“Once a Daring Baker, always a Daring Baker. It’s the best baking community 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!
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
Oh those days! Some of my all time favourite challenges were …
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.
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.
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:
- Phyllo pastry
- 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}
- Creamy Garlic Gravy
- Melt your butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over the butter and whisk together.
- 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.
- Filling
- 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.
- Toss into cooked chicken with the basil. Mix well
- Fold into the creamy garlic sauce.
- Assembling
- Preheat oven to 180C
- 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.
- Keep the melted butter handy.
- 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.
- Divide the filling into the number of pies you plan to make.
- 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.
- Repeat with the other pastry.
- 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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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
