Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Chicken Pot Pie


Another snowy day here. Chicken pot pie was a perfect choice. I got the recipe from the food network. It is Ina Garten's. I hate her show, every guest is soooo important and soooo successful. She just annoys me. But her recipes are great. This was a little time consuming, esp when you have to watch a 2 year old at the same time. But it is definitely worth it. Make this!

Ingredients

* 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
* 2 chicken bouillon cubes
* 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
* 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
* 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
*

For the pastry:

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
* 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
* 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
* Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

From the foodnetwork.com

Friday, February 4, 2011

Super Bowl Menu...pepperoni dip



What is on your menu for the Super Bowl? We always have to have Buffalo Chicken Dip and my mom's swiss dip (which I need to post one day). We love dips. My mom is making the sausage and cheese dip that a lot of people make.

My sister is making tacos and these chicken tacos so everyone can just eat when they want.

I am taking Pepperoni dip. I got this recipe when I worked at Aetna (I so do not miss that job). A lady brought it in for a food day. It sounds so gross but is so yummy. Of course it is bad for you. What dip isn't?



I remember making this once and Kent Low eating almost the entire thing. Its addicting.

Recipe:
2 packages of cream cheese (softened)
1 small container of sour cream (around a cup or so)
one stick of pepperoni chopped small
french fried onions

Mix 1st 3 ingredients in casserole dish. Top with fried onions
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
Serve with buttery crackers or tortilla chips

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

More Soup...Meatball Soup


We are still is super bowl mode here, so another soup recipe it is! I made this recipe today. It has been bookmarked on my computer for weeks and I finally decided to just make it. It was good. I made a few changes. I made the meatballs the way I usually make them, not the way the recipe said (I made a huge batch and froze some for when baby arrives!)I also did not have cabbage since we don't eat it. So I made it without. I also added some extra potato chunks. Overall it was different and we enjoyed it.


Ingredients

* Meatballs:
* ¾ pounds Ground Beef
* ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
* 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
* 1 whole Egg
* 2 cloves Garlic
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
* ¼ teaspoons Ground Oregano
* 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
* SOUP
* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 7 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock
* 2 cups Water
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
* ¾ cups Onion, Chopped
* ¾ cups Carrots, Chopped
* ¾ cups Celery, Chopped
* 1 cup Russet Potato, Chopped (do Not Peel)
* ½ pounds Cabbage Chopped
* Grated Parmesan Cheese To Serve
* TIED IN A CHEESECLOTH BUNDLE
* 4 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
* 2 whole Bay Leaves
* 1 teaspoon Peppercorns

Preparation Instructions

To make meatballs, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Shape into small balls and chill for 30 minutes.

Gather 4 tablespoons parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle. Tie to secure.

After chilling, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a heavy pot. Briefly brown meatballs, then remove to a plate. To pot, add beef stock, water, salt, tomato paste, and herb bag. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes.

Add onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Simmer 15 more minutes. Remove herb bag.

Add cabbage and meatballs. Bring to a boil, then simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.


Recipe adapted from the pioneer woman cooks.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Souper Bowl???



I have made 2 different soups this week. Here is to hoping it helps the Steelers win and head to the Super Bowl... Not really. Its just nice to have soup when it is chilly out.

Earlier this week we had Sherried Tomato Soup. It was yummy with our grilled cheese sandwiches (made in the same sandwich maker I have had since college!)



Ingredients

* 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
* 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
* 1 bottle (46 Oz.) Tomato Juice
* 2 cans (14 Oz. Cans) Diced Tomatoes
* 1 Tablespoon (up To 3 Tablespoons) Chicken Base
* 3 Tablespoons (up To 6 Tablespoons) Sugar
* 1 pinch Salt
* Black Pepper To Taste
* 1 cup Cooking Sherry
* 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
* Chopped Fresh Parsley
* Chopped Fresh Basil

Preparation Instructions

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, pinch of salt, black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste.

Recipe is from : here

Another day I was to lazy to make dinner so we picked up a rotesserie chicken from Costco. I made soup with the leftovers. I have a pretty good home made chicken soup recipe but this was a lot easier. I even made home made noodles to go in it.



Things You'll Need:

* Rotisserie chicken
* 2 qts. chicken broth
* 1 qt. water
* 2 tbsp. olive oil
* 2 white onions, cut into a medium dice
* 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 3 cups noodles
* Salt and pepper


Bring the broth and water to a simmer in the large stock pot. While you wait for the broth and water to heat up, separate the rotisserie chicken meat from the skin and bones, setting the meat aside for later. Add the skin (optional) and bones to the broth, bring it back up to a simmer and allow it to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

Strain the heated broth through the colander then discard the skin and bones. Reserve the broth in a large heat-safe bowl. Place the stock pot back on the burner, setting the heat to medium-high.

Add the oil, carrots, and celery and saute until soft. Add the broth and bring the mixture back up to a simmer.

Add the noodles, simmering until they reach the desired tenderness.

Chop the chicken and add it to the cooking noodles.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Homemade Noodles

2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp milk

mix together and roll out. Cut into noodles. Let cook in broth for about 20 minutes.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

No bake cookies


I never liked these growing up. Maybe it was the way they looked (I was/am a very picky eater). Maybe its b/c most of the time they had nuts (since most recipes call for chunky peanut butter). Who knows? But today I wanted them and they tasted yummy. I wanted cake the other day, made one and it was a bust. Very depressing, especially when you are pregnant and REALLY wanted it. So today it was a quick recipe to satisfy my chocolate craving. Here it is:

Ingredients

* 2 cups white sugar
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup margarine (I used butter)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 pinch salt
* 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I use regular/creamy peanut butter)
* 3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cocoa, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oats.
2. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool. Makes 24.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas cookies


What did you make over the holidays? I haven't been cooking too much. But I did do a lot of baking for our Christmas cookie tray.

This year we had:
chocolate chip cookies
sugar cookies
oatmeal scotchies
peanut butter cup cookies
candy cane hershey kiss cookies
buckeyes
oreo truffles
mint oreo truffles
golden oreo truffles

I got the sugar cookie recipe here: http://creatingpostitnotes.blogspot.com/2010/02/almondine-sugar-cookies.html (here). They were delicious. She sells them so I knew they had to be good.

I also tried a new recipe. These turned out very good. Moist, chewy and just enough mint. I did not add the peppermint extract.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1¼ cups butter, at room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract, optional
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped Candy Cane flavored Hershey’s Kisses
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 30

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet.

2. In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl often until well blended (1-2 minutes). The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped Kisses.

3. Shape dough into ¾-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie. They’ll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you set the kiss inside. Put cookie sheet (with cookies) immediately into the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses will set quickly. As soon as you press them into the cookie, they will begin to soften… so if you can get them into the freezer then they will keep their Kiss shape.

4. Store in a covered container- at room temperature for up to a week. In the freezer they should be ok for a couple of weeks.

Yield: About 2 1/2 dozen

See recipe here

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings


It is a super cold day here...man I miss Florida. This recipe hit the spot. I just got back from our vacation and have lots of unpacking to do. This is an easy one. And did I mention it is freezing. This is definitely comfort food.

Ingredients

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
* 1 onion, finely diced
* 1 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

I got the recipe from all recipes. I add some garlic and other seasonings. Sometimes I add some veggies too.