use a set of four mini pie pans.

Each pans equals one-fourth of

a nine-inch pie pan. You will

also need pie pastry. You can mix

your pastry dough in just a couple

minutes with our Just-Add-WaterPie Crust Mix.

If you are making a pastry pot pie,you need enough pastry doughfor two double crust pies. Roll outand line your pie pans with un-baked pastry.

Cut chicken or turkey meat intochunks. Mix the chicken or turkey, vegetables, and gravy in a bowl.Pour the mixture into the bakingdish or pie shell.

Cover your pies with pie pastryas you would for a double-crustfruit pie. Crimp the edges togetherwith the tines of a fork. Put slits inthe top crust to allow for steam toescape. Bake at 400 degrees for 20minutes or until the crust beginsto brown.

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 Make it Quicker Use gravy for the base; either gravy

from last night’s dinner or our

Just-Add-Water Gravy mixes. Keep

the gravy thick and creamy, don’t

water it down. Then throw in some

vegetables, cooked meat and potatoes,

make pie crust from a just-add-water

 pie crust mix, put it all together and

 bake in the oven. You can make

regular or mini pies. It’s an easy way

to make a delicious pot pie meal in

 just a few minutes!

9

Connie’s Famous

Chicken Pot Pies

This is old-fashioned comfort

food, individual chicken pot pies.

Even your kids will like these little

 pies.

For the pie crust, use our Just-

Add-Water Pie Crust mix or your

favorite scratch recipe.

Ingredients  Dough for a double-crus t pie

1/2 cup diced onion1/2 cup 1/4-inch diced carrots

3 tablespoons butter1/2 cup diced celery 1 1/2 cups, 1/2-inch dicedpotatoes1/2 cup water3 tablespoons all-purposeflour2 cups chicken broth2 cups cooked chicken cubedsalt and pepper totaste

1 egg for a wash1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. Sauté the onionsand carrots in the

 butter. When theonions are crisptender-aboutone minute-add the celery,potatoes, water,and broth. Cookfor another veminutes. Makea slurry with theour and stir thatin. Let simmerfor ve minutesor until thegravy thickens.The vegetablesshould be rmand nearly

cooked. Add the cookedchicken. Salt and pepper totaste.

2. Preheat the oven to 350degrees.

3. While the lling is cooking,roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out 12 circlessix inches in diameter. Placea circle of dough in each ofsix mini-pie pans. Form the

 bottom crust.

4.  Add the lling to each pan,top with a crust and sealthe edges with a fork. Cutthree slits in the top of eachto vent the steam. (Or ifyouchoose, you can make alattice crust.)

5.  Whisk an egg with onetablespoon of water and

 brush the crusts to givethem a golden sheen after

 baking.

6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes oruntil the crusts are goldenand akey.

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or you can use one of

our biscuit mixes. Of

course a biscuit mix

will save you time and

you can choose between

Buttermilk Biscuits or

 New England White

Cheddar Biscuits.

Ingredients

medium onion, diced1 stick of celery, sliced

4 tablespoons butter1/3 cup all-purposeflour2 1/2 cups chickenbroth1 1/2 cups cream2 1/2 cups cookedchicken, cubed2 teaspoons dry crushed

sage1/2 teaspoon dry thyme1/2 teaspoon drytarragon2 1/2 cups fresh greenbeans, snipped and

slicedsalt and pepper to taste

For the topping:2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 tablespoon baking powder3/4 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon baking soda6 tablespoons butter3/4 cup buttermilk 

Directions

1. Sauté the onion andcelery in butter in alarge skillet until it istender. Remove the

pan from the heat.

2. Place the 1/3 cupour in a small

 bowl. Add the creama little at a time,stirring after eachaddition until youhave a smooth paste.

Continue adding the rest ofthe cream.

3.  Add the cream sauce andchicken broth and reheat,stirring frequently, untilthe mixture just startsto simmer and becomesthickened. Add the chicken.

 Add the sage, thyme, andtarragon. Add the salt andpepper—to taste. (Thesalt required will varydepending on the saltcontent of the broth.)

4. Parboil the green beansuntil they are bright green

 but not quite tender. Addthe green beans to thechicken mixture. Place thechicken and bean mixturein a greased 2 1/2-quartcasserole dish.

5. Preheat the oven to 400degrees.

6. For the topping, mix theour, baking powder, salt,and baking soda together.

Cut the butter into the dryingredients with a pastryknife. Add the buttermilk.

 You should have a thick batter, almost dough-like.Spoon the batter over thehot chicken mixture.

7. Bake for 20 minutes oruntil the top of the crust is agolden brown.

Chicken Pot Pie with Green

Beans in a Cream SauceThis recipe makes a very good

chicken pot pie. Of course it’s

going to be good with a creamy

white sauce and a aky, buttermilk

 biscuit topping.

This is made with fresh green

 beans but could also be made

with carrots and peas or corn and

 beans, whatever fresh vegetables

you have available. Feel free

to experiment with your spicesand herbs. This recipe calls for

sage, thyme, and tarragon and

marvelously complements the

green beans.

You can make your biscuit topping

from scratch using this recipe

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three types. All three were

successful.

The egg based casseroles cooked

into a rm casserole but moist.

From those casseroles, we could

cut neat, formal-looking wedges

or squares. This would be our

choice for a formal party.

Both the white sauce and cream

 based casseroles worked well

too. We expected the cream based ones to be overly runny

 but they weren’t. The advantage

to the white sauce type is that

you don’t need to be as careful

in the cooking; the white sauce is

less likely to curdle than cooked

milk or cream.

You can use any of these recipestypes. We have given you

optional ingredients to add like

ham or onions or garlic.

We recommend:

•Using a mandoline or othercutting device to assure that

the slices are of uniform thickness.•Cutting the slices notthicker than 3/16 inch.•Do not boil yourpotatoes before makingthe casserole.

Three Ways to Make Au

Gratin Potatoes

Method #1 Cream OnlyThis recipe relies on the

starch in the potatoes tothicken the cream to a

sauce. This makes a creamy

casserole with a thin white

sauce-type lling. It is

important that you use starchy,

Russet-type potatoes. It is also

important that you bring the

milk to a simmer only,

not boiling, to avoid

curdling. This can be

made without the cheese

for scalloped potatoes.

This is a basic recipe.

Other ingredients may be added as desired

though this is a good

dish in its basic form.

You may add any of the

following ingredients:

•2 cloves garlic, minced•1 large onion, diced•1 bell pepper, finelydiced•1 small can diced greenchilies•1/2 pound bacon,crisply cooked and

snipped into pieces

• 1 1/2 cups ham cut intosmall cubes

Basic recipe

7 to 8 cups of slicedpotatoes, 1/8-inch thick about 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

about 1/4 teaspoopepperpinch of nutmeg2 to 2 1/2 cups grcheese1 cups milk 2 cup cream1/2 cup grated ch

Directions

Preheat the oven to 351. Butter a 9 x 13-i

pan.Peel and slipotatoes to 1/8-Use a mandolincutting tool so tpotatoes are of uthickness.

2. Place a layer of the pan. Seasonand pepper andamount of nutm

 with a portion ocheese. Repeatadditional layer

potatoes and ththe cheese is us

3. Place the milk ain a saucepan ana simmer. Pourand cream mixtlayered potatoe

 Baking TipWe baked these casseroles in three different types

of dishes: Dark metal, clear glass, and opaque

decorative glass. The type of baking dishes affects

 baking times. A dark metal dish bakes fastest. A

clear glass or off-colored baking dish is next. A light

colored, opaque glass dish is the slowest.

Baking times seemed to vary about ten minutes from

one type of pan to the next.

As important as baking dishes are, the thickness

of the casserole has even more impact. A shallow

casserole bakes much faster than one that is deeper.

 

 Mandoline AThe Quest for the

Best Scalloped Potatoes By: Dennis Weaver 

We wanted to

know everything

we could about

making scalloped

and au gratin

 potato casseroles.

We read what we

could in our text

 books and began studying recipes.

Then we stopped by our local

 potato warehouse for a 50 pound

 box of Russet potatoes. (Yes, in

Eastern Idaho, we have potato

warehouses scattered about like

convenience stores. Most willsell to consumers. We paid $12

for a box of premium, extra-large

 bakers.)

As we reviewed our recipes, we

found that many of them called for

 partially cooking the potato slices

 before baking. We used that as a

starting point. We made several

casseroles by boiling the potato

slices until they were crisp tender

and assembling them in baking

dishes. We were disappointed.

The

casseroles

turned out

with over-

cooked,

mushy

 potatoes. They tasted bland and

the casseroles were watery. We

concluded that the boiling bleachedout much of the potato avor and

the water diluted the casseroles.

We found that if we sliced the

 potatoes thinly--about 1/8-inch or

a little thicker--they would cook

evenly without par-cooking.

It’s important that you slice the

 potatoes uniformly. If you don’t,

your casserole won’t cook evenly:

the thin slices will be mushy

while the thick slices will be hard.

The only way to cut the slices

evenly is with a mechanical slicer.

Our slicer of choice is a

mandoline.

As we continued to

course through the

recipes in our cook

 books and text books, we found

that potato casseroles can be

categorized by their structure:1) those that are made with eggs,

2) those made with a white sauce

and our, and 3) those that rely

on the starch from the potatoes

for structure. Now that we knew

how to cook the potatoes, we

started experimenting with these

“Both the white sauce andcream based casseroles

worked well."

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4. Sprinkle the remaining

1/2 cup cheese over thecasserole.

5. Bake for 50 minutes or untilthe potatoes are tender butstill rm when poked with afork.

Method # 2 With EggsThis recipe relies on the eggs to

set the lling. The egg and milk

and cream mixture sets up as a

custard does. The casserole cuts

neatly into squares or wedges for

serving.

It is important that you usestarchy, Russet-type potatoes.

This can be made without the

cheese for scalloped potatoes.

This is a basic recipe. Other

ingredients may be added as

desired though this is a good dish

in its basic form. You may add any

of the following ingredients:

•2 cloves garlic, minced

•1 large onion, diced•1 bell pepper, finely diced•1 small can diced greenchilies•1/2 pound bacon, crisplycooked and snipped intopieces•1 1/2 cups ham cut into small

cubes

Basic recipe

7 to 8 cups of sliced potatoes,1/8-inch thick about 1 1/2 teaspoon saltabout 1/4 teaspoon whitepepper

pinch nutmeg2 to 2 1/2 cups grated cheddarcheese2 cups milk 1 cup cream3 egg yolks

1/2 cup grated cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

6. Peel and slice the potatoesto 1/8-inch thick. Use amandolin or other cuttingtool so that the potatoes areof uniform thickness.

7. Place a layer of potatoesin the pan. Season withsalt and pepper and a verysmall amount of nutmeg.Sprinkle with a portion of the

grated cheese. Repeat withadditional layers until thepotatoes and this portion ofthe cheese is used.

8. Place the milk in a saucepanand heat to a simmer.

9. Whisk the egg yolks and

cream together. Slowlypour the egg mixture intothe hot milk while stirring

 with a whisk.

10. Pour the milk and eggmixture over the layeredpotatoes.

11. Sprinkle the remaining1/2 cup cheese over thecasserole.

12. Bake for 50 minutes or until

the potatoes are tender butstill rm when poked witha fork.

Method # 3 White SauceFor this recipe, you make a white

sauce for the lling from the our

and cream. Once the white sauce

is made, add the cheese to make

a cheese sauce. This makes a

creamy casserole.

This can be made without the

cheese for scalloped potatoes.

This is a basic recipe. Other

ingredients may be added asdesired though this is a good dish

in its basic form. You may add

any of the following ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced• 1 large onion, diced• 1 bell pepper, finely diced• 1 small can diced greenchilies• 1/2 pound bacon, crisplycooked and snipped intopieces• 1 1/2 cups ham cut intosmall cubes

Basic recipe

2 cups milk 2 tablespoons all-purpose

flour1 cup cream1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

1. Make a white sauce with themilk and our: Pour themilk into a heavy saucepan.Place the our in a cup.

 Add just enough milk tomake a paste. Graduallyadd more milk, stirring tothin the paste into a sauce-like consistency. Stir theour and milk mixtureinto the milk with a whisk.

 Add the cream and heat,stirring with a whisk, untilthe sauce is thickened andstarts to bubble.

2. Add the salt, pepper, andnutmeg. Add the cheese

 while still hot and stir in.

The cheese should meltand form a medium-thickcheese sauce. Keep thesauce hot while you preparethe potatoes.

3. Peel and slice the potatoesto 1/8-inch thick. Use amandolin or other cuttingtool so that the potatoes areof uniform thickness.

4. Place a layer of potatoes inthe pan. Pour a portion ofthe hot cheese sauce overthe potato layer. Repeat

 with additional layers untilthe potatoes and cheesesauce is used.

Related Digital Cookbook:

Easy Weeknight Dinners! Get a copy of this book at The Prepared

Trying to make a decent meal after a long day at work or a tiring d

with the kids can be hard sometimes. That’s why we have created

digital book. You’ll learn about tips and recipes to make those we

meals quick and easy, but with the same results as meals that take

to prepare.

1/4 teaspoon white pepperpinch nutmeg2 to 2 1/2 cups gratedcheddar cheese7 to 8 cups of sliced russetpotatoes, 1/8-inch thick 

5. Sprinkle the rem1/2 cup cheese ocasserole.

6. Bake for 50 minthe potatoes arestill rm when pfork.

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What a magnifcent early

spring day it was! Last

week’s warm weathermelted the snow and the

sun dried out the roads,

 but this morning there was

a thin layer of new snow

and soft akes sifting

through the air. By noon,

the clouds had broken and

the sun was shining through

swaths of deep blue. The

sky tumbled with tall white

clouds, except against the

mountains in the east where

heavy gray clouds hung

low. The clouds retreated

throughout the day and inthe afternoon the foothills

were bright, bathed in sun

on new snow.

The day was inspiring and

in late afternoon, Casey

went out to take pictures.

Easy Soups for Supper 

It felt like a soup day. We

made soups for most of theday in the test kitchen— 

thick, creamy soups— 

including chicken and wild

rice, bacon and cheese, and

cauliower cheddar.

This is meat and potatoes

country; Idaho in particular

and the Intermountain West

in general. Beef, potatoes

and gravy are king. When

Merri Ann, my wife, makes

Sunday dinner, more

often than not it’s a roast,

 potatoes, and gravy. That’s pretty standard.

“I was in Montana,” said

one of our food suppliers

in Seattle, “and you people

eat differently than we

do.” There are regional

 By: Dennis Weaver 

differences everywhere.

We have lots of leftover gravy.

When I’m making dinner,

that gravy is likely to turn

into soup. It’s easy to add

veggies, a starch—rice, beans,

or potatoes—and meat to

the gravy, thin it to the right

consistency and make soup.

Sometimes, I don’t even need

the meat.

On busy weeknights, I often

make a quick dinner with a

steak, chop, or burger. I put on

veggies and either cook a potato

in the microwave or open a

 pouch of dried mashed potatoes 

(they’re really pretty good).

I make gravy from a mix, by

adding water and bringing it

to a boil. I keep three kinds of

gravy mixes in the cupboard— 

chicken, turkey, and beef. I can

have meals on the table in well

under 30 minutes.

Then I started connecting the

dots. I like hearty soups, but I

often don’t have leftover gravy.

Why not use a gravy mix?

I took the

concept to the

test kitchen

that stormy

spring day

and went to

work. We

made very

good, hearty

soups with

gravy from a

 pouch—the

three soupsmentioned

 before. We

served them

in the store

and folks

loved them.

Of course,

you don’t

have to use

gravy from a

mix to make

these soups;

you can use a

scratch recipe

to make acreamy soup

 base or your

own leftover gravy.

If you don't want to use grUse this recipe for a cream soup b

Then use the base as a substitiue for

these recipes.

See how to make a cream soup b

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Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This is the rst soup that we

made. It is a recipe we got from

the gravy manufacturer. In the

course of making it, we made a

few minor changes.

I expected a cream of

cauliower soup with the

cauliower pureed but the

recipe called for leaving the

cauliower in chunks. I liked it

that way. We could have chosen

to run the soup through the

 blender.

As with most soups, you thin

the soup to a desired consistency

with stock, water, or milk. We

chose to use milk.

 Notice that there is no salt

in these recipes; the gravy

contributes the salt.

Kelli Tracy, in our test kitchen,

made these soups. She liked it

very thick; I liked it t hinner. I

was out-voted. Three-fourths

cup of milk makes a very thick

soup.

Ingredients:

1 cup Roasted ChickenSkillet Gravy (You maysubstitute Turkey SkilletGravy )1 quart water2 cups cauliflower, chopped1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme1 cup cheddar cheese,shredded

Directions:

1. In a large pot, prepareone cup of the RoastedChicken Skillet Gravyaccording to packagedirections, using the 1

quart of water.

2. Sauté the cauliower in butter until tender. Do not brown.

3. Add the cauliower andmilk to gravy, stirring

 well.

4. Simmer for 15 to 20minutes

5.  Add the thyme andcheese, stirring well untilthe cheese melts. Do not

 boil.

6. Thin the soup with moremilk if desired. Check theseasoning and more saltor spice to taste.

7. Serve while hot.Refrigerate or freeze anyleftovers.

Bacon and Potato Soup

1 cup Roasted Chicken

Skillet Gravy   (or TurkeySkillet Gravy )1 quart water1/2 cup onion, chopped1 cup mild cheddar cheese,shredded

1/2 cup sharp cheddarcheese, shredded1/4 pound bacon, cooked toa crisp and crumbled1 3/4 cups cubed redskinned potatoes2 cups water or low-sodiumstock 

Directions:

1. Boil the dice red skinnedpotatoes, drain, and setaside.

2. Sauté the onions.

3. In a large pot, prepared onecup of the Roasted ChickenSkillet Gravy according topackage directions, usingthe 1 quart of water.

4. Add the onions, cheese, bacon, potatoes and wateror stock into the pot. Stiruntil blended.

5. Simmer for 10 minutes,stirring frequently toprevent sticking.

6. Serve while hot. Refrigerateor freeze any leftovers.

“I expected a cream ofcauliflower soup with thecauliflower pureed but therecipe called for leaving

the cauliflower in chunks. Iliked it that way.

 

" 

Related Cream So

•Cream of Brocco•Cream of MushSoup•Cream of Potato

•Cream of Celery•Cream of Corn S•Cheesy Potato S

Chicken &Wild Rice Soup

Of these three recipes, the chicken

and wild rice was my favorite

though many people in the store

said that the cauliower was their

favorite . You can buy fancy wild

rice at a great price in our store.

Being basically lazy, I bought

sliced mushrooms and matchstick

carrots at the store.

Ingredients:

1 cup Roasted Chicken SkilletGravy (you may substituteTurkey Skillet Gravy )1 quart water1/2 cup wild rice1/2 cup jasmine rice1 1/2 tablespoons butter1 1/2 cups onion, chopped1 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced1/2 cup carrots, grated1/2 cup chicken, cooked andcubed1/2 cup white wine or chickenbroth, optional1/2 teaspoon dried thyme1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according topackage directions.

2. While the rice is cooking, in a

large pot, prepare one cup ofthe Roasted Chicken SkilletGravy according to packagedirections, using the onequart of water.

3. Melt the butter in a largepot. Sauté the onions, celery,carrots, and mushrooms in

 butter over medium heatuntil onions are translucent,about 5 minutes.

4.  Add in the gravyrice, chicken, anstirring well.

5. Salt and pepper

6. Simmer for 10 tover low heat, sfrequently to prsticking.

7. Thin with additor stock if neede

8.  Add the thyme

minutes.

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Colcannon, Green Beer and By: Dennis Weaver 

Once upon a time, I worked in

downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Saint Paul is an interesting city.

More so than anywhere else I

have lived, it’s very ethnic. There

are Italian neighborhoods and

a Germantown. There’s a large

Hmong population from the

mountainous regions of Asia and

of course, an Irish neighborhood.

Saint Patrick’s Day was a big deal

in Saint Paul. I remember my

rst Saint Patrick’s Day there. I

worked in an ofce in downtown.

I was surprised by the sudden

marching bands, and then parades

and raucous crowds. I went

downstairs to the sidewalk to

watch. There was a lot of action,

guys shouting in the streets and

green beer—lots of green beer.

Every pub in Saint Paul

serves green beer on Saint

Patrick’s Day.

I’m not Irish, I’m a

mixture of English andScandinavian, but I married

an Irish lass; Merri Ann is

a Maloney. So if I’m going

to make her something

Irish, I’m going to need

some help.

I went to our friend,

Shannon Grifn. She gave

me a recipe for colcannon

that’s been in her family for

generations.

Colcannon is a side dish.

Matched up with some salmon, itmade a ne dinner. I could handle

the bread.

 

ColcannonOnce I gured out that this was

 just mashed potatoes with cooked

cabbage and onion, I put this right

together. I didn’t cook the onions

nearly as long as suggested— 

 probably a mistake--and so they

didn’t get mashed into a paste.

But they got lost in with the

cooked cabbage and everything

was just ne.

Instead of milk, I added a

generous portion of sour cream,

maybe a half cup. Sour cream

always seems to make potatoes

 better. I added quite a bit of

 pepper and salt.

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes1 pound kale or cabbage1 large onionmilk

butter2 tablespoons or bacondrippings

Directions

1. Peel the onion and chopcoarsely. Heat the oil ordrippings in a skillet with atight cover. Place the onionsin the skillet and sauté overmedium heat until onion

 just starts to turn golden.Cover tightly and lower heatuntil it just barely sizzles.Cook for 30-40 minuteschecking occasionally to

make sure onions aren’t browning. When onions aredone, mix them until theyare a paste.

2. Meanwhile, boil thepotatoes in their skins untiltender. Skin potatoes andmash until smooth, addingmilk (or sour cream) asnecessary.

3.  While the potatoes arecooking, chop the greensand place them in a pot with1/2 cup water. Bring it to a

 boil and cook over low heatuntil tender.

4. Mix the greens, onions,and potatoes together well,adding salt and pepper totaste. If desired, drizzlemelted butter on top just

 before serving.

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St. Patrick’s Day

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Choosing an Irish Bread By: Dennis Weaver 

Ireland has a rich culinary history

that includes a wonderful array

of breads. These breads tend to

 be rustic; often with whole grain

ours, potato our, or buttermilk,

and are often leavened with baking

soda instead of yeast.

Irish Soda BreadThis may be the most famous of

the Irish breads. It’s made with

soda and buttermilk (The soda

reacts with the acidic buttermilk to

create carbon dioxide to leaven the

 bread). Soda bread splits around

the middle while baking like a

large biscuit. There are many

varieties of this bread and many

are made with whole wheat our.

Our favorite version has a bit of

graham our (See our Irish Soda

Bread mix). Raisin Soda Bread

Often Irish soda bread

is made with raisinsor currants. If you

decide to add raisins

to your soda bread,

try a touch of orange

zest and maybe some

allspice. Occasionally,

you will nd a raisin

soda bread label as

regal soda bread. Regal

soda bread is made

with or without raisins

and with a shot of Irish

whiskey.

Irish Potato Bread

This bread is made

with potato our and

lots of buttermilk.

The buttermilk and

 potato our give it a

wonderful, sourdough-

like avor. It’s usually made

in a rustic round loaf (See our

Summerhill Irish Potato Breads 

in both wheat and white ourversions).

Barm Brack 

This traditional bread is made

with fruit and spices. It’s a yeast

 bread though we have found

recipes leavened with soda and

 buttermilk. When made with soda,

it resembles a dense, fruity cake.

Often the fruit is soaked overnight

in black tea.

Aran Spiosrai (Irish Spice

Bread)

This bread is l eavened with sodaor baking powder and is sweet

and spicy. It is usually made with

raisins and resembles a dense,

fruity cake. This recipe for Aran

Spiosrai is typical. . Get authentic,

Irish soda bread the easy way>>

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Leprechaun Pies and Their Cousins

 By: Dennis Weaver 

There’s a treasure in the frozen

food case at your grocers. It’s

the frozen juice concentrates.

There is such an array of avors;

tropical avors and mixtures like

strawberry guava and mango

orange; orchard avors like peach

and cherry, and citrus avors.

We’ve used these concentrates in

 pies, cobblers, and crisps. When

a recipe calls for water, we’ll

often substitute juice from these

concentrates. For a picnic, add dry

ice and carbonate your beverage

(It’s much better than soda pop).

We keep a dozen cans or so in the

freezer.

We use these frozen concentrates

to make leprechaun pies and their

cousins. These are frozen desserts,

These easy frozen desserts are luscious—change

the favor as the seasons change.

much like an ice cream pie. A

leprechaun pie is made with

limeade. Pink lemonade pie uses

 pink lemonade. The cousins?

You can use any concentrate you

want. Strawberry guava is one of

our favorites.

You can make these as a single

 pie using adeep dish pie pan or

a 9-inch springform pan or you

can make individual pies in paper

lined mufn tins. These pies are

festive, fun, and adorable.

How to Make Leprechaun Pie

This is an absolutely scrumptious

dessert and very easy to make.

Unless you want to bake the graham

cracker crumb crust, it’s a no-bake

 pie.

It’s made green with food coloring

and limeade for St. Patrick’s Day,

 but you can make the cousins withany color and any juice concentrate.

Since this is made with cream

cheese, it’s very cheesecake-like,

 but it’s frozen like an ice cream pie.

It tastes much like a key lime pie.

Leprechaun pies are made in three

 parts: a graham cracker crust, a

limeade and cream cheese lling,

and a whipped cream topping.

If you prefer, you can use a

commercial whipped topping or

whipped cream from an aerosol

can.

You’ll need a nine-inch

springform pan. We use a Candy

Apple Red Silicone Springform

Pan with a glass base. With the

graham cracker crust, it’s easy to

 peel the ring from the pie and cut

nice, neat slices right on the glass

 base.

For the Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar 

4 tablespoons butter 

1. Mix the crumbs, sugar, and

 butter in medium sized bowl. Mix until the crumbshave absorbed the butterand the mixture is uniform.

2. If you are making individualdesserts, line the mufn pan

 with paper liners. Scoop 1tablespoon of the graham

cracker mixture into eachcup.

3. Press down the grahamcracker mixture in thecupcake pan with a smallcup (our 1/2 cup measuringcup worked perfectly) toquickly and easily make thecrust at and uniform.

4. If you aremaking yourdessert in aspringform pan,press the crust

 with a glass ormug. If you’dlike, you can

 bake it for tenminutes or so tohold it together

 better.“We’ve used these

concentrates in pies,cobblers, and crisps..We keep a dozen cans

or so in the freezer.”

For the Filling

1 8-oz box of cream

cheese, softened1 14-oz can sweetened

condensed milk 

3/4 cup Limeade

concentrate (not mixed

with water)

2 tablespoons lime

 juice (fresh or bottled)

Americolor Leaf Gree

coloring or equal

1. Using the whip and your stand-or with a handhmixer, mix the cto soften it. Verythe sweetened cmilk while mixiprevent the creafrom becoming Continue to mixmedium-high sp

the mixture is s

2. Add the limeadand lime juice a

 beating. Color wcoloring as desifound AmericolGreen food colothe best).

3. If you are makindesserts, scoop than 1/4 cup of into each bakinfound if we put shy of one scooplarge deluxe qui

ice cream scoop

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 About Food Coloring 

Regardless of the juice concentrate youuse, you’ll want to intensify the color with

the addition of food color. We recommend

Americolor Professional Food Color Gels.

They’re bright, intense—nine times more

concentrated than liquids—and easy to apply.

They come in 40 colors.

perfectly. Smooth outeach scoop and spread thetopping on each dessert.

 We often put the topping ina large pastry bag and pipeit on each dessert. It makesthem pretty.

4. If you are making a singledessert, scrape the llinginto the prepared crust andthen spread the toppingover the lling.

For the Topping

1 cup whipping cream

3 tablespoons sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup shredded coconut

Americolor Leaf Green food

coloring

 

1. To make the cream topping, whip the cream until stiff,adding the sugar and vanillain the process.

2. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the whipped cream over eachlittle pie or the entire lling

over the single dessert.

3. To color the coconut,squeeze one very smalldrop of food coloring intoan empty zipper-top plastic

 bag. Rub the two sides ofthe bag together in between

 your ngers untilthe color is evenlydistributed. Add thecoconut to the bag,and close it, trappingas much air insidethe bag as you can.Shake the bag untilthe coconut becomesthe desired color.Sprinkle thecoconut on the pies

4. Freeze the pies

until rm.

We also have a recipe to make

this in a 9-inch spring-form pan,

including variations like pink

lemonade pie. We have had

rave reviews of this recipe. It is

tried-and-true.

How to Make the Cousins

The nice thing about this recipe

is that you can use whatever fruit

 juice concentrate you desire— 

cherry cranberry, peach mango,

cranberry pear, pineapple . . .

They’re all game for this dessert.

We’ve been making pink

lemonade pies and their cousins

for years now. We’ve tweaked

the recipe along the way but

 basically, it’s the same. We use

our silicone springform pan that’s

easier to use and makes for nicer,

neater, better-looking slices.

Originally, we thought of t his as

a summer pie but it’s great year-

round. Try a cranberry apple

in the fall, a cherry version at

Valentines, and the lemonade

versions in the heat of the summer.

They can be made ahead and they

can keep for a week or more in the

freezer.

Make the cousins just as you do

the original, but with another

 juice. Taste your lling before

adding the two tablespoons lemon

 juice. You will probably want to

use them to balance the fruit avor

against the cream cheese.

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Strawberry Shortcake Supreme By: Dennis Weaver 

The other day, I started cruising

the web looking for the best,

 prettiest strawberry shortcakes

in the world. I saw a picture of

these. I stopped.

I didn’t even look at the recipe;

I knew how I was going to make

it—two layers of cream cake or

sponge cake, strawberries, and

a stabilized, avored whipped

cream between. I also thought

about a chocolate version. ThenI looked for the best strawberries

I could nd and started baking.

For the CakeI made a cream cake. A cream

cake is denser than the cakes you

make from the boxed mixes you

nd in the store. It’s somewhere

 between a light, uffy cake and

a pound cake (I gured the light,

uffy cakes would get soggy and

wouldn’t carry the berries and

cream well). I used our Vanilla

Bean Baby Cake Mix. I suspect

that most cakes made from

scratch will work since they’re

not as uffy as those from the

 boxes.

I baked the cake in a 9 x 13-inch pan according to the package

directions. I lined the cake pan

with parchment paper so that

I could grasp the edges of the

 parchment paper once baked and

lift the cake from the pan.

The Whipped Cream

FillingI wanted a lling that was

thick enough that I could

 pipe it, and stable enough

that the leftover pieces

would still be attractive on

the second day. For two

cups of heavy whipping

cream, I added six ounces of

cream cheese and a quarter

cup of meringue powder.

That’s twice as muchcream cheese as I usually

use but I wanted this to be

so stable that it would be

almost like a frosting. I

sweetened it with a 1/2 cup

of granulated sugar and a

1/3 cup of powdered sugar

to give it more stability. I

added a teaspoon of lemon

avor and a bit of lemon

zest. Lemon goes well with

strawberries.

The StrawberriesI used a strawberry slicer to get

thin, uniform slices. I always cut

my strawberries vertically; they’re

 prettier that way. Do not add

sugar; the sugar will draw water

from the berries.

To Make Your Strawberry

DessertsThe cake needs to be split to place

strawberries and whipped cream between the layers. The easy way

to do it is with a cake leveler; you

can adjust the height of the blade

and split the cake uniformly. You

can do it with a serrated knife, but

cut the cake in half and split a half

at a time.

1. After the cake isremove it from cutting board anSplit the cake asabove.

2. Once the cake completely, spr

 whipped creaminch thick on thof the halves. Sof strawberry sl

 whipped cream

3. Carefully lift thhalf and set it orst half with thaligned and thetogether.

4. Trim a quarteroff the cooked e

 you have uniforall around.

5. Put the remaincream lling in

 bag tted with aSqueeze lines of

 by-side diagonathe cake to get aappearance as spicture.

6. Use a ruler to mlightly score lincake for cutting

 with a serrated

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 without pressing down, cutthe cake into pieces.

7. Finely chop a 1/4 cup of walnuts. Drizzle a diagonalline of chopped nuts acrosseach piece, crossing thelines of lling.

8. Garnish with morestrawberries.

What You’ll Need• Strawberry Slicer

• Cream Cake Mix• Meringue Powder• 10 x 15-inch Baking Sheet• Parchment Paper• Lemon or other flavor

VariationsStrawberry Shortcake Supreme

with Strawberry Filling

Make as above but substitute

strawberry avor for the lemon

and add Americolor pink food

color gel to t he whipping cream.

 

Strawberry Shortcake Supreme

with Chocolate Cake

Make as above with a Fudgy Baby

Cakes Mix. Eliminate the lemonavor. Either add vanilla avor or

three tablespoons medium dark

cocoa if you prefer a chocolate

lling. Garnish with strawberries,

chocolate curls, and chocolate

sauce.

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Related Article: How to Make Traditional Strawberry

Shortcake

Traditional Strawberry Shortcakes with Flavored Whipped Cream

This article explains how to make traditional shortcakes, the rich biscuit-

like kind plus it has recipes for avored whipped cream. If you like

strawberry shortcakes, this is a great article.

 How to Cut Delicate Cakes 

Soft, delicate cakes can be hard

to cut, so can cakes with fillings

such as whipped cream. These

cakes were hard to cut without

disfiguring the slices. But there

is a method to making nice

cuts in soft cakes for perfect

 presentations. The key is not to

 press down on the cake but let

the knife do the work for you.

• Choose a sharp serrated

knife with a deep tooth cut

and along blade.

• Make your cuts with a

ruler and straight edge.

• Make your first cuts

crosswise and come back and

make the longitudinal cuts.

• Barely put any pressure

on your knife--not even the

weight of the knife--as you

make the cuts.

• Gently saw back and

forth with the teeth barely

engaged in the cake. Let the

serrations do all the work.

Don’t press down.

• When you make the short

cuts, the cake may tend to tip

or rock. Rather than pressing

down, place a straightedge behind the cake to keep it

steady and from rocking. It

may be helpful to recruit a

family member to hold the

straightedge for you.

A Buyer’s Equipment GuideQuick Tip and Ask the B

Equipment:- Clearjel- Ice Cream Scoops- White Chocolate produc- Pastry Fillings

Pot Pie Tools and Mixes- Pie Pans- Mini Pie Pans- Pie Crust- Pie Weight Chain- Biscuit Mixes

Scalloped Potatoes:- Mandolin- Instant Potatoes

Soups:

- Just-Add-Water Gravy M

Irish Bread:

-  Irish Bread Mix

Leprechaun Pies:- Graham Cracker Crumb- Springform Pan- Deep Dish Pie Pan- Paper Liners- Food Colors

For Strawberry Shortcak- Strawberry Slicer- Vanilla Bean Baby Cakes- Very Fudgy Baby Cakes M- Meringue Powder- Extracts including Lemo- Designer Dessert Sauces33