I had high hopes for dinner last night, when my bride was working on it in the morning. The leftover chicken from Sunday was going to become a pot pie. When I called home at 5 I asked if it was in the oven yet, and when I sounded concerned that it wasn't, she indicated the recipe only called for it to bake for 20 minutes. Alarm bells reverberating around the inside of my skull, I mentioned that was probably not from the "cold in the refrigerator" state, and she assured me she'd had it out of the fridge for quite some time.
So I didn't panic when I walked in the door at 5:30 and she was just starting on the biscuit topping, even though she was planning to leave for Confirmation rehearsal at 6:15 and I needed to be early to my prayer meeting in case anyone else came for the rosary. She put it in the oven at 5:40, and when took it out 20 minutes later with the biscuit top looking lightly browned. After letting it rest for 5 minutes, she went to spoon out her meal so she could eat and then leave.
Only to find the biscuit topping completely raw below the surface.
After an additional half hour of cooking, checking it at 5 minute intervals, the crust was thoroughly browned on top, clearly trending toward burned if it were to cook any longer, and now only slightly still raw underneath. By then she was long gone, and I needed to leave, too. Lesson learned: having the filling still hot from cooking is important when making a biscuit-topped pot pie. I suppose if we'd reduced the oven temp by 15 degrees and cooked it for an hour we might have managed to eat dinner last night. If we ever try to make up a pot pie in advance, we'll be sure to use a recipe that provides for that option.
Let's hope tonight's lasagna goes better.
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