Baking | Tribute to The Queen of All Daring Bakers, Lis … and Savoury Phyllo Chicken Pot Pies #tributetolis #daringbakers

“Once a Daring Baker, always a Daring Baker. It’s the best baking community on the web!”

How do you begin to pay a tribute to someone who made a lot of us who or what we are today! We woke up to the tragic news that that the very largehearted & fun, the cornerstone of the best group for bakers ever created, the Daring Bakers,  Lisa passed away. With the lovely Ivonne, Lisa inspired, she cajoled, she filled in, she encouraged, she whipped us along, whisking us into a homogenous group … one of the best baking communities ever created on the web.

Lisa Cifelli of La Mia Cucina, co-founder of The Daring Kitchen (originally The Daring Bakers) passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Lis, understands how much she will be missed. Her big heart, incredible sense of humor, epic emails, and mad organization skills were legendary. Bless her eternally cotton socks! {Kelly P}

In November 2006, Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to challenge themselves to bake pretzels for the very first time using the same recipe. They each went ahead and posted about it on November 18, 2006. Having enjoyed that experience tremendously, they decided to try it again the next month, this time choosing to bake biscotti. And to make matters even better, they were joined by a few more food bloggers. As the months went by, their baking group continued to grow, until it was finally decided that this “little baking group” had to have a name and The Daring Bakers were born! The Daring Cooks were formed in 2009 as a way to learn how to become better home cooks. The idea spread like wildfire with 1000’s of people who also wished to learn more joined in on the monthly challenges.

Today, The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks span the world as bakers/cooks of all nationalities come together once a month to try something new in the kitchen!

I am the baker that I am only because of the Daring Bakers. It’s been a steep upward climb at times. We’ve been through 18 pages of recipe for Julia Childs French Loaf  in Feb ’08. We’ve giggled & wept together, have whispered behind the scenes, gasped in horror when one of us let the cat out of the bag on twitter before the sacred posting date! What a community!

In the spirit of this fabulous, close knit community, we’ve come together, some still with the group, some who left a while ago, and lots of new DBr’s … united together to pay a tribute to the Queen of Daring Bakers! {Thank you for doing this Kelly P} I have made some of my best food blogger friends thanks to the DBs. Lis and Ivonne created something magical on the web; something that has never been replicated!

I say it to myself every month, I love being a Daring Baker! I miss a few as I struggle to cut out carbs, attempt to go wheat free, yet the temptation is always there. Looking back at previous challenges, the first one still comes to mind, as real as it was happening yesterday. I was chuffed to be accepted as a Daring Baker way back in January 2008. The very first challenge was a Lemon Meringue Pie. It was the ‘dark baking ages‘ in India at the time; I was very new to meringues and such. Oh how I wept. I still remember the emails exchanged with Lis and the encouragement and inspiration she offered. My pie wept, and I with it. Thought they’d chuck me out of the group. Felt like I had failed a major!

Lis stopped by to say…  “Pure genius going with the lil hearts on the crust! Would you mind if I did that one day?  Well I’m sorry it didn’t turn out as you intended, but it sure did turn out pretty! Welcome to the DB’ers! xoxo

The camaraderie grew as a bunch of us chatted away behind the screens, discussing challenges in loud whispers. Meeta, Jamie, Ilva, Hilda, Dharam, Val, Kelly P, Barbara, Rosa, Jasmine, Judy, Andrea, Susan, Aparna, Coco … so many others! 

Oh those days! Some of my all time favourite challenges were …

Povitica {one of my most pinned and visited posts}, Momofukus Infamous Crack Pie, Sans Rival Cake, Filled Pate a Choux Swans, Baklava with phyllo from scratch,Stollen Pudding, Dutch Crunch Bread or Tijgerbrood, Tiramisu, Croquembouche, 

Jaconde imprime /entremets, Mango Pastel de Tres Leches, Gingerbread House, Battenberg, Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Peanut Butter icing …and so so many more. We struggled sometimes, we conquered each time. Every  challenge meaningful.

I missed posting the October challenge. I thought I would skip it, then got very tempted, succumbed past the date … and then procrastinated a little as the pictures sat in the camera. Had the post sched for this weekend. RIP beautiful lady! The Kitchen has taught me a lot!

Lighter Chicken Pot Pies with homemade phyllo … inspiration can strike anytime, this time from another Daring Baker, Suma in Bangalore. She pinged me the other day wondering why I hadn’t done it, given that it was savoury and I love everything savoury!

Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.

I am steering clear of all purpose flour in my baking, and personally have been off wheat for over 6 months in an attempt to sort out some allergies. Mr PAB too has recently joined me, so I was a guinea pig short.

The daughter is on a diet, low carbs etc … but I could see she would love this. We love pot pies at home. The boy of course is game for anything and everything pot pie, chicken, pastry. Just churn out delicious bakes day after day… and he is a happy camper. The pies were everything good!!

[print_this]Recipe: Lighter Chicken Pot Pies with homemade phyllo

Summary: Fun and light, these Savoury Phyllo Chicken Pot Pies are crisp and rustic! You can assemble them ahead of time, and bake them before serving.

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

• Phyllo pastry
• 250g all purpose flour
• 160g luke warm water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 25g olive oil
• Creamy Garlic Gravy
• 45g butter
• 20g flour
• 180ml 2% milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 45 gm shredded cheddar cheese
• Filling
• 250g cooked chicken, chopped {coked in Italian spices}
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 8 onion scapes, chopped fine
• 2 medium bell peppers, julliened
• 1 bunch fresh basil, chiffonaded
• 1tbsp olive oil
• Topping
• Sea salt, smoked paprika, dried oregano (for topping)
• Brushing
• About 1/4 cup melted butter/clarified butter

Method:

1. Phyllo pastry
2. Place all ingredients in bowl of Thermomix or food processor and knead to a soft silky dough. Remove and allow to rest for at least an hour. {You can chill if the weather is warm. Keeps wrapped in clingwrap for 1 week in the fridge}
3. Creamy Garlic Gravy
4. Melt your butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over the butter and whisk together.
5. Cook for a short minute as it bubbles, then pour in the milk. Whisk and bring it to boil, then stir in salt and garlic. Whisk until it’s as thick as honey, which should take about a minute. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese. Set aside while you prepare the components for your filling.
6. Filling
7. Heat olive oil in pan. Add the onions and onion scapes and sweta for about two minutes until soft. Add the bell peppers and stir fry for a minute. 
8. Toss into cooked chicken with the basil. Mix well
9. Fold into the creamy garlic sauce.
10. Assembling
11. Preheat oven to 180C
12. Divide the phyllo dough into 16-20 little balls. 16 will make 4 small pot pies, 20 will make 5 slightly smaller ones. Roll the dough in flour lightly and keep covered.
13. Keep the melted butter handy.
14. On a well floured surface, take one ball at a time, and roll out as thin as thin as you can. It should be almost transparent. The dough is very flexible so shouldn’t tear. Use plain flour as required. The dough should be almost an 8″ circle. Brush with melted butter and place in baking tin with the sides hanging over. Repeat for 2 more balls of dough, brushing in between each layer with melted butter.
15. Divide the filling into the number of pies you plan to make.
16. Place a portion of the filling in the centre of the pastry, draw the sides in to cover the filling. Pinch to seal. Brush with butter. Sprinkle over paprika, dried oregano and sea salt.
17. Repeat with the other pastry.
18. Bake for about 45 minutes until the pastry is nice and golden and crisp to touch. Rest for about 15 minutes before serving {Warning: the filling can be very hot. Please exercise caution especially if serving to kids}

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