Milk Calendar

Dan Dairy & Livestock, Features, General, This Land of Ours

Milk Calendar 2016
Inspiration in the kitchen just in time for the New Year. The beloved Milk Calendar is back featuring 19 nutritious – easy-to-make recipes for 2016. Presented by Dairy Farmers of Canada, the 2016 Milk Calendar is a time-honored tradition. On the web, look up MilkCalendar.ca to find all of the recipes found in the 2016 Milk Calendar in English and French. The website will also host monthly recipe demonstration videos for the 2016 Milk Calendar, as part of more than 100 recipe videos created for the Milk Calendar over the years since it started in 1974.

Milk Calendar

From: Dairy Goodness/Milk Calendar Recipe website

This month’s recipe:

Chicken and Root Vegetable Pot Pie | 2015 Milk Calendar

About the Milk Calendar chicken and root vegetable pot pie recipe:

All of the comforting flavours of chicken pot pie but with the extra goodness and nutrition of root vegetables – potato, carrot and parsnip – without the need to make pastry!

Ingredients

3 cups (750 mL) sodium-reduced chicken broth
1 potato, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
1 large carrot, cut into bite-size chunks
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
1 cup (250 mL) bite-size chunks of butternut squash
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) frozen peas
2 cups (500 mL) bite-size pieces cooked chicken
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dry mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried basil
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
1/4 cup (60 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) Milk

Topping:

4 sheets phyllo pastry
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter an 8-inch (2 L) square dish.

In a large pot, bring broth to a boil. Add potato, carrots, parsnips and squash; simmer covered for about 10 min or until vegetables are tender. Stir in peas. Cook covered 2 min. Reserving broth, drain vegetables. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl along with chicken. Check to make sure you have 2 cups (500 mL) of broth left; if not add a bit more broth or milk.

Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 min. Stir in thyme, mustard, basil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour; cook, whisking, for 1 min. Gradually whisk in milk and reserved broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Whisk for 3 to 5 min or until smooth and thickened.

Pour sauce over vegetable mixture; stir until well coated. Transfer to prepared dish.

Topping: Place 1 sheet of phyllo on work surface; brush entire phyllo surface with butter (keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel). Lay second sheet on top of first; brush with butter. Repeat with remaining 2 sheets of phyllo.

Cut phyllo into 4 equal-sized rectangles. Crumple a rectangle slightly; place on 1/4 of filling, tucking edges on inside of dish. Repeat with remaining phyllo rectangles, on other 3 quarters, covering entire surface of filling. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is hot and bubbling and phyllo is golden. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips

If phyllo is torn, don’t worry, you’ll never know after the sheets are stacked and crumpled for the topping.

Bake individual pot pies, simply cut the phyllo smaller.

Use turkey instead of chicken and turnip instead of parsnip.