saffron dusting

Mostly, I am not too fond of the food around here. Even the pot pie (bott or bot boi) is basically just chicken & noodles in broth with lots of potatoes.

BUT.

There is one exciting spice that is grown locally: saffron.

Our bott boi is yellow...from saffron. Unlike most American pot pie, which has a pastry crust, PA Dutch pot pie is just squares of pasta in a chicken soup type recipe.

But oh, that saffron.

I used the last of mine tonight. I didn't have carrots or celery, but had onions & a bag of frozen peas...a bunch of chicken thighs (on sale for 88 cents/lb.), a bag of fusilli, some milk & flour, and some homemade chicken broth in the freezer.

So I faked it: baked the thighs & removed the meat from the bones. Added it into a dutch oven with two bags of frozen chicken stock, the fusilli & a couple of onions. And a bunch of crumbled-up saffron threads and freshly ground black pepper. Cooked the peas separately, then made gravy with milk & flour; stirred that in; and added the cooked, drained peas.

When the gravy was thick, the dish was done. It's bright yellow & tastes of saffron & pepper.

And it's dinner for the next few days at work.

I can offer a more authentic recipe if anybody wants one: but this is one of those dishes that is extremely amenable to "what's in your pantry" cooking.

You could substitute turmeric for the saffron. For example.

But if you have saffron threads, go for it! And if you don't, come see me: I will direct you to the farm where I buy mine.