Recently in Chef Julia Kendrick Conway

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut in chunks
• ¼ cup chilled duck fat
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 egg

 

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, butter, duck fat, sugar until crumbly.  Beat egg in a small bowl and, with processor running, add in a slow stream until dough comes together.  Add ice cold water, if needed, to bring dough together, depending on flour hydration.  Wrap pastry and chill until firm (crust is very tender due to the low melting point of the duck fat).

Filling:

 

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat (free range is most flavorful)
• 2 cups chicken broth (homemade preferred)
• Shiitake mushroom trimmings or stems
• Duck fat
• Olive oil
• ½ pound fresh chanterelles or other mushrooms, sliced thick
• 10-12 cipolline onions or pearl onions, peeled
• 10-12 fingerling potatoes, or cut up Yukon gold potatoes
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 sticks celery, sliced
• 1 cup fava beans (cooked and peeled), can substitute fresh or frozen peas
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream or whole milk
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons brandy or sherry
• ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
• White truffle oil

 

Place chicken, mushrooms/stems and broth in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken has cooked through.  Let chicken cool in broth, remove.  Strain broth, discarding mushrooms and chill.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Melt 2-4 tablespoons duck fat and toss with potatoes and onions.  Roast in oven until lightly caramelized and softened.  Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté celery and carrots until tender, about 5 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in clean sauté pan over medium high heat and sear mushrooms until golden and fragrant.  Deglaze the pan with a dash of brandy or sherry, adding salt and pepper to taste.

 

Shred chicken into bite sized pieces and combine in a bowl with vegetables, tossing gently to combine, set aside.

 

Make a roux with butter and flour, stirring constantly and cooking until golden and aromatic (like biscuits).  Whisk in cream and reserved chicken broth, along with any accumulated juices from the chicken.  Add thyme and remaining brandy or sherry and simmer until thickened.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and cool slightly.  Pour sauce over chicken and vegetable mixture, tossing gently to combine.  Add fava beans (or peas) and parsley, stirring again gently.  Mixture can be chilled and held up to two days at this point.

 

Divide dough into four balls, rolling each one out to a circle slightly larger than the rim of your ramekins (I use 14oz).  Divide the filling between the four ramekins (oil each one lightly with olive oil or pan spray).  Drizzle a little truffle oil over the filling in each ramekin.  Carefully place a top crust on each pot pie and crimp around the inside edge of the ramekins.  Chill until crust is firm again, and then cut the vent.  Brush crust with egg wash and bake in a 400F oven until crust is golden and filling bubbles out of the vent hole.  Serve hot.

 

Assaggiare Mendocino's Eggplant Salad

Recipe and photo submitted by Julia Kendrick Conway

www.assaggiare.com.

Once again, a fellow foodie read my mind.  I was saying how much I loved eggplant to a friend and suddenly... a reference to this eggplant salad pops up on Facebook!  It looked so wonderful, I just had to get the recipe!

The wine country of California offers a bounty of wonderful people who are passionate about food and wine.  Julia Kendrick Conway of Assaggiare Mendocino is no exception.  Her love of food and the art of cooking guided her to the Mendocino area where she started her own business.  Assaggiare provides unique catering services and cooking classes.

Nothing makes Julia happier than sharing her craft with others.  She believes in using nothing but the highest quality local ingredients from neighboring farmer's markets.

If you are visiting the Mendocino area, please consider Julia for catering needs or attend a class in her teaching kitchen.  For more information please visit www.assaggiare.com. Thank you Julia!

Ingredients:

• 3 small sweet peppers, Gypsy or Lipstick are recommended
• 1/2 pint home canned tomato conserva
• sea salt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried aleppo pepper bits
• 1/4 tsp ground dried chipotle or spanish smoked pimenton (less spicy)
• 1/4 cup robust olive oil
• 4 fresh Italian or Asian eggplant, cut into 1'' cubes with skin on
• 1/4 tsp LaMar's Mendocino Seasoning Sand*

Cut peppers in to quarters, removing ribs and seeds, char, skin side down on the grill until skin blisters. Cool, peel and chop coarsely. Heat tomato in a saucepan (or substitute 1 whole tomato, peeled and seeded plus 3 tablespoons doppio tomato paste and thin with water) and add garlic, aleppo pepper and chipotle. Simmer about five minutes to develop and meld the flavors, taste and season with sea salt as needed or balance the sweetness of the tomato.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a deep saucepan with a heavy bottom. Add eggplant, and stir to coat with oil. Cook until tender, 15 minutes +/-, stirring to prevent sticking. Add pepper pieces to tomato mixture and set aside. When eggplant is cooked through and translucent, add the tomato mixture and reduce temperature to low, simmering for 5 minutes. Season with LaMar's Mendocino Seasoning Sand and serve warm or at room temperature with pan-toasted flatbread or flour tortillas.

The LaMar's is a fabulous new product from our farmers' market in Mendocino that is made from their locally harvested sea salt, garlic, onion, black pepper and brown sugar. Ask for it at your local retailers or order online here