Sunday, September 28, 2008

I Don't Want to Hurt You. I Just Want to Make You Kosher!

Recently, DrSavta quoted one of the funnier films from my childhood...The Frisco Kid.

As a child, one of my favorite scenes was the one where Avram (Gene Wilder) is chasing a chicken and says "Come here little chicken. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to eat you. I don't want to hurt you! I just want to make you kosher!"

So... I haven't been hunting chickens... Instead, I've been hunting chicken pot pie recipes...
My friend Scott found this one, which looks terribly complicated. Here's the problem. Among the ingredients are butter and milk, which... for those who keep kosher, don't work well with chicken.

Also shortening is not easy to buy and is not part of my standard cooking repertoire.

So, chefs and chef wannabes, can I make the crust with just margarine? Should I use "butter flavored?" Should I make it with entirely shortening?

For the filling, should I substitute with margarine or is oil ok?

For the "milk," should I use rich for coffee, pareve cream (there's one without sugar), soy milk, coconut milk?

Help!

8 comments:

Bethami said...

I've been told that "shortening" is really just a solid fat, so that butter or margarine does just fine. I also imagine that just for the crust, you could make any crust you wanted! Whole wheat, mix and match the spices.... for another non-kosher (unless you use fake chicken!) option, put Parmesan cheese in the crust.
Either way, sounds yummy. I have not yet ventured a chicken pot pie.

Bethami said...

PS - for the filling, i would use non-dairy creamer. They sell it as "Rich's", near the Rich's whip in the grocery store, but I think there's one specifically labeled for cooking, as opposed to coffee :). You don't want something very sweet.

Leora said...

You can make crust without shortening. I use a combination of applesauce and oil to get a good crust. (flour, applesauce, oil, salt are the main ingredients.)

You can also make a potato crust with some oil, salt and cooked potatoes.

In both cases, bake the crust for about 8 minutes before putting in the filling.

Throw out the margarine. It's a killer. Too many people getting cancer these days.

mother in israel said...

1. May I ask why you are planning a complicated new recipe *the day before* Rosh Hashanah??
2. You can make a crust with cooked rice and raw egg. Or skip the crust altogether.

Looking at that recipe, it looks too complicated, and too easy to mess up.

shelly said...

I'd skip the recipe for Rosh Hashana, and make it on a day when you have time to putter around the kitchen. IMHO, margarine is an abomination unto the lord. It's like the 11th commandment or something. Instead of butter, I'd try coconut oil (which is hard at room temperature) or if you're adventurous, rendered beef fat (suet) or chicken/goose schmaltz. You can make your own schmaltz, or buy it at the butcher's (ahem... no pun intended).

For the milk, I'd substitute unsweetened coconut milk, or possibly just the cream at the top of a few cans of coconut milk. Rich's creamer is also an abomination unto the lord. That's like commandment number 12, or something.

Or...
And this is a crazy thought...
You could make the original recipe without the chicken. Use tuna instead, or chunks of tofu, or pop in some large cubes of cheese (like Edam, Gouda, Emmenthaler) just before covering with dough and popping in the oven.

Leah Goodman said...

I was thinking of doing the whole thing dairy...

And I wasn't insane enough to do it for Rosh Hashana. I made chicken soup, chicken & potatoes, meatballs, couscous, rice, broccoli, zucchini, and muffins... that's actually quite enough... (the muffins were dunkin hines)

Ira said...

non-dairy fat of the kind featured in Margarine and Rich "cream" are a really bad idea. Tuna are becoming extinct, Tofu is not healthy and frankly tastes like cardboard. Coconut milk? Isn't there something about מראית עין that's not allowed here?

I'd just go for a different recipe altogether, some things are not for you to cook, that's all. instead I can recommend a burgul meat pie (my mom makes it with lamb, olive oil and pine nuts, YUM!) which should work with chicken as well.

Leah Goodman said...

Okay, coconut milk is not a problem at all. If someone were likely to be confused, I could serve it with the label nearby.

Tofu has no serious flavor... it depends what you put it with. That said, I don't know if it would do well in this recipe.

I don't buy it about tofu being unhealthy. the phyto-estrogens are only a problem in large doses.

could try cheese?

maybe a real fish (ie something that doesnt' come from a can. or maybe Shelly meant real tuna??)

I'll keep pondering.

I actually think that a bit of marge in the crust isn't the end of the world.