Please accept my official entry titled "Gluten-Free Three-Way Pie".
It's late so I'm posting this quickly. Just finished cooking about 90 minutes ago.
Thawed out some chicken thighs -- they are traditionally raised by the guy whose picture is on the package. Cool, eh? Used apple cider vinegar, onion & garlic powder, dill seeds, marjoram, black pepper and some Cool Runnings chicken seasoning.
Veggies are parsnip, carrot, mushroom, celery and red onion. Got them ready to smoke in their own pot.
Some nice Wellington County Dark Ale made in Guelph to get this party started.
Everyone into the smoker.
Saved the pan drippings/carmelization for gravy.
The gluten-free crust is made from brown rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, apple cider vinegar, eggs, salt, xanthan gum and I substituted cold beer for the cold water.
I decided to make the pie pastry by hand instead of using the mixer. Found out that was exactly the thing to do.
Chopped up the chicken and veggies. That chicken tasted really good, will definitely make it that way again, pie or no pie.
I learned that I should roll the pastry dough thinner than the last pie so did that. Made two recipes to give me two double-crust pies -- rolled into four balls and into the fridge to firm up. The last two balls were too dry and crumbly so added a Tbsp of beer to each which fixed them right up.
Couldn't find CD's roux recipe where I thought I tucked it so googled proportions. Used beer for liquid, melted butter for fat and brown rice flour. Brown rice flour doesn't thicken as much as wheat flour so had to quickly add more to get the consistency I wanted. I put the rest of the beer and the liquid from the smoked vegetables into the chicken pan. Let it soak off while I was working on other stuff and then scraped and decanted into a measuring cup.
Divided the veggies and meat in half and switched their partners. Decided the thick gravy should be in the middle of the veg/meat mix so pulled half out, spread gravy and put them back in both pies.
Look at the twins getting their egg white wash! Could only bake one at a time, though.
The top came off when removing the first piece so I thought I'd take a picture with it off to show off the filling. Notice how thin and crispy the lid looks.
PLEASE USE THE PHOTO BELOW FOR VOTING.
This Three-Way Pie was a great success. The crust was so thin, light, buttery and crispy, it was just divine. The gravy made sure the filling stayed moist. The only thing I would rethink is using so much of the pan carmelization. Every once in a while there'd be a bitterish kind of flavour. I think I must have got some burned bits, maybe dill seeds, mixed in, next time I won't scrape the pan so well. The other thing I would do is put seasoning on the veggies. This pie crust is so good anyone would love to eat it, gluten-free or not.
Thanks for looking!
