Heavenly Beef Pot Pie

You may have noticed or not, but I love good food.  And I especially love me some good comfort food!  The problem is that I have oodles of food allergies to some of the best foods out there.  Now, it is pretty obvious that I have not suffered in the area of getting enough to eat, but I've been missing out on some great tastes for most of my life.

Last week I went to the grocery store with my college girl and we were walking through the frozen food section.  I caught sight of something that I have loved since I was a kid but haven't actually eaten since then.  Pot pies!  My mom used to keep some of those yummy Swanson ones on hand in our freezer when I was young.  I would bake them (they took forever in the oven for those of us who remember TBM--time before microwaves) and be so excited to dig into their yummy goodness.  Then I would put it on a plate and cut into it in order to remove the peas (allergy) even though their former presence would still be felt.

I picked up a beef pot pie last week and checked the ingredients list.  Scanning, scanning...no peas!  But then: chicken broth!  Chicken + me = death.  Thus, I started dreaming about creating a pot pie that I could put together myself and ENJOY!  Sunday afternoon I was home alone nursing a sore back and decided it was now or never.  I found a recipe online and planned to make it as soon as possible with a few alterations.

SUCCESS!  It required many HOURS of preparation but it was so worth it.

First, I cut up sirloin steak into cubes and put them into a saucepan with about 1/2 cup of chopped onions.    These were browned and then water was added to just cover the top of the meat.  Then I simmered it for 3 hours on low.  And oh, the smell was heavenly.  I also salted and peppered the meat while it was browning.

Next I made the pie dough that I have been wanting to try for about a year.  I had found the recipe in a magazine and hoped it would be more successful for me than pie crust had been in the past.  That needed to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours so into the fridge it went.

Peeled and chopped 3 potatoes and the amount of carrots that I wanted to use.  

I put the veggies into beef broth (about 14 oz), brought it to a boil and then simmered for about 20 minutes.  When meat and veggies were done I removed them from their pans and put into a large bowl.  Make sure you leave the broth in the pan in which you cooked the taters and carrots. Then I added a can of corn since I can't do the peas thing.

I put the bottom crust into the pie plate and then filled it up with the meat and vegetable goodness.

Then you use the broth to make the "gravy".  Thicken the broth with 1/3 cup of cold water mixed with 3 T. of corn starch and cook for 5 minutes.  I added some more beef broth to make more gravy.  That is my theme song  "MORE GRAVY."

 I added the top crust and then baked it for 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  

Comfort food heaven!!!