Sweet Potato Pot Pie + Coconut Oil Pie Crust

so... coconut oil is REALLY good for you, you can read about some of the benefits here & here. I've started using it in a lot of my cooking & love it. Tonight I was cold, and thought potpie sounded good... I have no shortening for piecrust (it's evil anyway - boo to partially hydrogenated oils), but I thought hey my coconut oil seems close to shortening... and I googled it & found this recipe!
Anyway... I made the crust first & baked the bottom shell for about 10minutes so it was a little bit cooked. While the crust was baking, I started the potpie filling. You could use whatever veggies you have on hand, heck, that's how I always cook! and of course you could omit the chicken if you are being a good little vegetarian. I'm not a good vegetarian today, though next time I'll try it without the meat & with some garbanzo beans or something else delicious.

Coconut Oil PieCrust:

• 3/4 cup solid coconut oil (1/2 butter/1/2 coconut oil)
• 2 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 - 4 tablespoons ice cold water

Cut the coconut oil and butter into the flour and salt with pastry blender or two knives. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix well.

Roll out on floured board. Makes enough for 1 covered pie.

Sweet Potato Potpie Filling:
(adapted from this recipe)
in a large pot, COOK over medium, until potatoes are soft:

• 3TB olive oil
• 2 orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
• onion
• garlic

STIR IN:

• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can shredded chicken, undrained
  

mix together in a bowl:

• 2 C milk (I used almond)
• 2 TB cornstarch

Add cornstarch/milk to potatoes in pot, stir constantly, increase heat if needed to bring to boil, then lower heat & continue stirring... stir, stir, stir... this thickens the sauce.

SEASON TO TASTE WITH (I just throw it in & don't measure, sorry):
cumin
curry powder
salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Pour into Coconut Oil PieCrust, top with more crust & bake at 425 for 20ish minutes, until crust is browned to your liking.

Sweet Potato Pie

Served at book club for To Kill A Mockingbird. Recipe by Paula Deen.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes (not Yams! Sweet Potatoes are yellow inside, not orange)
  
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup milk
• 9-inch unbaked pie crust (I used Wegman's brand)
  
• 3 egg whites

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (It may have just been my oven, but it took mine almost an hour to bake!) Place the pie on a rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.

For the meringue, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Cool and serve. (I guess I didn't read this far because I didn't bake it again after putting the meringue on...oops!) Or you could just do without the meringue and put a dollop of whipped cream on top. I think it would be just as good.

This was awesome! It's not as overwhelming as a pumpkin pie.