Chicken pot pie

Talk about comfort food! Elizabeth just loves chicken pot pie, and I've not loved any that I've made in the past. My old flame, Paul, had a sister who made a magnificent chicken pie. It took all day to put together - starting with poaching an entire chicken, making a pie crust from scratch, cooking the vegetables to just the right doneness, then putting it all together with a rich creamy sauce. Oh yeah, it was to die for, and it was her ultimate demonstration of love. I remember she made it for the first guy she ever slept with. He didn't even show up the next day for dinner. His loss. Anyway, I think she used a recipe from the McCall's cookbook, but this one looks pretty close. It's from the King Arthur's Flour catalog.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie may be made the "old-fashioned" way, beginning with boiling the chicken, and peeling, chopping and blanching the vegetables; or the "short-cut way," beginning with boneless chicken breast and thighs, and using thawed frozen vegetables and cream of chicken soup as the sauce. Use any or all "convenience" products to cut one or more of the steps out of the process.

Chicken one 5-pound roasting chicken, or 5 pounds of chicken parts, including light and dark meat 1 large onion, cut in chunks 2 large carrots, cut in chunks 5 sprigs fresh parsley 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1 teaspoon salt 1 quart (32 ounces) water Filling 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) chicken fat (reserved from poaching liquid, above) 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter 6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) chicken stock (prepared from poaching liquid, above) 11/2-2 cups sliced carrots, (blanched until tender—or just use thawed frozen carrots) 11/2 cup peas, (we used frozen, thawed) 1 1/2 cup small white onions (we used 1 10 ounce bag of frozen onions)

Chicken: Place the chicken (or chicken parts), onion, carrots, parsley, thyme and salt in a deep stock pot. Add the water; it should almost cover the chicken (if it doesn't, add more). Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer the chicken and vegetables for about 1 1/4 hours (for a whole chicken) or 45 minutes to 1 hour (for chicken parts), till chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and vegetables, discarding the vegetables and spreading the chicken on a platter to cool. Boil the stock till it's reduced to 2 1/2 cups; this will take about 45 minutes. If after 45 minutes there's more than 2 1/2 cups of stock, simply measure out 2 1/2 cups, and save (or discard, or pour on your dog's food) the rest. Alternatively, you can use 20 ounces of canned chicken broth, about 1 1/2 cans. Filling: Skim the fat off the top of the stock, reserving 3 tablespoons and discarding the rest. Place the 3 tablespoons of fat in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of butter, and heat over medium heat till butter is melted. Add 6 tablespoons of flour, and stir to combine. Gradually pour in the 2 1/2 cups stock, whisking constantly. Cook and stir the sauce over medium heat till it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for 5 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, remove the skin and bones from the chicken, and tear it into 1-inch pieces. When the sauce is ready, stir in the chicken and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add ground black pepper, additional salt to taste, and the blanched or thawed vegetables Spoon the filling into an 8 x 12-inch (or similar size) 2- to 3-quart casserole dish; it should be wide rather than deep, in order for the crust to fit on top. Prepare your favorite single-crust pie crust recipe or; the one that follows. Feel free to use all butter (rather than a butter-shortening mixture) if you prefer, but using some vegetable shortening helps make a flakier crust that's also a little easier to handle. All-butter crusts tend to have a mealy rather than flaky texture. Crust 1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Mellow Pastry Blend or Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 tablespoon (1/8 ounce) buttermilk powder (optional; it'll make the crust tenderer) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup (2 ounces, 1/2 stick) butter 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) vegetable shortening 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar 3 to 5 tablespoons cold water In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, buttermilk powder (if you're using it), salt and baking powder. Using a pastry fork, pastry blender, your fingers or a mixer, cut in the butter and vegetable shortening, leaving some baby pea-sized lumps. Mix the vinegar with 3 tablespoons of the water. Sprinkle this mixture over the flour and fat. Squeeze the dough together; if it's not cohesive, add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons water (just enough to make the dough stick together). Seeing as flour is at its driest in the winter, you'll probably have to use the greatest amount of water. Shape the dough into a flattened disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes or longer. Roll the crust out slightly larger than the dish. Place it on top of the filling; cut several vent holes, and use any scraps of dough to decorate the top crust. Bake the pie in a preheated 375?F oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Yield: about 8 servings. SHORT-CUT METHOD Use leftover cooked turkey or chicken; you'll need 1 3/4 to 2 pounds of boneless, skinless meat, which is between 6 and 7 cups of meat. Or use 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless breast or thighs, cut into pieces and saut?ed until cooked through. Use 2 cans of undiluted cream of chicken soup for the sauce, and stir in the thawed frozen vegetables. Pour into a lightly greased casserole dish, and top with pie crust (prepared, or your own). Cut vents in the crust, and bake in a preheated 375?F oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbly underneath.

©2007 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Elizabeth's Birthday

So, what is her favorite meal? Steak? Pizza? Spaghetti? Homestyle brown rice? Maybe a nice steak would be nice--with baked potatoes. Christmas Eve is just a week away, and we always have a tenderloin roast and roasted potatoes, so is it too close? Maybe not. Hamburgers! That's it!

Chili Wednesday
Macaroni and cheese Thursday
Friday - why pizza of course!

December 10th

With it being this close to Christmas, and only three days needing meals this week my shopping trip was light. So how is it that I end up spending $100???? It was a late day - the girls wanted to do some Christmas shopping after Elizabeth's violin rehearsal, so they went to Target while I went to Giant. Wanted something warm and hearty, casual and quick, so I stopped by the deli counter for corned beef and swiss - picked up a package of sauerkraut, a loaf of rye, and a bottle of thousand island dressing and voila, ruebens! Who doesn't love that?

Monday - grilled chicken, corn casserole, green salad with nuts (requested by Elizabeth)
Tuesday - going out for Thai
Wednesday - chili verde - gotta make that today
Thursday - macaroni and cheese - nice and light...uh...not
Friday-Elizabeth's birthday dinner with friends at Brasserie Beck - the coolest dinner spot in the City!
Sunday - maybe shrimp

What to eat this week

It might rain today, so I think some soup and really hearty bread would be nice. There's one on Epicurious with summer squash and other veggies looks pretty good.

Bill's requested steak one night, so we can do that Tuesday - a nice quick meal after my late work day. Wednesday, I have the day off, but have to get dinner on and off the table quickly, I'll make quiche - I'll make and extra one for Tara.

A pork loin roast is thawing, for Thursday night since that's one night we can have a leisurely meal. Some potato wedges tossed in the pan for the last hour will be nice. Leftovers need to be pork BBQ Sunday night.

Monday - Cream of summer squash soup, bread, and salad
Tuesday - Grilled steak, baked potatoes, salad
Wednesday - quiche, salad
Thursday - pork loin roast, roasted potatoes, apple sauce, green beans
Friday - hamburgers
Saturday - Proscuitto tomato, basil, mozzarella paninis.
Sunday - BBQ, coleslaw

I can go to the store today and have everything on hand, and I just love having an answer when the kids ask, as they always do, "Mom, what's for dinner?"

Pigeon Peas with Rice

In looking for an authentic rice and beans recipe for the book club food to go along with "Their Eyes Were Watching God", I came across a can of Pigeon Peas. I wondered if they were what was meant by "cow peas" in the book, so I bought a couple of cans. Turns out cow peas are what we always called black-eyed peas, so I did the recipe with the black-eyed peas instead. Very yummy.
But now I had these two cans of pigeon peas on the shelf. On the back was a recipe for a hispanic version of beans and rice - I guess there's a recipe for beans in rice in nearly every culture! Turned out to be a family favorite - all the kids just loved it- ate every bite. So I made some for Kathy's family the next night. I hope they liked it too.

Here's the recipe with my changes:

4 slices thick sliced bacon, chopped
2 cups chopped onions
1/2 c chopped bell peppers (I like a mix of red, yellow, and green)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans pigeon peas (Gandules Verdes)
2 tsp salt
1 cup tomato sauce
3 cups water
2 cups rice
The recipe calls for something called Sazon Goya con Culantro y Achiote as well, but in looking up that item, I found that paprika plus a bit of nutmeg and dash of cayenne will serve just fine. Plus a sprinkling of fresh cilantro at the end is a very nice touch.

Cook the bacon in a large shallow skillet till crisp. Add the onions , garlic, and peppers and cook till softened. Drain most of the liquid from the pigeon peas and stir them in. Add the salt, seasoning, tomato sauce, rice, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook about 20 minutes until rice is done. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro. You can sprinkle with a little hot pepper vinegar if you like.

eat your veggies

I'm determined that we should eat more fresh vegetables even if it's the middle of winter. So scrounging around for lunch materials yesterday I found
a red bell pepper
an apple
carrots
radishes
half a red onion

So I chopped the all up finely and threw them together with about a half a cup of crumbled feta cheese and a handful of chopped walnuts. Used bottled balsamic vinaigrette dressing with a little dijon mustard stirred in. I also had a little cooked brown basmati rice left over, so I heated it up just a smidge and stirred it in. We dished it up into three servings and crumbled up two strips of bacon for the three salads. It was really good. The bacon is not necessary, but the feta is a must. I would make this again for sure.

Went to Giant yesterday for the first BIG shopping trip in a few weeks. The kids all needed stuff for their lunches, and it seemed we were out of fresh produce of any kind. My DH mentioned he was craving steak, so I picked up some nice looking sirloin to marinate and cook London broil style. Half of the left over pork roast from Sunday night, went into homemade BBQ last night with coleslaw. We had gotten some really yummy sauce from the East Carolina BBQ company when we were down there in November. I love the vinegary flavor it adds to the shredded pork. Then just some good old fashioned KC masterpiece finishes the sandwich.

The rest of the pork leftovers will go into these great little tacos – here’s the recipe

Shredded pork roast (shoulder is best, but loin will do)
Thinly sliced radishes
Sliced avocado
Cilantro with stems
Plenty of salt and pepper
Corn tortillas cooked in a little oil until they’re mostly soft with a few crispy places.

Just roll the stuff up inside the tortilla – very different and very yummy. You can add sour cream if you like, but I find that the subtle blend of flavors is great without.

They had beautiful ground beef, so I made some chili for Wednesday night. And picked up some sirloin to marinate and grill Thursday. So, my weeknight meals are done! Happy happy!

I also picked up the January issue of Bon Appetit - lots of yummy ideas in there to try - I'm especially excited about the sweet and salty dessert ideas.

Looks like my oldest daughter and her best friend will be studying for midterms tonight. The friend is a vegetarian, so I'm re-thinking tonight's dinner. I had a wonderful pasta dish at CD Cafe with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and feta cheese. I actually have all that stuff on hand, so I'm going to give it a whirl. This recipe from Epicurious looks like a good start.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 8-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, hearts cut in half
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives

12 ounces linguine
1 7-ounce package crumbled feta cheese (about 1 1/3 cups)
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, rosemary, and oregano. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with juices, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to same pot. Add sauce; toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten if pasta is dry. Mix in 3/4 cup cheese and 1/2 cup basil. Transfer pasta to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and 1/4 cup basil.


We can have the chicken and sweet potatoes later in the week.

Back to life as we know it

It always seems that I never cook over the holidays. And yet, we always have plenty. How can this be? Maybe it's just that I'm so caught up in holiday business that I don't remember cooking - except for Christmas Eve, which is our big celebratory meal. There's always a ham, from which we usually get several meals, then bean soup.

So here we are. Inventory at the shop is over, and I can almost breathe again. What's for dinner this week? Hmmm. My wonderful husband picked up hamburger and buns at Giant today, so dinner was easy after a long day at the shop. He wants a meatloaf and a London Broil later this week. I'd like to use up the sweet potatoes in the pantry. And we have a 2-lb. bag of shrimp in the freezer. Pasta one night appeals too, but not with a tomato-based sauce. What though? Hmm. I'll have to take a look at Giada's site.

Here's the recipe line-up so far. This will get the last of the ham out of the fridge, keep me from having to cook up a big meal after the last of inventory, and stave off a big-deal grocery trip until maybe next week when more stuff is on sale!

Monday - grilled ham and cheese paninis

Tuesday - Pasta with sundried tomatoes, feta, and artichoke hearts

Wednesday - Shrimp with pesto linguini

Thursday - London Broil and sweet potatoes or baked potatoes

Friday - Pizza night!

Saturday -

Sunday - Meat loaf, baked potatoes, broccoli