After I became vegetarian, one of the two foods I missed the most was KFC fried chicken.  Something about those 11 herbs and spices… smelled and tasted so good.  Below is the best recipe I’ve found so far to replicate it, the seasonings adapted from mashed.com.

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Country Fried Chicken - Like Vegetarian KFC

After I became vegetarian, one of the two foods I missed the most was KFC fried chicken.  Something about those 11 herbs and spices... smelled and tasted so good.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 20 oz Gardein Chick'n strips or one batch Vegan Chicken separated in chicken-sized chunks
• Neutral oil for frying like canola or peanut oil
• MSG seasoning like Ajinomoto or Accent (optional)

Batter:

• 1½ c buttermilk
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 t vegetarian seasoning ground to a powder

Breading:

• 2 c self-rising flour
• 2 t corn flour or masa harina
• 2 t salt
• ¼ t baking soda
• 1½ t dried thyme
• 1½ t dried basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 T celery salt
• 1 T black pepper ground
• 1 T yellow mustard ground
• ¼ c paprika
• 2 T garlic salt
• 1 T ginger ground
• 3 T white pepper ground

Instructions

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the Batter ingredients until they're well combined and the ground seasoning is dissolved.
• Add the chick'n to the batter bowl and toss to coat. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap or a lid and let it sit for 10 minutes, or as long as overnight. If marinade times exceed 30 minutes, place the bowl in the refrigerator.
• In a large bowl, combine the Breading ingredients.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat about 3 inches of oil or fill an electric tabletop fryer to its MAX line.
• Preheat the oil to 350ºF over medium-high heat, using a deep-frying thermometer to check the temperature.
• Remove a chick'n piece from the batter. Place the piece in the breading allowing the batter to drip freely into the breading bowl while you do this.  The breading clumps is what gives the chick'n its signature flaky texture.  Press down firmly, allowing the flour to adhere on all sides.  Shake off any excess flour and carefully drop the chick'n into the hot oil. Continue dredging chick'n until the fryer is full but not overcrowded.
• 2nd round of breading:  Dip each piece of breaded chick'n back into the batter quickly and then back into the breading.  Encourage clumping.
• Drop the twice-breaded chik'n into the deepfryer separately, taking care to keep them separate. Cook the chick'n for about 4½ minutes, turning halfway through, until the crust turns an appealing golden brown color.  Remove from oil and cool.
• Sprinkle each piece of chicken with a few shakes of MSG (optional) before serving.

Doro Wat is the national dish of Ethiopia.  It’s impossible to get a vegetarian version of it, so naturally Deniz and I had to vegetarianize the dish.  We started with Marcus Samuelsson’s Doro Wett recipe, modified it for our vegetarian diet and taste, and simplified it for easier cooking.  Below is our adapted version.  It has a delicious earthy and savory flavor, perfect for pairing with Gardein’s mild Chick’n.

Ingredients:

• 42 oz Gardein Meatless Crispy Chick’n or Beyond Chicken
• 2 medium red onions, diced
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 Knorr vegetarian vegetable bullion cube
• ¼ cup dry red wine
• 2 hard-boiled eggs

Spiced Butter:

• 4 T unsalted butter
• 2 T medium red onion, chopped
• 1/8 t garlic, minced
• ½ T ginger, pureed
• 1/8 t fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• 1/8 t turmeric, ground
• ¼ t black pepper, ground
• 3 cloves
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Berbere or chili powder
• ½ t salt

Instructions:

Bake the meatless chick’n according to package instructions.  Slice each nugget in half and set aside.

Combine the Spiced Butter ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add the onions and the Spiced Butter to the pan.   Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Add the water, bullion cube, and wine.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the eggs and simmer for another 5 minutes. The sauce will be loose and soupy. Season with salt to taste.  Add the sliced baked meatless chick’n and stir to coat before serving.

This walnut sauce is a simple, but delicate and perfectly balanced complement for vegetarian chicken.  Smooth and creamy with crunchy chunks.  Together it’s one of those so-good-have-to-eat-more type of dishes.  We adapted it from The Sultan’s Kitchen:  a Turkish Cookbook by Ozcan Ozan for our vegetarian diet.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Gardein meatless crispy chick’n (we use the Mandarin Orange variety, and leave the sauce out for a different purpose)
• 2 t paprika

Walnut Sauce:

• 2 T butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 t garlic, minced
• 1½ T paprika
• 1 t chili powder
• 2 c veggie broth (1 Knorr vegetarian bullion cube dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water)

• 2 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
• 1½ walnuts, chopped
• ½ t salt, or more to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Place the Gardein meatless chick’n in a single layer on a greased baking pan.  Sprinkle the paprika over the top of the chick’n.  Bake in the oven for 9 minutes.  Flip over each chick’n piece, place back in the oven and bake for another 9 minutes more.

Heat the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown.  Add in the garlic, paprika, and chili powder.  Turn off the heat and immediately remove the mixture from the pan to a food processor.

Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the food processor.  Blend the sauce until mostly smooth with a few chunks.  Add more salt as needed, to taste.

To serve, slice the baked chick’n strips.  Liberally pour the sauce on top.

Lemongrass tofu is Deniz’ favorite Vietnamese dish.  We both love it, with rice or in a ban mi.  This is our vegetarian adaptation to the Chicken Stir-Fried with Lemongrass and Chile recipe in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors by Andrea Nguyen.

Ingredients:

• 2 batches of Deep Fried Marinated Tofu Cubes
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into ½ inch squares
• 1 c coconut milk
• ½ c concentrated broth (½ Knorr bullion dissolved in ½ c of boiling water, or leftover broth from marinading the tofu cubes prior to deep frying)
• 2 T cilantro, chopped (optional)

Marinade

• 1 t salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 T curry powder
• 1 T fish sauce
• 2 t water

Wet Spices

• 4 T vegetable oil
• 6 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 Serrano chilies, finely chopped
• 6 stalks lemongrass, green tops chopped off (keeping the whiter bottom 3 inches), hard outer layers removed, finely chopped

Instructions:

Prepare the ingredients as described above.  In a small bowl, combine the Marinade ingredients.  In a medium bowl, combine the Wet Spices.

Pour the Marinade over the deep fried marinated tofu cubes.  Stir to evenly coat, stirring carefully to minimize damage to the tofu cubes.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over high heat.  Add the rest of the Wet Spices and stir-fry for a minute.  Add the marinated deep fried tofu cubes and the bell peppers, and stir to coat well.  Cook for an additional minute.  Add the coconut milk and concentrated broth, using a spatula to flip and stir to evenly coat.  Lower the heat and cook for about 6 minutes, flipping the tofu occasional to prevent burning.  The tofu is done when the coconut milk is barely visible.

Garnish with optional cilantro.

Tofu cubes make a fantastic meat substitute when marinated, coated with seasoning, and fried or deep-fried.  Below is a recipe that we modified from The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table.  It’s a great base most any chicken-based stir fry or wrap.  It’s also tasty enough to eat on its own.  Soon after cooking, there are always several that seem to mysteriously disappear into my mouth.

Ingredients:

• 2 blocks of extra firm tofu, cubed
• 3/4 c all purpose flour
• 1 c cooking oil
• 1/4 c butter (optional)
• 2 Knorr vegetable bullion cubes
• 1½ c water

Seasoning (can be modified for taste):

• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper
• ½ t onion powder
• ½ t garlic powder
• ½ t cayenne
• 1 t paprika

Instructions:

Boil the water.  Dissolve the bullion cubes into the boiling water in a large bowl.  Add the cubed tofu to the bowl, ensuring that each cube is fully covered in the marinade.  Marinade in the refrigerator overnight.

Drain the marinated tofu cubes.  Pat the cubes with a paper towel to remove excess water.  Sprinkle the Seasonings ingredients to the bowl, gently tossing the tofu to evenly coat.

Sprinkle the flour into the bowl, continuing to gently toss to evenly coat the tofu.

Heat the cooking oil and optional butter in a medium-sized sauce pan on medium high heat or a deep-fryer.  Add the coated tofu into the pan/fryer ensuring that each cube is fully covered in oil.  You may need to do multiple batches for even coating.  Deep fry for 4 minutes.

Remove the deep-fried tofu with a slotted spoon.  Cover with sauce, or use as a chicken substitute in another recipe.

With its aromatic smell and flavor, Sichuan pepper makes any dish special. Now add hot bean paste, ginger, garlic, and some bell peppers – we end up with a Chinese delicacy that will satisfy anybody, not just vegetarians.

Ingredients

• 1 lbs Gardein Chick’n (Mandarin Orange, or a similar version that is battered but not breaded.  Set aside the sauce for another use.)
• 1 T hot bean paste

Pepper spice mix:

• ½ T Sichuan peppercorn, ground
• 1 dried hot red pepper

Veggies:

• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 T green onion, minced
• 1 t garlic, minced
• 1 t ginger, minced

Sauce:

• 3 T cooking wine
• 3 T light soy sauce
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T water
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1 t rice vinegar
• 1 t corn starch
• ½ Knorr Vegetable Bouillon

Directions

Bake the fake chicken pieces in oven for 18 minutes at 425°F flipping midway. They should be golden brown, and little crispy. Cool.  Cut each nugget in half.

Prepare the Veggies per the Ingredients list.  Combine the Sauce ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.

Heat the wok, add 3 T oil.  Stir fry Veggies until fragrant. Remove and set aside.

Add 1 T oil to the wok. Add in hot bean paste to fry until fragrant, then add in the Pepper Spice Mix.

Turn off the heat.  Add the Sauce and stir well to ensure the boullion is completely dissolved.

Add the baked chick’n and Veggies back into the wok.  Stir well to coat everything evenly with the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs vegan chicken, torn apart into 1 inch pieces with a fork
• 3 T jerk seasoning
• 3 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying

Batter:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cornstarch

Sauce:

• 1 cups store bought mustard-based BBQ sauce
• 1 T  soy sauce
• 3-ounce canned crushed pineapple
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 3 T  brown sugar
• 1 t ground ginger

Instructions

Mix the Batter ingredients in a large bowl. Add all vegan chicken pieces at the same time into the bowl and toss to coat.  Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep fryer. Drop the coated vegan chicken pieces in the wok/deep fryer and cook until golden brown.  Separate the pieces after they are dropped in, so they don’t stick together.  Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Preheat grill to high.

Sprinkle jerk seasoning evenly on the deep fried chicken pieces to coat well. Grill until pieces are slightly charred.  Use skewers to keep the smaller chicken pieces from falling through the grate if needed.

Mix the Sauce ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Cook on medium heat until heated through.  Pour the sauce onto the grilled chicken pieces and stir to coat well.  Serve.

Another great recipe from Wei-Chuan’s Chinese Style Szechwan Style cookbook, adapted for our vegetarian diet. We were test trying a new vegchicken recipe, so the chicken in the picture is a little darker than the recipe will produce.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs vegan chicken, torn apart into 1 inch pieces with a fork
• 1T lemon peel, freshly zested
• 2 c vegetable oil

Batter:

• 1 egg
• 5 T corn starch
• 2 T all purpose flour
• 1.5 t soy sauce
• 1 t rice wine
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper

Sauce:

• 1 T water
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1/2 T rice wine
• 1/2 T corn starch
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1/4 t black pepper

Instructions:

Mix the Sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Heat the sauce on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce boils.  Turn off the heat and set aside.

Mix the Batter ingredients in a large bowl. Add all chicken pieces at the same time into the bowl and toss to coat.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep fryer. Drop the coated chicken pieces in the wok/deep fryer and cook until golden brown.  Separate the pieces after they are dropped in, so they don’t stick together.  Drain.  Pour the boiled Sauce on top of the deep fried chicken pieces.  Sprinkle the lemon peel on top and mix to coat evenly.  Serve.

Another great recipe from Wei-Chuan’s Chinese Style Szechwan Style cookbook, adapted for our vegetarian diet. We were test trying a new vegchicken recipe, so the chicken in the picture is a little darker than the recipe will produce.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs vegan chicken, torn apart into 1 inch pieces with a fork
• 4 oz cashews, roasted
• 2 green peppers
• 8 oz can of water chestnuts, sliced
• 1 T ginger, diced
• 2 c vegetable oil
• 2 bunches green onions, chopped

Marinade

• 1 T water
• 1/2 T soy sauce
• 1/2 T corn starch

Sauce:

• 1 T soy sauce
• 1/2 T rice wine
• 1/2 T corn starch
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 c veggie broth

Instructions:

Mix the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix the Marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add all chicken pieces at the same time into the bowl and toss to coat.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep fryer. Drop the coated chicken pieces in the wok/deep fryer and cook until golden brown.  Separate the pieces after they are dropped in, so they don’t stick together.  Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Heat 2 T of cooking oil in a wok on high heat.  Stir-fry the ginger for 30 seconds.  Add the green pepper and continue stir-frying until the peppers are slightly soft, about 3 minutes.  Pour in the Sauce, turn the heat to medium and continue stirring and cooking until the sauce thickens.  Add the chicken, roasted cashews, and green onions and stir to coat evenly.  Serve with rice.

Here’s another fast and delicious recipe from Sandra Lee adapted our vegetarian diet.  It’s great by itself or as an accompaniment to a veggie meaty dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 T veggie oil, divided
• 1 recipe of vegan chicken, chopped into ½ inch pieces
• 2 c long grain rice (we like basmati)
• 4 c veggie broth (2 cubes of Knorr vegetarian bouillon mixed with 4 cups of boiling water)
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced  tomatoes, with juice
• 1 T chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Veggies

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped

Spices

• 1 T garlic, chopped
• 1 T Cajun seasoning
• ¼ t cayenne pepper
• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper

Instructions:

Combine the Spices ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat 1 T of oil In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegan chicken, season lightly with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides, about 7 minutes.. Remove the chicken and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the sauté pan.  Add the Veggies and stir-fry until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the Spices and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Stir in the rice. Add 3 c of the broth and the canned tomatoes including juice, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.  Check the mixture halfway through cooking.  Add additional broth during cooking if the rice is dry.  After the rice is cooked, add the fried chicken pieces.

General Tso’s Chicken is my favorite Chinese dish.  I love, love, love it.  When I visit a city with a Chinatown, I go on the hunt for a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that serves General Tso’s vegetarian chicken.  There aren’t many who make it, and none in Hawaii, so I had to learn how to make it myself.  Below is the best we’ve made so far, a vegetarian-modified version of a few recipes we’ve found on the web.

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs vegan chicken, torn apart into 1 inch pieces with a fork
• 2 cups green onions, sliced
• 5 small dried chilies, seeds removed or 1/4 t red pepper flakes
• 1 red pepper, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped into large pieces
• 8-oz can of sliced water chestnuts, chestnut slices chopped in half
• 1 head of broccoli florets, split into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• 6 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying

Batter:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cornstarch

Sauce:

• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 3 T orange juice
• 1½ t fresh garlic, minced
• ½ c brown sugar
• 3 T soy sauce
• ½ T rice vinegar
• ¼ cup rice wine
• ½ t sesame oil
• ½ t chili paste
• 1 t ginger
• ¼ t MSG (optional)
• 2½ cups veggie broth (1½ Knorr Vegetable Bouillon with 2½ cups of water)

Instructions

Mix the Sauce ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Mix the Batter ingredients in a large bowl. Add all chicken pieces at the same time into the bowl and toss to coat.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep fryer. Drop the coated chicken pieces in the wok/deep fryer and cook until golden brown.  Separate the pieces after they are dropped in, so they don’t stick together.  Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Blanche the broccoli florets in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

Heat 2 T of vegetable oil in a wok.  Add red peppers/flakes, onions, peppers, and water chestnuts and stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add the Sauce mixture and mix well, and continue cooking until the sauce is thick, hot, and bubbly.

Add the battered chicken and blanched broccoli to the sauce in wok.  Stir until thoroughly coated.  Turn off heat.  Garnish with sliced green onions.  Serve immediately.

Kung Pao chicken has been my default safe choice when I am in an unknown Chinese restaurant. Pieces of chicken (or tofu) fried in Kung Pao sauce, served with chill and roasted garlic peanut. You cannot go wrong. Becoming non-meat eater did not stop me from trying alternatives. I have eaten Kung Pao tofu variations, but they weren’t quite like chicken. I was losing hope until we made some fake chicken at home, and made our own delicious vegetarian Kung Pao chicken!

Ingredients

• 300g (or 11oz) vegan chicken
• ½ c garlic peanut

Marinade:

• 1 T water
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 t cornstarch

Dry Ingredients:

• ¼ t dried red pepper (or more if you like hot!)
• ½ t ground Szechwan peppercorn

Fresh Ingredients:

• 1 t ginger, minced
• 6 sections of green onions, chopped
• 2 large red bell peppers, chopped into roughly ½ x 1 inch slices

The Sauce:

• 1 c water
• 1 Knorr vegetarian bullion cube
• ½ t brown sugar
• 2 t white sugar
• 1 t house sauce
• 2 T cooking wine
• 1 T black vinegar or rice vinegar
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1 t cornstarch

One of Deniz’ favorite meat recipes is stuffed chicken.  He had it once in the Philippines 2 years ago and has been raving about it ever since.  So I had to find a way to make it vegetarian at home.  We pulled together a number of recipes to make this concoction.  Pretty good for our first try!

Ingredients:

Vegan chicken dough

Stuffing:
1/2 lb fresh spinach
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup gouda cheese
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/2 of a (6 ounce) can black olives, sliced

Garnish:
Alfredo sauce, heated (optional)

Instructions:

Prepare the chicken dough per the instructions but do not cook.  Separate into four breast-sized pieces.

Saute spinach until spinach in 2 T of cooking oil until it it is all wilted. Remove spinach from heat and add to a medium bowl with Parmesan cheese, half of the gouda cheese, bread crumbs, beaten egg and olives. Mix the ingredients until well incorporated.

Flatten a chicken dough portion into a rectangle.  Place 1/4 of the spinach mixture in the middle of the rectangle.  Roll and cover the spinach mixture completely.  Repeat for the remaining three chicken dough pieces.

Wrap each stuffed veg chicken in aluminum foil.  Steam in a steamer for 40 minutes.  Unwrap and cool.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and broil for 5 minutes to toast cheese.  Top with the alfredo sauce.

One of Deniz’ ultimate favorite dishes is Buffalo wings.  Every time we try to pick a restaurant for dinner, he asks to go to Yard House in Waikiki because of their Gardein buffalo wings dish.  After several such repeated requests, it finally occurred to me that we can make them at home.  Below is our vegetarian adaptation to Buffalo wings.  We tried it using MorningStar’s Italian herb Chik Patties and Gardein’s Chick’n Strips.  Deniz liked the MorningStar version better and I liked the Gardein version better.  In the end it depends how much you like buffalo sauce.  The more breading, the more buffalo sauce flavor.

And yes, I know that both MorningStar and Gardein offer buffalo wing products, but we couldn’t find them in Hawaii, and I don’t like how hot their version is anyway.  These are just right.

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American Buffalo Vegetarian Chicken Wings

What makes buffalo wings special is the buffalo sauce (and the ranch dip), so you can make a perfectly satisfying vegetarian buffalo wings with this recipe.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 7 oz Chik Patties or Chick'n Strips
• Ranch dip

Buffalo sauce:

• 3 T butter
• 2 t garlic minced
• 1/4 cup buffalo sauce
• 1/2 veggie bullion cube

Instructions

• Cook the chick patties/strips in the oven/stovetop according to package directions.  We baked the breaded patties at 400°F for 14 minutes and stir fried the (non-breaded) strips in 1 T cooking on high heat until browned.
• Heat the buffalo sauce ingredients in a pan until the bullion is fully dissolved.
• Mix the heated patties/strips in the sauce until coated evenly and the sauce is absorbed.
• Serve with the ranch dip.

I used to think that bakery should be always separate from savory food (well, except bread of course). Whenever I saw a chicken pot pie in the frozen section, I was asking myself “why?”. After I tried one, I found the answer.

When we baked this Vegetarian Chicken Pot Pie at home for the first time, my hopes weren’t too high. After all, it was vegetarian with no real chicken. Fortunately I was wrong again. It turned out to be a fantastic pot pie, minus the chicken blood on our hands.

We baked this pot pie in ramekins, which provides a good serving size if you are very hungry. Delphine and I usually just share one. Also, you can be flexible with the filling. e.g. you can put your favorite vegetable if you like. But we suggest you use the other listed ingredients for a closest chicken-like taste (if you have a better tasting formula, please share in the comments!). I’d also like to mention Ina Garten here since we modified her recipe on Food Network here.

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Vegetarian Chicken Pot Pie

Enjoy this creamy savory dish with baked crust that adds to the taste and texture with every spoon

Equipment

• 6 ramekins

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb Morningstar chik patties If you cannot find this, try another vegetarian chicken meat or cauliflower can also be substituted
• 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 cups yellow onions chopped
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups of stock 3 Knorr veggie bullion cubes dissolved in 6 cups of hot water
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 2 frozen pie crusts round
• 1 egg for brushing the crust

Veggies and Seasoning:

• 1½ cups carrots diced
• 1 small potato diced
• 1½ c frozen peas
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

The Filling

• Bake the chick'n pieces for 15 minutes at 400°F.  Let cool and then dice.
• Prepare the Ingredients as described in the ingredients list above.
• In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the chopped onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add the flour, mix until thoroughly combined, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
• Add the hot chicken stock to the roux, a little at a time while constantly stirring to mix evenly.
• Add the diced Veggies and Seasoning, bring to a slow boil, and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes.
• Add the heavy cream, diced vegchicken and minced parsley. Mix well.
• Fill the 6 ramekins with the filling.

The Pie Crust and Baking

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• Let the pie crusts thaw so the are easy to work with.
• Separate and bunch the pie crusts into 6 even balls.  Use a roller pin to shape it into flat rounds just slightly larger than the ramekin tops.
• Place on top of the filled ramekins.  Firm in place and press a fork across the edges for aesthetics.
• Brush the tops with the beaten egg.  Poke some holes with the fork (stab each ramekin crust with a fork for 4 times).
• Put the ramekins on a baking pan, making sure they are not touching each other.
• Bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack, or until golden brown.