SWORDFISH AND VEGGIE POT PIE WITH BACON HINTS

Coat the swordfish steaks on both sides with the chopped rosemary leaves and press gently to adhere.  Sprinkle with all over with one teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the black pepper.  Set aside.

Heat a large deep skillet over medium high heat and add the bacon.  Cook until crisp and remove from the pan, chop and set aside.  Do not discard the bacon fat drippings.

Add the seasoned swordfish steaks to the hot drippings and sear for 2 minutes on each side until golden.  Remove from the pan and let rest.

Add the butter to the drippings in the pan and add the onion and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes until the carrots begin to get fork tender.  Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking until the mushrooms are soft and begin to lightly brown, about 3 more minutes.

Add the flour, Old Bay, and remaining teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the pan.  Stir until the flour is all absorbed by the remaining fat and butter in the pan and coats the vegetables.  Add the stock and stir as a very thick gravy forms.  Add 1 cup of the milk and asparagus and continue stirring as sauce thickens.  Slowly add the remaining milk until you have a velvety sauce coating all of the vegetables.

Chop the swordfish into bit size pieces (remove any skin from the edge), about 1” chunks.  Add this, the chopped bacon, and the peas to the pan and stir to combine.  Let the filling cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out each pie crust to about 14” in diameter and place one in the base of a 9” or 10” pie plate.  Place the filling in the crust and top with the remaining dough.  Crimp the edges and cut several slits in the top for venting.  Combine the egg yolk with 2 teaspoon of water and brush the crust all over with the egg wash.

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown and bubbly.  Let rest for 10 minutes.

Note – I like to place a cookie sheet lined with foil on the bottom rack of the oven so that if the pie bubbles over, it does not smoke or make a mess of my oven.

Crust

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl.

Cut in shortening and butter with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse meal.

Beat the egg, vinegar, and 8 tablespoons of ice water together in a separate bowl.

Using a fork, add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and combine until the dough begins to come together.  Add additional 2 tablespoons of water as needed. Turn onto the counter and pull the pieces together, pressing the dough together firmly with your hands to combine and form a ball.  Do not overwork the dough. The consistency should hold together but still have visible chunks of butter and shortening in the dough.  This will make a flaky crust.

Break dough into 2 even pieces and form each into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.