Perhaps the enjoyment of comfort food—seeking out solace with knife, fork and spoon—is more warranted than ever. We have the growing morass of Washington politics within The New Disarray as pathological as urinary incontinence as some Americans grapple with the likes of the threats to put an end to climate control policies, the EPA agency and the standards it protects, cannulating immigrants to what amounts to exile and even the department of Education is under the gun as the new leader-to-be of the free world takes an ax to all that we’ve been used to for decades in the name of shaking up the establishment like a deadly virus. Or was it all a fatal scam to get elected?
That’s why I may turn to my favorite palliatives–butter, cream, sugar, flour, beef, poultry, anything sweet, pastry–loading up on carbs and the like, at least for a while as classic comfort food fills my fantasies. I’m even renewing my penchant for Dunkin Donuts.
The basic beef pot roast
So, I made one of my favorite dishes last week, a lovely pot roast with all the vegetables that make this meal so good. I wrote about pot roast a few weeks ago as a great Sunday supper (see link for recipe). I made the same pot roast, this time using a chuck roast on the bone instead of boneless. I like the beef on the bone better. You’ll have to order this cut in advance since most butchers bone their chuck roasts.
A healthy serving of pot roast dinner
With the leftovers, as I did with a chicken pot pie featured a few weeks ago, I made beef pot pie with the leftovers. I used the best pastry—the cream crust—for savory pies, the Cream Crust see link for recipes).
To assemble the pie filling, cut the leftover beef into smaller pieces; remove the onions and vegetables that braised with the roast and put into a large sauté pan with melted butter to cook, stirring all the while. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons flour, stirring to mix it in and add about 1 to 2 cups dark chicken stock, stirring to incorporate and let the sauce simmer gently until it thickens, stirring frequently. You want the liquid to be as thick as a thin cream soup. Add the beef and additional vegetables if needed like extra carrots and potatoes par boiled and frozen peas or local Brussels sprouts.
Beef pot pie
Put it into a large casserole and top the dish with the pastry dough, crimping the edges and make 4 steam vents in the center as shown in the photo. Glaze the dough with an egg wash of a beaten egg with a few tablespoons of cream. Once glazed sprinkle some coarse salt, like Malden Salt, over the top. Put on a sheet pan lined with parchment (to catch any spillovers) and put in a 375 degree oven for about an hour or until the top is nicely browned and the filling is bubbling.
Ingredients
- Leftover braised beef, cut into 2-inch pieces
- Leftover vegetables from pot roast
- 3 to 4 tab tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- Carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces, par boiled for 5 minutes
- Potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters, par boiled for 7 minutes
- Frozen peas or Brussels sprouts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Prepare pastry dough (see link for recipe). Set aside, chilled, until needed.
- Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add the leftover onions and vegetables, stirring to coat with butter. Add the flour, stir to combine. Add the stock gradually, stirring to combine, adding more until you get the right consistency.
- Add additional fresh vegetables par boiled and incorporated into the mix. Add the beef and stir to combine. Pour all into a casserole dish and cover with pastry as described above. Bake for about an hour until the top is browned and the filling is bubbling.
