Pot Pie!

This first week has been crazy, from starting this blog, getting my little munchkin to focus when he is so excited for the upcoming holidays, to fitting in time with extended family to bake, so I am glad it's finally the weekend. Friday morning was the start of a pretty normal school day, except I started using a new computer program, Raz-kids, for our reading lesson. So far Miles loves the program, it rewards him for reading and taking quizzes with points to build and customize a robot and/or spaceship. Since he finished his Life of Fred book on thursday, he only had his Kumon workbook to complete for math.While he was working on his word problems, I started dinner in my trusty old slow cooker.

Last week my husband bought me some AWESOME wild mushrooms and I decided to make a mushroom and beef potpie, I am calling it beef wellington pie to make it sound fancy. It was a really busy day so I cooked the meat portion all day in the slow cooker and right before dinner I  magically turned pot roast into pot pie. (I am definitely adding the recipe so don't you worry). After getting that all settled, I got back to active involvement in the school day. It went so well, not every Friday does, we were done by 1:15....Well, technically, there was a storm outside so the internet was acting crazy and I couldn't get the videos I wanted to watch on Africa and the equator so I am just going to have an extened Africa study session on Monday. No reason to start new material when we are only doing "class" on Monday and Tuesday and cooking "school" on Wednesday getting ready for the big day. After school we headed to my in-laws house where Miles got to see his favorite little cousin to decorate Pilgrim hat cookies and Teepee cupcakes. My nephew has discovered pinterest and chose these fun projects. It was messy and fun as all good projects should be and the boys got to run around Nana's house like crazy monkeys and had a blast. The wet drizzly winter weather had set in by the time we left and I rushed home to finish the warm, hearty pot pie. Immediately I tasted the beef and after 5 hours on high in the slow cooker it was perfect.

Beef, yummy and delicious!

I removed the beef to a glass dish and broke it up using a spatula (be sure to save the remaining liquid in the crock so it can be used in the pie filling). Then I chopped the other goodies...shallots and wild mushrooms.

Shallots, Maitake Mushrooms, and King Trumpet Mushrooms

Now it was time to get back to cooking so I melted some butter in a pan and satued the shallots, then the trumpet mushrooms and the softer more delicate Maitake mushrooms. When they were all soft and lighlty brown I added soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper. and ladles of the beef liquid, about 4. It simmered away until almost all the liquid cooked away then I added about half the beef (reserve the rest for another meal)

Everything simmering and steamy...

While this was all cooking down I blind baked the bottom crust, and shredded the cheese for the top of the pie. Just for the heck off it I put a little cheese on the bottom of the cooked crust to help the crust not get soggy (I don't know if it helped but I hear brushing egg whites on the bottom crust helps), then piled in the filling, topped with the other crust, cut little steam slits on top and sprinkled cheese on the cheese.

Ready to go in the oven.

Now it was time to relax.....the pie was in the oven and i had 20-25 minutes....what to do....well I made my little man an open-face roast beef sandwich on some leftover French bread and topped it with the remaining shredded cheese. The boy is sweet but he doesn't like mushrooms....I don't get it, we tried so hard to raise him right. I tried to get a picture of him eating his sandwich but he ate it so fast this was the result.

What, what??

Now it was time for the big reveal, even Miles couldn't resist a sniff, of the amazing and beautiful pie. I still couldn't get him to try it. I have to say it was really good. It could do without the cheese. I feel the crust would have cooked better with out it. You have to decide if you want a crispy cheese crust or a crispy top crust. Either way is delicious in its own way.

Beef Wellington Pot Pie...kind of

2 1/2 pounds Beef chuck roast

Montreal steak seasoning

Flour for coating the meat

3 Tbsp oil

1/2 c red wine

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 c beef broth

12 oz wild mushrooms or regular button (chopped)

3 small shallots (minced)

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 sprigs of Thyme

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 c shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (optional, almost as good with it)

2 pie crusts (this mom takes a shortcut here and I buy Pillsbury refrigerated rolled up crusts from the can                 biscuit section..best advice I will ever give you....know when to take a shortcut for your own sanity)

Beef Roast

Season the beef with the Montreal steak seasoning on all sides, then coat with flour. Heat a large pan over high heat with the 3 Tbsp of oil and carefully sear the roast on all sides until golden brown. When thoroughly seared, add it to the slow cooker, then the wine, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Set that baby to high and forget about it for about 5 hours. (This can of course be done a few days ahead.) When done remove beef from the liquid and pull it apart (I just squished with a spatula) reserve the meat and liquid for making the filling

Filling

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a pie dish and line it with a pie shell, poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and blind bake on sheet pat until golden brown 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat and add butter.When the butter is melted add shallots and saute until transparent. Add mushrooms and cook down about 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and 4 ladles of the liquid (about 1 1/2 cups). Cook for about 5 minutes then add half of the beef. Continue simmering for 10-15 minutes over medium heat until most of the liquid is gone. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sprinkle about 1 cup cheese on bake crust, add filling, top with second (raw) crust. Cut steam holes in the crust and sprinkle more cheese on the top crust, too. Put pie dish on sheet pan and bake until golden brown about 15-20 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.