Comfort Food...Chicken Pot Pie

Something about the cold weather makes me want comfort food.  Maybe because it gets dark so early in the winter months, or quite possibly because I know I have until next spring to really worry about my gut. :)  As a kid I used to love those nasty chicken pot pies you get in the frozen food section in their own individual pie tins.  They are for chicken pot pie what Kraft is for Mac and Cheese.  I have tried a couple of different chicken pot pie recipes over the years, but this one beats them all hands down! 

This recipe came to me via Allrecipes.com. 

Chicken Pot Pie:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)


In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
 

 

The BEST and I mean absolutely BEST part of this recipe is the sauce/gravy.  It is so similar to the chicken pot pies I remember as a kid...it actually reminded me of HOT LUNCHES in elementary school.  I know, you probably think I have finally snapped, but this recipe completely does justice to your comfort food cravings.  And the CHICKEN!  Holy tenderness, Batman!  You have to worry....well, if you're me, you have to worry about overcooking chicken and making it tough and dry.  The chicken came out so PERFECT!  Using the premade pie crusts made this a REALLY easy recipe.  Because the pie crusts made the recipe so easy I decided to add a flourish to my top by using a pumpkin cookie cutter and placing them on top with little spaces so the heat could escape.  I highly suggest you check this recipe out. 

Thanksgiving Leftovers - Stuffing Pancakes

That's right...Thanksgiving leftovers.  My Dad just came for a visit and we celebrated Thansgiving with him a little early.  As a result, I already have leftovers.  The morning after, my Dad headed for the kitchen to cook himself up some breakfast.  Since he is the one that inspired my own cooking, I hurried after him.  To my horror and surprise, he told me he was going to make a stuffing pancake.  The shock and awe didn't last too long...I trust my Dad's judgement when it comes to pancakes.  When I was growing up my Dad created something called a noodle pancake (recipe to come around Christmas).  He combined eggs and ramen noodles and put spaghetti sauce on them.  I know it sounds like a pure oddity...rest assured it ROCKS.  We have it EVERY year at my house on Christmas morning.  I get sidetracked...BACK to Stuffing Pancakes.

Stuffing Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups of leftover stuffing...my Dad made stuffing with cranberries, sausage and onions...YUM!
1 egg

Mix leftover stuffing and egg together.  Heat a greased frying pan on medium heat and cook evenly on both sides about 2-3 minutes on both sides.  You want to make sure the egg is cooked through.

Serve with left over gravy and cranberry relish.

My Dad scores again.   Very tasty pancakes...it makes me wish I had stuffing around more often.

Cashew Chicken...Williams Sonoma Style

I used to surf the recipe section of Williams Sonoma's web site ALL the time drooling over the pictures of the FABULOUS dishes and adding them to my online recipe box.  I have a TON of recipes in this online box that I have never made because I didn't have the time before...until now!  Being a stay-at-home mom has some SERIOUS perks!

When going to a Chinese restaurant, Cashew Chicken isn't my very first choice of what to order...but I LOVE cashews and we happened to have 1 cup that needed to be used up. 

Cashew Chicken
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. rice wine or dry sherry
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tbs. corn or peanut oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup salted roasted cashews
Steamed rice for serving

In a large bowl, stir together 2 Tbs. of the soy sauce, the wine and ginger. Stir in the chicken to coat evenly and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbs. water, the remaining 1 Tbs. soy sauce, the Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch, and stir to dissolve the sugar and cornstarch.

Stir-fry the chicken

Heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat until very hot and add 2 Tbs. of the corn oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade, draining it well, and discard the marinade. Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until opaque, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a bowl.

Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1 Tbs. corn oil. Add the green onions and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Return the chicken to the wok and add the cashews. Give the sauce a quick stir, add to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately with the steamed rice. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, Asian, by Farina Wong Kingsley (Oxmoor House, 2007).


I didn't notice until I started cooking this meal that it lacked the veggie element of most Cashew Chicken dishes...that was really too bad. I like meals with different textures in them and this just didn't have it.  When I marinated the chicken I did it for an hour rather than the 15 minutes the recipe called for.  I've always thought that if a little of something is good, then a LOT has to be even better...that isn't always the case.  The chicken SOAKED up the soy sauce and over powered the dish.

Overall this wasn't too bad.  I'd totally make it again and add my own flourishes...like veggies...to improve this dish.  I'd also stick to the marinating instructions rather than improvising. :)

TINGA!

When ones moves away from their home, they realize they miss the three F's...family...friends...food.  There is a great restaurant in downtown Salt Lake called the Red Iguana.  They have a dish there calleld Tinga Poblana that is made with shredded pork and is in a spicy red sauce.  I LOVE this dish.  I order it every time I go to the Red Iguana.  I have yet to find a killer mexican restaurant here in Colorado...but I haven't been out looking.  If you have any suggestions, definitely let me know!

I went off in search of a recipe for Tinga Poblana online and I found a pretty decent recipe online from the Homesick Texan.  I frequent this blog often and cook up a lot of the recipes our Homesick friend posts.  I have yet to be disappointed.  You should definitely check this blog out.

Tinga:
1 pound of pork shoulder or tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound of Mexican chorizo (do not use Spanish chorizo. It’s a completely different meat. )
1 bay leaf
1 large onion
5 cloves of garlic
3 chipotle peppers in adobo
1 cup of peeled ripe Roma tomatoes (about 4). You can use canned ones if tomatoes aren’t in season
1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 cup of cilantro
3 tablespoons of either sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup
Black pepper
Salt
1 avocado thinly sliced
Cortija cheese
1 lime cut into wedges

First you want to brine your pork for at least four hours.

Put the pork in a bowl and cover with six cups of water. Add six tablespoons of salt, three tablespoons of sugar and two tablespoons of black pepper and a clove of garlic, minced. Cover with a plate to keep the meat underwater, and refrigerate for four hours, brining it up to eight hours. (Do not over-brine!). After you’re done brining the meat, rinse the meat. pat it dry and throw out the brine water.

Place brined pork in a large pot with half the onion (uncut), the bay leaf, a clove of garlic and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes until tender.

Take out cooked pork (save the cooking water) and when cool shred it. Set it aside.

Dice the other half of the onion and mince the three remaining garlic cloves.

Cook the chorizo out of its casing in a dry skillet until brown, about eight minutes. Carefully tilting the skillet, drain the oil to one side and then remove the chorizo.

Puree the tomatoes in a blender with the three minced garlic cloves and chipotle peppers with adobo.

Transfer the chorizo oil to a pot, and then cook the onions in the oil on medium for about five minutes or until soft and then add the tomato-chipotle puree, Mexican oregano and thyme.

Cook for five minutes on medium, and then add the shredded pork, chorizo, 1/4 cup of cilantro and one cup of the pork cooking water (you should freeze the leftover pork cooking water because it will make a good stock for cooking beans).

Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. It should be thick. If it’s too liquidy, just cook uncovered for a few minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve on fresh tostadas, either store bought or made from corn tortillas. To make tostadas, heat an inch of oil in a skillet and fry whole tortillas on each side a couple of minutes until crisp. Place a hearty spoonful of tinga on the crisp tostada and then sprinkle on top cotija cheese (if not available, you can substitute Monterrey jack or sour cream) and the remaining cilantro. Serve with sliced avocado and lime wedges. This recipe will yield about 10 to 12 tostadas.
 
 
While I was cooking this recipe up I started to think the ingredients sounds a LOT like a salsa I make from the Herdez Salsa Casera.  The Salsa Casera has all the tomatoes, onions, garlic and cilantro this recipe calls for and I throw it in a blender and add a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce for added heat and flavor.  When I had my first taste of this meal...it tasted like I had put my salsa on top of nicely cooked pork and chorizo.  It was good! 
 
Even though the Tinga Poblana at the Red Iguana doesn't have chorizo in it  and isn't served on a tostada or tortilla chips...I'll take this recipe as a substitute in the mean time. 
 

ENJOY!

Sunday Pumpkin Waffles

I don't know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but the chill has been in the air here in Colorado Springs for nearly two weeks.  As a result, I decided today was the day to officially open pumpkin season in our kitchen!  I found this KILLER, and I mean KILLER, pumpkin waffle recipe at Pumpkins Waffles Blog.  This person is persuing the perfect pumpkin waffle recipe and I think they have found it with this one!

At first this appeared rather time intensive for Sunday morning waffles...but the three bowls it took to make this recipe were WORTH IT!  The only thing I modified with this recipe was the buttermilk.  I didn't have buttermilk and didn't feel like running to the store just to get it when the recipe only calls for a 1/3 cup.

Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles:

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*

2 large eggs

1/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

3 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use slightly less than 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use slightly less than 1/4 tsp.

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl: wisk to blend. The waffles are spicy, so if you’re not a big spice fan, cut the quantities in half.

2. Separate egg: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

3. Add pumpkin, buttermilk and milk to the egg yolks. Wisk to blend and set aside.

4. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

5. Pour warm butter into the yolk/buttermilk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, wisk to combine; this is crucial for keeping the butter from firming up on contact with the cold milk(s) in the bowl.

6. Add all of the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and slowly mix them together until just combined. The batter is thick, so it may appear to be slightly lumpy. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added. Do not overmix, as doing so will toughen the waffle texture.

7. Plug in the waffle iron and set the temp as desired. Higher temperatures tend to work best.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter!

When Alex got is first taste of these waffles he said, "They taste like pumpkin pie!"  They were indeed yummy!  Just in case you are thinking of skipping the step of separating the eggs and beating the egg whites...DON'T!  It is totally worth it.  These waffles were fluffy!

Welcome to open pumpkin season!

Scones

Coming from Utah, I always thought scones were fried flat bread...that's what we call scones. I remember being at a coffee shop and seeing they had scones on their menu and being shocked silly when they brought me out this crumbly dry bread. What the...? Since then, I have come to really enjoy scones.

I was searching out recipes for dinner this last week and got side tracked when I came across the following recipe for scones on Allrecipes.com.

Grandma Johnson's Scones:
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional) - I used cranberries instead of raisins.

I also added a teaspoon of vanilla on the urging of some of the reviews on Allrecipes.com

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened.Mix in the raisins...or cranberries in my case.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. If you read my blog often, you'll know there is always a little trauma in the making of yummy food. The trauma of this dish involved the binding of the scone batter. The reviews on Allrecipes.com mentioned the crumbly nature of these scones and gave some suggestions to change the texture. When it came time to turn the dough out and knead it, the trauma began. This dough was CRUM-BLY! I tried molding it together and cutting it, but the pieces just crumbled apart. Fortunately I own a handy-dandy scone pan that came to my rescue. I stuffed the scone batter into my pan and crossed my fingers. These babies came out PERFECT! They were so yummy and perfectly crumbly! You can add whatever flavors to this recipe you want...chocolate chips, orange rind, vanilla bean. This is a GREAT starter recipe. I will definitely be making this one again and again.

Vodka on the Rocks...Wait no...Vodka Sauce on Tortellini

We have some friends in Utah that make a killer Pasta with Vodka sauce that I have been missing since we moved. Their version is somewhat bastardized due to the fact it is made with a jar of Alfredo sauce and a jar of spaghetti sauce...but I'll tell you! It is out of this world!!!

I wanted to find an authentic recipe and to my surprise, I found that it is really made with Vodka. I found the following recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog. I figured if it had vodka in it...it couldn't be half bad. Instead of serving this over regular old pasta, we served it over tortellini's. THAT was a good call!

Pasta alla Vodka:
1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 to 1 cup vodka

1 can tomato puree

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound pasta

1 cup grate Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, being careful not to overcook. In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add in chopped onions and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for two minutes. Pour in vodka. Stir and cook for three minutes. Add in tomato puree and stir. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Allow to simmer, being careful not to overheat. Stir in red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water in case sauce is too thick. Add cooked pasta to the sauce, tossing to combine. Splash in a little water if it needs it. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Pour mixture into large serving bowl.

Eat it out of the serving bowl. Faint. Repeat as needed.

I was pretty optimistic about this one, especially after reading the last line of the recipe, "Eat it out of the serving bowl. Faint. Repeat as needed." Yeah, I don't think I would go that far. It was a good recipe, but the only chunk factor in it came from the onions. It was lacking in some way. I think next time I will puree my own tomatoes and leave some of them chunky to counter balance the onions.