Seasonal Ontario Food

This is trailing a bit... due to very early heat and drought haskaps are mostly over already. But maybe you were able to freeze some. In spite of everything we got a pretty good crop; what we could snatch from the birds, who have definitely found them. 

 

There's already a lot going on here, so I resorted to frozen puff pastry for the crust, although what this mostly requires is some patience. Time to cook the potatoes; time to bake the pie; and time for it to cool. 

Now that haskaps are fading from the scene, you could use currants instead. Red or black ones for best effect, although they will be a bit seedier than the haskaps. 

Given the size and richness of the ingredients this is a bit of a party piece; and who knows? Someday soon we'll be able to gather more than two or three together again. As of yesterday, Mr. Ferdzy and I - my mother was done with it a few weeks back - are fully vaccinated. Hurray!

 

8 servings

2 hours - 40 minutes prep time

NOT including cooking the potatoes

NOT including cooling time

300 grams (10 ounces; 4 medium) potatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon allspice berries

1 1/2 teaspoons rubbed savory

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

 

Put a pot of water on to boil and boil the potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. You could also use leftover baked or boiled potatoes - you want approximately 2 cups once peeled and diced, which is what you should do once your potatoes are cool. 

 

Grind the salt, peppercorns, celery seed, and allspice together. Put them in a small bowl with the rest of the seasonings. 

 

1 cup finely chopped green onions

500 grams (1 pound) ground chicken

2 large eggs

500 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken pieces

Wash, trim, and chop the green onions. Put them in a mixing bowl with the ground chicken, the cooled, diced potatoes, the spices, and the eggs.  

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Chop the remaining chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the mixing bowl. Mix everything well together.

 

450 grams (1 pound; 2 rolls) thawed from frozen puff pastry 

2 cups haskap berries

 

Take one sheet of the thawed puff pastry and roll it out slightly. Line a large (10") pie plate with it, letting the corners drape over the edges. Spread 1/3 of the chicken filling evenly in it. 

The berries must be washed and picked over, and drained well. Spread half of them evenly over the chicken filling in the pie-crust. Top with another 1/3 of the chicken filling, evenly spread out, then add the final layer of berries and chicken filling in the same way. 

Fold the edges of the puff pastry up over the filling. Roll the remaining piece slightly and lay it on top so that the triangular edges are sticking out over the straight sides of the bottom piece. In between each of the folded up sections, pull the pastry slightly away from the pie plate and tuck the triangular overhanging pies in along the inside of the pie plate. Once they are all in, pinch around the edges to seal, and shape the top of the pie nicely. Poke it all over with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Put the pie plate on a baking tray - I think you can rely on this one to be a leaker - and bake for 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

Let the pie cool to just warm or room temperature before serving. It will definitely cut better once cool, and can be made in advance and refrigerated; bring it out 15 minutes or so before serving to bring it back to room temperature. 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year at this time I made Basic Very Low Sugar Ice Cream.