CHICKEN POT PIE - Ann Romney

Have you ever made chicken pot pie?  I have not.  I don't typically make pie crust, rolls, biscuits, that type of thing.  But I wanted to take a one-pot dish to my sister for dinner and found this recipe in Ann Romney's new cookbook The Romney Family Table.  This is perfect comfort food.  The timing was just right after two days of solid rain here in the Valley of the Sun--highly unusual.

Admittedly, I cheated with the biscuit topping and used Bisquick--I didn't even roll out the dough but chose to use the drop biscuit style instead.  No one complained.

The only tweaking I did was to add more carrots and celery. And I used a combination of butter and olive oil to sauté the veggies.  Everyone loved it! And leftover turkey would be just as good, too.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Chicken Pot Pie

4 cups chicken broth                                             Salt and pepper to taste

1 chicken bouillon cube                                        1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 sticks of butter                                             1/4 cup heavy cream

2 onions, finely chopped                                       1 (9 oz) package frozen peas

2 large carrots, sliced in rounds  (add 2 more)      6 chicken breasts, cooked, and cut into chunks

1 rib of celery, sliced (add 1 more)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat the chicken broth and bouillon cube in saucepan until cube is dissolved.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until blended.  Stir in the hot chicken broth.  Add the heavy cream, frozen peas, and cooked chicken.  Stir to combine.  Spoon mixture into 9x13 baking dish.  Bake 20 minutes.  Top with uncooked biscuits and continue to  bake 12-15 minutes or until the biscuit topping is golden brown.

Homemade Biscuits

2 cups flour                                    1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder           1/2 cup butter

2 teaspoons sugar                          1 cup buttermilk

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Work in butter with pastry cutter or hands until mixture is crumbly.  Stir in buttermilk until just blended.  Roll out about 1 1/2 inches thick and cut out with a 3-inch round cookie cutter.  Place biscuits on top of chicken mixture and continue baking 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Biscuits can also be baked separately: Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees 10-12 minutes

CHICKEN WITH YOGURT AND INDIAN SPICES & BASMATI RICE - Mark Bittman

My cute nephew and his girlfriend gave me Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything app for my iPad (which also transferred to my iPhone) and I love it.  So, as I sat in the parking lot after spin class scrolling through recipes, I quickly came across this one and lo and behold I had every single ingredient on hand (yes, every one of those spices, thank you Penzey's) and did not have to go to the grocery store--hooray!

I am a fan of Bittman's app--it is super easy and I think I'm going to love trying his recipes. I also made his Rice Pilaf, Seven Ways which was delicious.

Back to the chicken, I subbed chicken thighs for a whole chicken and used more chicken than the recipe called for, so it wasn't quite as saucy as I would have liked.  But the flavor was still excellent.  It is spicy but the adventurous eight year old twins who live next door gobbled it down, so if you have kids give it a try.  Perfect meal for a cold night in front of the fireplace (below 50 degrees here in AZ!) waiting for Downton Abbey.

Makes: 4 servings

Time: About 45 minutes

1/4 cup peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn

1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of parts

1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped or grated fresh ginger or

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups yogurt

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

1. Put the oil in a deep skillet with a lid or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary; the process will take 10 to 15 minutes. (You can skip this step if you like; heat a tablespoon of oil and go directly to cooking the onions.)

2. When the chicken is nicely browned, remove it from the skillet and turn the heat down to medium. Pour or spoon off all but a tablespoon of the oil. Stir in the onions, along with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and spices, along with 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook with the onions, stirring, until very aromatic, 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, then return the chicken pieces to the pan.

3. Cover and cook over medium-low heat so that the mixture doesn’t boil, turning the pieces every 5 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through,10 to 20 minutes (longer if you skipped the browning step); it’s okay if the mixture curdles a bit. The bird is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155–165°F. Taste and adjust the seasoning, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Rice Pilaf, Seven Ways

Makes 4 servings

Time: About 30 minutes, plus a little time to rest

Easy, fast, and reliable, pilaf has another bonus: Cooking it in advance (slightly) is not just possible but desirable.

2 to 4 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups rice, preferably basmati

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups stock

Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

  

1. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in a large, deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the rice all at once, turn the heat down to medium, and stir until the rice is glossy, completely coated with butter or oil, and starting to color lightly, about 5 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper, then turn the heat down to low and add the stock all at once. Stir once or twice, then cover the pan.

3. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn the heat to the absolute minimum (if you have an electric stove, turn the heat off and let the pan sit on the burner) and let rest for another 15 to 30 minutes. Add the remaining butter or oil if you like and fluff with a fork. Taste and adjust the seasoning, fluff again, garnish, and serve.

BAKED TERIYAKI CHICKEN - Allrecipes.com

Looking for a quick recipe to make for your family?  and I'll bet you even have all of the ingredients in your pantry.  (Sorry, no picture this time.  By the time I remembered to take a pic, my family had finished it off.)  Enjoy!

p.s. I doubled the sauce because my family loves extra sauce--it was great

Baked teriyaki chicken

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon cold water 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 12 skinless chicken thighs

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
2.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3.	Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again. (I poured half the sauce over the chicken for the first 30 minutes and then poured the rest of the sauce for the last 30 minutes.)
4.	Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking. Recipe from Allrecipes.com

LATIN BAKED CHICKEN - Cooking Light

Super easy and you probably have the ingredients on hand (which is always a plus).  However, I did make a substitution.  I was at Sprouts and they didn't have any chipotle chiles (can you believe it?) and no adobo sauce so I substituted with a chipotle chile sauce found in the tabasco area.  It worked (good thing because it was way too hot to go to another grocery store in search of chipotles and adobo sauce).

Also, this was good cold the next day (don't you just love cold chicken?)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

Ingredients

• The 5 Ingredients
• 1/4  cup  fresh lime juice
• 3  tablespoons  less-sodium soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  honey
• 2  tablespoons  minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 8  (4-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

Preparation

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Combine lime juice, soy sauce, 2 tablespoons honey, and chipotle in a large bowl. Add chicken, and toss well to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature. Arrange the chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray (this is a must because, otherwise, the sugar in the honey will leave a lovely glaze on your baking dish), reserving marinade. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Place reserved marinade in a blender, and process until smooth (I didn't do this and it was fine, you be the judge). Place pureed marinade in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook 3 minutes. Brush chicken with half of cooked sauce; return to oven and bake an additional for 10 minutes. Brush chicken with remaining sauce; bake an additional 10 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

316

Fat:

9g (sat 2.3g,mono 2.8g,poly 2.2g)

Protein:

45.3g

Carbohydrate:

11.9g

Fiber:

0.8g

Cholesterol:

188mg

Iron:

2.8mg

Sodium:

677mg

Calcium:

28mg

CHICKEN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS PASTA

I'm sure there are a ton of recipes out there for sausage, peppers, and pasta. I didn't look around for any I just had these ingredients on hand and knew the combination would be divine. It was.

Sprouts had a great sale on chicken italian sweet sausage so I bought a few links. I used two of them in this recipe along with multi-colored peppers. It also made for great leftovers.

Chicken Italian Sausage - 2 large links

1 Red Bell Pepper - chopped

1 Orange Bell Pepper - chopped

1 Yellow Bell Pepper - chopped

1 Onion - chopped

4 cloves of garlic

Crushed red pepper flakes (I added 2 tsp)

Favorite marinara sauce

1 lb. penne pasta (I used 1/2 regular and 1/2 whole wheat)

Saute the sausage whole in a tiny bit of olive oil until nicely browned. Remove the sausage and slice into the sizes you like best (I sliced and then halved them again) and return to pan. Add the peppers, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook until tender and the sausage is done. Add your favorite marinara sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. After pasta is cooked, add to sausage and pepper mixture.

ROASTED CHICKEN AND ONIONS

Roasted chicken on a Sunday is so fitting, don't you think? Instead of potatoes I roasted a whole onion. Those almost burnt caramelized edges were so sweet and tasted just right speared with the bites of chicken.

I served with fresh asparagus, also roasted (for last 15 minutes), with nothing but its sweet goodness.







Super easy, as most roast chickens are. Here is what I did:

1 chicken
1 onion- sliced
1 lemon - quartered
olive oil (I used blood orange olive oil but any olive oil will do)
salt and pepper

Rinse the chicken, pat it dry, and stuff insides with the lemon quarters. Rub a bit of olive oil on the outside of chicken and douse with salt and pepper.

Place sliced onions at the bottom of a heavy pot and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add chicken on top of the sliced onions and cook at 425 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until done. Remove from oven, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes for chicken to reabsorb juices.

LESLIE'S BALSAMIC CHICKEN BOW-TIE PASTA

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes. My friend Leslie made this for me several years ago and I was surprised at the depth of flavor in this simple looking dish.

Red peppers, corn, fresh basil are all plentiful right now. By roasting the peppers and the corn extra flavor develops. Grilling the marinated chicken just adds more smokey flavor. Balsamic vinegar and oil dresses the dish and chopped fresh basil dresses it up.

Try it this summer--you will love it. By the way, this is a Bobby Flay recipe before he was "Bobby Flay!".


Chicken Bow-Tie Pasta

Serves 4-6

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup soy sauce
2 T Ginger, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 ears of corn roasted
2 red peppers roasted
1 pound farfalle pasta
3 T basil chiffonade (or 1 T dry basil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Vinaigrette:
3 T balsamic vinegar
½ c olive oil

Chicken:
Place soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let sit for ½ hour. Place the chicken breasts in a shallow dish and pour marinade over. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Season with salt and pepper and grill. Remove to a plate and let sit for 10 minutes. Slice crosswise into strips.

Corn:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove all the silk and all but one layer of the husk; dip each ear into water to moisten. Arrange the corn on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes. Scrape kernels from the ears with a knife.

Roasted Red Peppers:
Preheat oven to 350. Place peppers on a baking sheet and roast 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in a brown paper bag for 5 minutes. Peel the blistered skin away from the pepper flesh and seed the peppers. Slice into strips.

Vinaigrette:
Place the vinegar and oil in a small bowl and wish to mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Pasta:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add chicken, corn, and peppers and toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and add the chopped basil if using fresh basil.

PEACH-LACQUERED CHICKEN

Another really good recipe from the June issue of Gourmet magazine. Not too many ingredients and such flavor!

I followed the directions putting foil on a baking sheet and cooking the chicken (I used thighs and drumsticks) with all of the glaze. The sugar in the peach preserves burns quickly at such a high temperature, so covering the baking sheet with foil is a must.



Here is what I will do the next time I make this (and I will be making it again, soon). First, I will double the foil over the baking dish, and then I will cook the chicken half-way before I add about 3/4ths of the glaze. I would like to keep as much of the glaze from burning because the glaze is the best part and too much of it was burned to the foil of no use to anyone. Then I will heat-up the remaining glaze and serve it with the chicken or just pour it over the chicken when I move it to the platter.

I served this chicken with corn on the cob, and what else, more zucchini.

PEACH-LACQUERED CHICKEN

3 garlic cloves
1 (3-inch) piece peeled ginger, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup peach or apricot preserves or jam
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
4 lb chicken wings, tips removed if desired

Preheat broiler.

With motor running, drop garlic into a food processor and finely chop. Add ginger and finely chop. Note: I used my blender instead of dragging out my food processor.

Add preserves, soy sauce, water, and red-pepper flakes and pulse until sauce is combined.
Line bottom and sides of a large 4-sided sheet pan with foil and lightly oil foil.

Pat wings dry and put in sheet pan. Season with 3/4 tsp salt. Pour sauce over wings and toss to coat, then spread in 1 layer.

Broil wings 4 to 6 inches from heat 5 minutes, then turn over and baste with sauce from pan. Continue to broil, rotating pan and turning and basting 3 more times, until chicken is cooked through and browned in spots, 20 to 25 minutes.

GREAT EASY DINNER

This was a great, really easy dinner that I wanted to pass along. I put it together in around 30 minutes.

Menu

Red Curry Chicken
Whole Wheat Couscous with sliced green onions
Calabacitas (with squash from my garden, yea!)
Tomatoes (also from my garden, I have never seen such deep-red tomatoes in my life, delicious with a tiny sprinkling of sea salt)

First, my friend Darcey told me about the yummy Trader Joe's Thai Red Curry Sauce so I picked up a bottle. This sauce is excellent and I highly recommend it (beats buying 27 ingredients to make it).

I also picked up Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Couscous which cooks up in 5 minutes--I added sliced green onions since I had them. The Calabacitas is a recipe I've previously posted but next time I will use organic frozen white corn from Costco--my friend Jennifer loves it.

So, here is what I did:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs seasoned with pepper. Pan fry in a tiny bit of olive oil. After they are cooked, pour the Trader Joe's Thai Red Curry Sauce on top and heat through.

Whole Wheat Couscous - cook according to instructions. I cooked the green onions with the couscous. Slivered almonds, raisins, shallots would also be a good addition.

Calabacitas - click for recipe

All served up with garden fresh tomatoes and french bread.

LEMON AND THYME ROASTED CHICKEN

This a great dish for Sunday supper. The whole house will smell so good from the lemons, thyme, and garlic. My friend, Sherry, gave me the new Nordstrom Flavors cookbook and this recipe caught my eye.

It is very similar to a recipe I made from the Barefoot Contessa. Instead of putting all of the garlic inside the chicken she roasted the garlic along side the bird (she put a few cloves in the cavity). And instead of olive oil she used butter. I like the olive oil best. I served this with acorn squash and roasted potatoes.


1 whole chicken (around 4 lbs.)
1 bunch fresh thyme, lemon thyme if possible (about 25 sprigs)
10 cloves of garlic
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, quartered
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a roasting rack and place in roasting pan. Chop enough thyme for 1 tbsp (stems removed, but set aside to use later). Mince 3 garlic cloves. Cut each of the remaining garlic halves in half and the lemon in quarters.Season the cavity with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stuff the cavity with the thyme stems and other leftover thyme sprigs, the garlic halves and the lemon quarters.
In a small bowl, stir together the oil, the remaining salt and pepper, the chopped thyme and minced garlic. Spread the oil mixture evenly over the outside of the chicken. I also tucked the mixture under the skin to spread some directly on the meat. Place the chicken breast side down in the roasting pan.

Roast the chicken for 30 minutes. Then turn the chicken breast side up and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue to roast until a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170 degrees F, about 1 hour 10 minutes more. When the chicken is done, remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes (this lets the chicken absorb its juices).
After the chicken was finished roasting I didn't think it looked dark enough so I put it under the broiler for 5 minutes. Next time I would broil it for 10 minutes.

MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP - Barefoot Contessa

Ina Garten came through again. I had lots of carrots and onions on hand and wanted to make soup. I found a good, spicy recipe in her book, Barefoot Contessa at Home, for Mexican Chicken Soup. Of course you can make it mild, medium, or spicy depending on how many jalapenos you add. This was very good soup and I would make it again. I think it would freeze well, too. Also, since we don't love cilantro I left it out.

MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients
4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped onions (2 onions)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional
6 (6-inch) fresh white corn tortillas

For serving: sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and broken tortilla chips.

Chicken Bow Tie Pasta w/Bruschetta

Tonight we had a birthday dinner for my sister, Lori. Since we just received a gorgeous bunch of vegetables and fruit from Bountiful Baskets http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ this weekend I needed to incorporate some of those veggies in our dinner.

My friend Leslie gave me the recipes for the pasta dish and the bruschetta that I made. And both were delicious!

The bruschetta is so easy and pretty (but not easy to photograph so there is no pic). I had some great french bread in the freezer (also from Bountiful Baskets) and did the following with it:

Bruschetta

Slice any type of hearty bread--rub with garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil, toast.

In a bowl mix the following:

Chopped tomatoes (I had 4 Roma and they were great)

Chopped red onion (about 1/4 of a large red onion)

Basil

Olive oil (I used garlic-infused) - just drizzled a bit

Chopped garlic - 2 cloves

Red Wine Vinegar - a couple of splashes

Salt and pepper

Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the sliced toasted bread--yum yum!

Chicken Bow Tie Pasta

3 Boneless, skinles chicken breasts

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 T ginger - chopped

2 cloves garlic - chopped

2 ears of corn - roasted

2 red peppers - roasted

1 lb. Farfalle pasta

3 T fresh basil or 1 T dried basil

Vinaigrette: 3 T balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup olive oil

Marinade: Place soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a small sauce pan and bring to boil. Set aside for 30 min. Pour marinade over chicken breasts, cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Season with pepper and grill or saute. Remove chicken and let sit for 10 minutes then slice crosswise into strips.

Corn: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the silk from the corn and all but one layer of the husk; dip corn into water to moisten. Cover with layer of husk, place on baking sheet, and roast for 45 minutes. Scrape kernels from the corn and set aside.

Red peppers: Rub peppers with olive oil. Place on baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and place in closed brown paper bag until cool. Peel the blistered skin and remove seeds. Slice peppers into strips. Set aside.

Vinaigrette: Wisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta: Cook pasta according to directions

Toss chicken, corn, peppers and vinaigrette with the pasta.