Lobster (+Crab) Pot Pie in under 2 hours, for only $16.50!

In my cookbook club we have all been dreading the lobster pot pie recipe, not because of the difficulty but because of the cost. Well I managed to make this meal for only $16.50. Most of the ingredients I already had, which made this a much cheaper dish. However, I purchased only Kroger brand products to help keep the cost down. When I made the crab cakes the crab cost me a little over $8.00, so this time I got the crab and lobster that was in a pouch in the seafood section by the meat counter…so not the freshest but not in a can; somewhere in the middle. I figured if they were only $3.25 I would give it a shot. Below is my cost breakdown; I included all of the costs, even for the items that I already had (so technically this dish is even cheaper!). Notice though that I omitted fennel, pernod, and frozen whole onions (mostly because I couldn’t find fennel & frozen onions and I’m still clueless about pernod). Since I couldn’t find the fennel and frozen onions I included more seafood…who doesn’t love more seafood?!

Onion: $0.75
Butter: $0.25
Flour: $0.25
Clam Juice: $2.25
Salt: $0.05
Pepper: $0.05
Cream: $0.50
Lobster 8oz: $3.25
Crab 8oz: $3.25 (x2)
Peas: $1.00
Parsley: $0.05
Pie Crust: $1.50
Egg: $0.10
Total: $16.50!!!

Before I put the top crust on.

Right out of the oven.

Tips from my experience: To save time, I bought the piecrust dough, which comes 2 per pack, which is perfect for recipes like this one. For the parsley, I used 1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes because ½ cup seemed like way too much! When I got to the part of the recipe that called for the clam stock, I realized that I had only bought 1 cup. So I just refilled the jar with water, shook it up and then added that water to the clam stock. It worked like a charm! I have two recommendations for preparations…In the recipe it says that there is “no need to defrost” the peas, I disagree because it adds too much water to the mixture. Just put the bag in the microwave for 2 minutes and then let the peas drain in a strainer while you’re preparing the rest of the dish. When baking the potpie, set the pan on a baking sheet in case some of the filling spills over (this prevents your oven from getting dirtier…and no one likes to clean their oven!). This was a delicious dish and I recommend trying it…. it’s fast and cheap! (I bet no one expected that comment for the Lobster Pot Pie!)

Yummy Lobster and Crab Pot Pie (page 132)