Chicken Pot Pi(e)

In an attempt to just get something posted.

I’ve decided to keep this post brief.

Today is Pi day.

3.14 (12)

Remember?...

I mentioned Pi Day on Pie Day.

(Annie taught me about this day)

Of all the pie’s that have been made in my house, this is the one that pleases everyone, Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie. The filling is more stewy than soupy and we really dig that around here.

It can be made with whole wheat or all-purpose flour but I prefer whole wheat. The whole wheat flour gives the buttery, flakey crust a nutty flavor that no one can resist – often, by the end of the meal, the fluted crust has disappeared from any remaining pieces of the pie. 

Chicken Pot Pi(e)

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Yeild: 1 pie

Ingredients:

CRUST:

1 ¼ cup flour

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar (optional)

4 Tbsp shortening (cut into ¼ - inch pieces

6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into ¼ - inch pieces and chilled)

3-5 Tbsp ice cold water

FILLING:

2 large BNSL chicken breast halves (thawed)

3 Tbsp oil, divided

2 large carrots, thinly coined

1 large onion, finely diced

2 ribs of celery, chopped small

½ head of cauliflower (cut into tiny bite size pieces)

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup flour

1 ½ cups milk

2 cups chicken broth (2 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 2 cup water)

¾ cup frozen peas or corn (optional)

1 egg, beaten with 2 tbsp water

Directions:

CRUST:

1. Process flour salt (and sugar if using) in a food processor until combined. Scatter the shortening over the top and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand (about 10 seconds). Scatter the butter pieces over the top and, using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Using 1 Tbsp at a time, sprinkle ice water over flour, toss with a fork and repeat until dough comes together in rough ball (DO NOT KNEAD OR STIR THE DOUGH – this will result in a tough crust).
3. Divide the dough into two even balls, flatten each ball into a 4-inch disk. Wrap the disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

FILLING:

4. Heat 1 ½ Tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, add chicken and cook until browned and a nice crust forms. (3-4 min) Flip chicken and repeat. If chicken is not cooked thoroughly after both sides have been browned, turn the heat down to medium and cook until juices run clear and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. When done remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
5. Heat remaining 1 ½ Tbsp oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add all vegetables (expect frozen peas or corn if using) and sauté until just tender (about 5 minutes). If needed add a little of the broth to the pan, cover with a lid and simmer until veggies are soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. While veggies are cooking cut chicken into bite-size chunks.
7. When veggies are done, in a large bowl combine chicken and veggies and set aside.
8. Wipe out skillet and melt ½ cup butter. When bubbly and frothy, whisk in ½ flour and cook for 1 minute.
9. Slowly whisk in milk (a bit at a time) to make a thick cream sauce. Thin sauce by slowly adding the chicken broth.
10. Pour cream sauce over veggies and chicken (add frozen veggies if using), stir, season to taste and set aside.
11. Adjust rack in oven to middle-low position and preheat oven to 400.
12. On a well-floured surface, roll out ½ the dough to just under a ¼ - inch thickness, place in pie pan and trim skirted edge to 1”.
13. Roll out the other ½ of the dough to just under ¼ - inch thickness as well but this time cut 4 vents in the center.
14. Fill pie with veggie/chicken mixture and cover with top crust.
15. Trim the top of the crust to 1-inch, to match the length of  the bottom then tuck the top layer of dough under the bottom layer, roll it together and flute the edge to seal.
16. Brush crust with egg wash and bake in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Source: Family File – Ellen Jenkins

Gwenevere   

Steph's Virtual Bridal Shower - Dinner in a Pumpkin

When Kita sent me the invitation to help support Steph (a fellow blogger) with her upcoming wedding by being a part of a virtual Bridal Shower I was ALL IN! As much as I love dressing up in a dry-clean only gown in order to spend an evening keeping four kids, also clad in dry-clean only attire, away from the chocolate fountain bubbling in the corner, a virtual bridal shower sounded more than ideal.

The theme for the bridal shower is “Date Night” and in order to come up with a suitable idea I had to go back 14 years and remember what we did for date night when we were newlyweds…well besides spending our Saturday’s pretending to be interested in furniture just so we could get free hot dogs and soda at the local furniture store, we also liked to watch the TV’s shows we had recorded throughout the week on our VHS recorder or grab a bite to eat at the local hospital cafeteria after our Friday night volunteer shift was over. Yeah! We were pretty wild and crazy back then.

Surely we did other stuff too?  I consulted the photo album. Ahhhh yes, our first Halloween together. We hosted a murder mystery night with all of our friends from school. Look how cute we were! (and no we were not dressed up as ghosts, we just had no idea how to use a flash properly.)

It was great looking back at our first Halloween together and I realized that a tradition began that year….Pumpkin Hunting.

Since we have been married, we have always enjoyed searching for the perfect Jack-o-lantern pumpkin together. It’s the perfect date regardless of the variation you choose. We would either go to a local farm stand to pick up our pumpkin and then take some time browsing the stand and gift shop. We’d grab a bag of hot sugared pumpkin donuts and a class of cold apple cider to enjoy while we sat at a picnic table and talked about whatever crossed our minds.  Once the sun had set and I was sufficiently frozen we’d drive home. Sometimes we’d carve the pumpkin right away but usually we would save that for another date night. For carving night, we take the time to carve the pumpkin and then we’d eat roasted seeds while watching a rented movie (not a scary one…remember? I don’t do scary well).

As the years have gone by our tradition has stuck and now we enjoy doing this with our kids. Today our pumpkin patch haul includes 6 carving pumpkins  (1 for every member of the family) and about 3 or 4 sugar/pie pumpkins to be used for whatever baking treat needed baked.  And that brings us to the food….Date Night wouldn’t complete without something to eat right? I present to you... 

Dinner in a pumpkin! 

I got this recipe from my good friend Camille who we met while we lived in Michigan (when/if you have kids Steph, you’ll defiantly want to check out her blog, A Curious Thing, filled with reviews on children’s lit). Although the recipe is enough to feed 6-8 adults, you can easily stash away half of the filling in the freezer and use it on another night (You know me, I’m a fan of make-a-head meals).

Good luck Steph. I wish you the very best on your wedding day and everyday after. Your marriage will be worth every effort you put into it and I hope you and Lucas are able to start traditions that you will look forward to participating in year after year after year.

Congratulations!!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

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serves: 8

Ingredients:

4 small pie pumpkins, prepared with top cut and strings and seeds removed.

1 lb. sausage

1 lb. ground beef

1 large sweet onion, finely diced

2 large celery rib, finely diced

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 can cream of chicken soup

3 tablespons brown sugar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 can (8oz) sliced water chestnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large skillet brown the sausage and beef with the chopped onion and celery.  When done, drain and return to the skillet. Add rice, cream of chicken soup, brown sugar, soy sauce and water chestnuts then stir and heat together. Simmer for about 10 minutes on medium low heat.
3. Spoon the filling into each cleaned pumpkin shell until stuffed. Place tops onto each pumpkin, place pumpkins on a cookie sheet and back for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
4. Dinner is done when the inside of the pumpkin easily peals away from the skin with a fork. Excellent served with a bit of cheese sprinkled on top.

Source: Camille (not posted) A Curious Thing 

Gwenevere

Fajita Steak Sandwiches

I don’t even know where to start with this post. Should I just pretend that it hasn’t been THREE WEEKS since I last posted?! (how did that happen?) Or should I fill you in on all the nitty gritty details that have kept me away from the blog? If I do the latter, I may drive many of you away because that means I’ll be forced to explain the inner workings of my psyche to you and that could just get scary. :)

In order to keep you around for just a bit longer (because I do so love your company), today I’m going to just quickly say that the past few weeks have been a bit of a mental and spiritual challenge for me.  Because this challenge has had such a profound effect on me, I really want to share bits of it with you but first I want to finish what I’ve started. That means, I want to show you the third recipe of my [non]trifecta and how I said adieu to a wonderful summer. Remember summer? it seems like a lifetime ago. The weather here turned cold on Labor Day and even though I tried to hold onto it as long as I could, summer just wouldn’t have it. I had to let it go.

Well, a week before school started this year we packed up the family car and drove from Indianapolis to the Oregon Coast to vacation with my family. It was so great. We kicked up our feet and just soaked in the greatness of being together. Kids played, adults debated, we all laughed. It was perfect. See for yourself.

To be sure that no one was stuck in the kitchen more than anyone else, we divided dinner duty up amongst each family. For my dinner I chose Fajita Steak Sandwiches, the third component to the trifecta of bun, filling and side. 

This is a favorite in our house and the kids are almost always guaranteed to gobble it up. It’s quick, easy and so darn tasty! The only mistake I made was that I didn’t calculate enough for people to have seconds. So when you make these, calculate enough for people to have seconds…I promise it will get eaten.

Fajita Steak Sandwiches

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serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 pound beef sirloin, cut into 1/8 inch strips then cut into 1-inch squares

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 onion, sliced

1 green bell pepper, julienne

1 red bell pepper, julienne

3 ounces deli sliced cheese, (I prefer pepper jack. swiss, or provolone) 

4 deli buns, split lengthwise

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

½ teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together spices (salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, marjoram and basil). Sprinkle over beef and toss to coat.
2. Heat half of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté beef to desired doneness, and remove from pan. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet, and sauté the vegetables until they reach desired doneness.
3. Preheat oven on broiler setting.
4. Divide the meat between the bottoms of 4 rolls, layer with vegetables, and then top with sliced cheese. Place on cookie sheet, and broil until cheese is melted. If desired spread fresh guacamole and/or sour cream over the bun top then replace the bun top over the broiled bottom and serve (with onion rings or zucchini fries).

Gwenevere

Dutch Oven Chicken

Every year, since I was 9 years old, my family has been going to Jackson Hole, WY to camp along the banks of the Snake River and to go whitewater rafting.

In an effort to minimize the amount of work that must be done in the kitchen while at camp, the week prior to the trip is set aside to prepare as much of the food as possible. Food assignments are divvied out among those who are attending and everyone takes a part in preparing something; a sauce, browning meat, cutting chicken, washing lettuce, etc. By the end of the week much of the meal prep is complete and all that is needed to prepare each meal is to put it all together and heat it up. It’s a nice little system and it allows the cooks the opportunity to play along everyone else rather, than slave away in the kitchen all day.

This is that week. Well…it would be…if we were going…but for the first time since I can remember, the trip isn’t happening. I’m more than just a little bit sad about it but rather than dwell on what cannot be, I’m going to share some of the most memorable bits and bites from years past.

The portable outdoor kitchen has grown over the years in order to accommodate the 40-65+ people who accompany us, there are a few items that have been coming along since the beginning. One such kitchen essential are our Lodge dutch ovens. I don’t know what it is but eating food that has been prepared in a dutch oven, after a day spent paddling an 8-man raft into the eye of over a dozen rapids, flipping capsized rafts, water fighting other boats, pulling rafters in [and out] of the raft all while keeping a keen eye out for mutiny among your own raftmates, just tastes better than food prepared by conventional methods.

Although dutch oven cooking really isn’t that difficult, for someone who doesn’t have much experience with charcoal or open flame cooking, it may seem a little intimidating. (At least it was for me the first few times I tried it) So, to lessen the intimidation factor I’ll start with something relatively simple, dutch oven BBQ/Teriyaki Chicken.

The most difficult part of this recipe (and really any dutch oven recipe) is adjusting and distributing the heat so that you cook your food properly.  How much heat you use depends on the size of your oven. How to distribute the heat depends on what your cookin’

First – Calculate the heat

The general rule is to use twice the amount of coals as the diameter of the oven. For this recipe I used a 12-inch deep dutch oven, therefore 24 coals will be used on the oven at any given time.

Second – start your briquettes

Start more than you’ll need incase you need to replace some once you get started.

I prefer to use charcoal that has NOT been pretreated with lighter fluid because we have found that charcoal with lighter fluid starts out super hot, but loses it’s heat quicker and thus must be replaced more often in order to ensure the food is cooked properly.

I also prefer to start my charcoal in a chimney. The chimney keeps the coals from losing too much heat plus it’s easier to keep the coals going.

Third – determine your cooking method

Baking = more heat on top than on bottom

Roasting = even heat

Stewing = more heat on bottom than on top

Frying/boiling = all the heat on the bottom.

For this recipe, we prefer to stew so we distribute the heat with a little more on bottom (14) than on top (10).

Once you’ve done all the calculations it’s time to cook.

Place your chicken in a well seasoned dutch oven and coat with the sauce of your choice. (Since we’re camping and I want to keep it simple, I prefer to use my favorite store bought sauce.) Replace the lid on the dutch oven. Put the dutch oven over the coals and then place the needed amount of briquettes evenly, on the lid. Cook for 2 hours, rotating the lid and oven a ¼ turn every half hour or so to ensure there are no hot spots burning the food. If necessary, replace dying coals with new. If you’d like the chicken to have a nice char on it before serving, thrown the chicken pieces on a hot grill for 2-4 minutes.

For more information on dutch oven cooking please visit The Dutch Oven Dude. He has a handy little calculator to help you figure out how many coals to use and he has a lot more information on how to prepare your ovens and such. Just make sure that you write down the numbers BEFORE you leave camping as hopefully wherever you are going will be out of range for cell and internet service and you will not be able access the information once you arrive.

Dutch oven BBQ/Teriyaki Chicken

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Serves 8-10

Equipment:

12” deep dutch oven

Charcoal Briquettes

      Optional

      charcoal chimney           

tongs

      lid rest

lid lifter

      grill gloves

large spoon

Ingredients:

10 lbs chicken thighs and drumsticks, skinless

40 oz bottle of BBQ or teriyaki sauce

Directions:

1. Heat coals
2. Place chicken into a dutch oven and coat with desired amount of sauce.
3. Replace lid and put dutch oven over 14 hot briquettes. Place 10 briquettes on top and let cook for 2 hours. Chicken is done when it begins to fall off the bone.

Notes: Rotate lid and/or dutch oven a ¼ turn every ½ hour to avoid hot spots and scorching. Replace coals that have burned to ash with new hot coals to ensure the chicken cooks in the time allowed.

Source: family file, Apron Appeal original.

Gwenevere

Stretch Yer Buck Burgers

I got this idea from an episode of 30-minute meals with Rachel Ray. It’s kind of a non-recipe and more of an idea but I feel it’s worth sharing for a few reasons. 1)- It’s going to save you money. 2)- home pressed burger patties are, in my opinion, better tasting and better for you than store bought frozen patties because there are no additives or preservatives. If I’ve done the math right, frozen, ground turkey burger patties at Costco are about 75 cents a patty. If you buy Costco’s unfrozen ground turkey at $3.00 a pound you will be spending about 50 cent a patty. So there you go, a 25 cent savings. That's worth it isn't it? Well I guess it's not quite a quarter because you have to figure the cost of the rice...I'll let you do that. :)

FYI, Costco is not paying me to name drop, it’s just where I do most of my shopping so it’s what I’m familiar with.

This is what you do.

Stretch Yer Buck Burgers

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Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey

1 to 1 1/2  cup precooked brown rice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine the ground turkey with the rice. Using your clean hands moosh the rice and turkey together until well combined.
2. Divide the meat into 6 equal portions shaped into a ball
3. With a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper, press each ball to a ½ inch or ¾ inch thickness, salt and pepper to taste (you can add other seasonings if you wish but I like to keep it simple), Grill or skillet fry each patty until the juices run clear and the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Serve with the worlds greatest burger bun or on top of fresh summer squash either variety will leave you satisfied and wondering why you haven’t been doing this all along.

Source: Rachel Ray

Gwenevere

Lemon Garlic Pasta & Broccoli

I’m a mean mom - or so I’m told at least a dozen times daily. One good reason [among several] for this title is that I don’t let me kids watch a lot of TV. I know, so mean. So I’m sure you can imagine the jubilee that ensues when I am the one who ask my kids if they want to watch a cooking show with me. Sure, sure it’s probably just because they are so desperate for some mind-numbing TV time but I choose to think it’s because they are all intensely interested in learning more about cooking and food.

The other day while we all snuggled together to watch Barefooot Contessa’s Kid in a Candy Store I thought for sure it was going to be all the candy that caught their fancy therefore I was a little more than stunned when the two oldest asked if I would make the pasta and broccoli dish for dinner.  I wasn’t sure if they were going to love the lemon as much as they thought they would, but who was I to say no to such a request?

This dish comes together with minimal cook times, which, in my book, makes it ideal for a summer supper. Had I not made a mistake in how much lemon I added, I’m sure my kids would have loved it as much as I did. Next time, for the portion my kids eat, I’ll follow the recipe and only include the suggested 1 tablespoon lemon juice instead of the juice from the entire lemon. I’ll reserve the extra juice for me. I served this dish with grilled chicken marinated with balsamic vinegar dressing.

Lemon Garlic Pasta & Broccoli

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli florets (2 heads)

2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

½ pound pasta

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I used butter flavored palm shortening)

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 lemon

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice (from lemon)

¼ cup toasted pignoli nuts (optional)

Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss broccoli florets with 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Spread on the baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes or just until color is vibrant. Don’t over cook or broccoli will be mushy.
2. While broccoli is roasting cook pasta according to directions on the package of pasta. Drain well once cooked.
3. Meanwhile, in a small sauté or saucepan, heat the butter and remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat. Zest the lemon directly into the oil in order to use the oils and juices from the lemon. Add the garlic and increase the heat to medium low and warm the sauce for 1 minute. Off the heat add 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or juice from the entire lemon)
4. Once broccoli and pasta are finished cooking, toss them together with lemon garlic sauce. If using sprinkle with pignoli and cheese. Season to taste and serve warm.

Notes: Sprinkle with pignoli and cheese. Season to taste and serve warm. To toast pignolis, place them in a dry sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown

Source: Adapted from Barefoot Contessa: Broccoli and Bow Ties

Gwenevere