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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Failed recipe experiment: Ate it anyway!

   Okay, make that two failed experiments, and still eating on them, but I really wanted to say "ate it anyway," because it reminds me of that old Found a Peanut song. Baked a pineapple upside down cake and veggie potpie on Monday. The cake is dry--cough, cough dry, NOT gag, gag dry. Know what? Still tastes better than a mix. Just started buying organic butter and because it's more expensive, trying to cut back on the butter in our favorite recipes. Well, this cut-back didn't cut it. Always next time.
   The potpie is actually my friend's beef tenderloin potpie recipe that I modified into a chicken potpie that we love. (Secret ingredient: a heaping tablespoon of yellow mustard in the milk/butter gravy...yum!) But since I'm trying to buy humanely raised organic meats, they are so very EXPENSIVE that I'm trying to change some of our favorites into vegetarian entrées.
   Anyone have an idea of what to put in a veggie potpie in place of the chicken? Lookin' for the classic potpie taste, don'cha'know, with potatoes, green beans and corn. I like the garbanzos as a substitute but Hubby not so much.
   Help!

8 comments:

Tightwad Mom said...

Portabello mushroom make a nice substitution for meat in alot of recipes.

Practical Parsimony said...

Why not just put a lesser amount of meat in the pot pie. You could use some of the broth as part of the pie filling. Using broth flakes would work, but I don't know how you feel about that.

Next time, substitute something for the butter you want to leave out, pureed beans or applesauce or any kind of baby food, which is also expensive.Always substitute something for anything you leave out of the baked goods. Do you have any pineapple juice you could drizzle over the cake? That would be yummy.

Dmarie said...

@TM, I'll try portabellos next time. Wish me luck! @PP: --will be using lesser amounts in some recipes, but want to make more strictly veggie meals. If the portabellos don't do, may have to go with to minimal chicken. --used all the juice in the cake & topping. If the cake had been for company, would've opened another can to make a pineapple sauce, but just for us, didn't bother with the added expense.

Lindy Mint said...

I'm a vegetarian and make a pot pie with just potatoes, carrots, peas and (I think) onions. The sauce is made with vegetable broth (or you could use chicken broth), so that helps preserve some of the traditional chicken-pot pie taste. But unfortunately there is no protein substitution I've found to fill the void.

giozi said...

wow wow wow looks great

melissa said...

Sometimes I use cubed tofu in my veggie pot pit, but have been trying to cut back on my soy intake. I like the idea of chickpeas, and mushrooms, too! Peas are high protein, but of course don't make it chicken-y. Have you seen better than bouillon? It's a paste that comes in a jar and you water it down to make stock - it makes a TON, so it's very economical. I also use it for gravies sometimes, too. There's a chicken as well as a not chicken and I believe organic, too. Making a gravy with that might give you some of the chicken flavor you're looking for :)

I, too, can vouch for applesauce as a sub for some or all of the fat in baking.

Both of these look super yummy, even if they aren't precisely what you were looking for!

Meanqueen said...

Hi, I just put more veg in a veggie stew, or soak pulses for 24 hours and put them in. Sometimes I use soya mince or chunks. Also thicken with porridge oats.

Anonymous said...

You could always try the ground beef crumbles, but make sure to season them quite a bit before baking. They are a bit bland plain.

To add to the pot pie if it were just veg, I would put some sautéed mushrooms (portobello, but probably just button) and you can always use parsnips as well. They probably cook the same as carrots.

Jessica

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