Domesticity
Waterloo County Knitters' Fair has become an annual event for Danny and me. We went yesterday. It's not exactly the most relaxing way to spent a September Saturday, but we both brought home some pretty-pretties. I acquired the makings for a cuff-to-cuff cardigan, including four skeins of a hand-dyed 100% superwash merino from Voila Fibers in a colourway called seastorm (an appealing palette of sea-greens and blue-greys), and two skeins each of two solid colourways from Berroco Ultra Alpaca (one of my favourite yarns): 6277 Peat Mix and 6289 Charcoal Mix. They will nicely bring out the misty highlights of the variegated yarn.
This afternoon we caught up on housework. I got the kitchen spic and span; he put away laundry and vacuumed. It's only beginning to sink in that this is for real, this is us, Danny doesn't have to catch the 9 pm busy home, he already is, we already are, I don't have to be alone tonight.
With leftovers from Friday night's roast chicken from Zehrs, I decided to make a meat pie we both love. This is based on Sylvie's Paté de dinde (turkey pie), which her family traditionally used to deal with Christmas leftovers. It works equally well with roast chicken. Over the past couple years I've tweaked a gluten-free version.
Danny says this is one of his favourite things I make. Thanks go out into the ether for my faraway friend, Sylvie.
Paté de dinde sans gluten
1 recipe for gluten-free biscuits (adjust for 1 cup of dry ingredients, Sylvie used Tea-Bisk or Bisquick)
1 cup minced onion
¼ cup minced green pepper
¼ cup butter divided in half*
1½ tablespoon corn starch*
1½ cup milk*
2 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
¾ cup cooked vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower all work nicely)
½ teaspoon salt
pepper
(a dash each of thyme and sage make a nice addition to the pie filling)
Preheat oven to 450°F. Prepare the biscuit recipe.
Make a gluten-free bechemel sauce. Over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add cornstarch, whisking constantly. Once it comes to a bubble, begin adding small quantities of milk, whisking constantly to incorporate each addition. Cornstarch is less forgiving than wheat flour in this suace. Check the recipe in case you run into problems.
(*If you're not worried about gluten, make a regular bechemel sauce, or skip it altogether by substituting 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and ½ cup of milk)
Over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté onions and green pepper until tender. Add bechemel sauce (or soup and milk), turkey, vegetables and seasoning, stir to combine and pour into a pie plate or casserole.
If the biscuit mix is dry enough, roll it out, cut into 2-inch rounds and place on top of the filling. The biscuit recipe suggested here usually yields a softer dough and a more dumpling-like topping (even better, in my opinion); just spoon it onto the top, leaving spaces for the filling to bubble up.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Instead of using the biscuit mix, you can fill a pie with the turkey mixture. Prepare the filling the same way, pour it into a prepared pie shell, cover with pastry, prick the top and bake at 425°F for 20 to 25 minutes.