Chicken Pot Pie

What a crazy adventure in the kitchen this was today. I have never ate a pot pie nor made one. I was pretty certain that I had all the ingredients to make this. So I started cooking chicken, peeling potatoes, chopping carrots and onions, making the Roux and go to grab chicken broth, no broth. OK..lets try chicken bouillon and there was NONE! Hahaha!! Soo..I had like half a minute to do this so I took lipton chicken soup mix and sifted all the bouillon out of the packets!! Haha..oh my..didn't know what it was going to taste like..but hey I don't even know what a pot pie should taste like. This whole thing was new. So I whipped up this bouillon based broth, made the thickening gravy, threw together the pie and what happens..I am out of pie crust and I made enough filling for two pies! So the series of events continue to take place and I have to make biscuits by hand from scratch to top these bottom crusted Pot Pies. Then it spilled into my oven and smoke alarm goes on. What a disastrous kitchen but with heck of a pot pie!!

Chicken Pot Pie

6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken thighs (boiled)
1 medium Onion (chopped)
1 Tbsp. Garlic (minced)
3 medium White Potatoes (peeled and diced)
3/4 c. Peas
1 c. Diced carrots
1 stick of unsalted butter
3/4 cup Flour
3 Sage leaves (minced)
1 1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
3 cups of Chicken broth..or be like me LITERALLY think outside the box of a lipton chicken soup mix!
1 1/2 c. Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste..easy on the salt

1. Boil chicken and chop up. Dice and chop carrots and potatoes, put in pan with enough water to subtly cover. Bring to boil and simmer boil for 6-8 minutes. Drain.

2. Make Roux. Melt better, saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes on low, add sage, thyme pepper, mix well, add flour and cook until absorbs butter and gets pasty like..not cooked! Add broth stir that well until roux breaks up. Add milk and bring to a simmer boil. May salt at this point.

3. Add chicken, peas, carrots and potatoes. Mix everything well together off heat. Add to two pie crust and bake @ 400 for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile.......

Biscuits

2 cups Flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2tsp Sugar
4 Tbsp Shortening
3/4 milk

1. Mix dry ingredients. Add shortening and I mixed with my hands then added milk. Knead by hand in bowl then turn out to floured board. Should be soft. Roll out and make biscuits.

After 20 minutes of Pie baking....

Place raw biscuit dough on pies. It didn't completely cover surface but I liked it like that. Looked more rustic. Baked for another 20-25 minutes. Voila! Its done..and hope your smoke alarm doesn't go off too from gravy leaking over the edge of your sheet pan.

I was impressed this turned out. I enjoyed it and it was quite filling!! Comfort in a hot mess of a pie....as far as that goes..no more cooking for me until Sunday!

Chicken Orzo Soup

I ate out with a friend the other night and where we went they had a Orzo Lemon Chicken Soup. Although I thought it was good...Mmmm...I believe I like mine better! Not much for soup in the summer time, but this is light yet satisfying!

Chicken Orzo Soup

2 lbs Chicken Tenderloin
8 cups Water
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 Bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp dried Basil
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
10 oz frozen chopped Spinach
1 16 oz can of diced Tomatoes
1 cup uncooked Orzo
Black Pepper & Salt to taste
Parmesan cheese

1. In stock pot, bring Chicken and water to a rapid boil. Once chicken is no longer pink remove from water and skim rest of the water from any chicken residue.

2. To the water add the chicken stock, bay leaf, basil, pepper flakes spinach and tomato. Bring to a simmer.

3. Chop up the chicken and add to pot. Salt and Pepper to taste and add uncooked pasta. Bring to a simmering boil until orzo is al dente. Remove from heat.

I put parmesan cheese on mine. Adds a little subtle saltiness to it. Good with some crusty bread or in company of a nice Mozzarella Tomato Pesto Panini. Yummy!!! Cheese and warm crusty bread, make anything dull bright or something wonderful over the top. Enjoy!

Creamed Stuffed Chicken with Cauliflower Mash

Initially I was going to do a breaded chicken with a spicy green chili sauce. Then I realized I needed to cook up the Cauliflower and menu completely changed. The thought of spicy green chili sauce on the side of Cauliflower didn't appeal to me. So I came up with something better. OH BOY! Was this ever good!!

Creamed Stuffed Chicken

with Cauliflower Mash

1 Head of Cauliflower, cleaned and chopped into chunks (not the greens)
4 Chicken Breast, butterflied open(we going to stuff it!)
4 Basil leaves, roll up tightly and slice into ribbons
4 slices of Mozzarella Cheese
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
6 Garlic cloves
1 sprig of Oregano chopped finely
1 medium Tomato seeded and chopped
1 dash of Balsamic Vinegar
Paprika to season
1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
3 oz of fresh Parmesan
Salt & Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Start boiling a pot of water and add the cauliflower to it along with a 2 crushed garlic cloves. Bring to a boil again for another 15 min or so until tender.

2. Since we are stuffing this chick, you need to butterfly it. I usually just put my hand firm on the chicken and slowly length wise start cutting into the side of the chicken to make a pocket to stuff it.

3. Salt & Pepper both sides of chicken along with Paprika on the outer side. Lay in the Mozzarella cheese and the ribbons of Basil. Close the breast. You may use a tooth pick. I didn't this time.

4. Heat up a skillet and add about 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. I then added 4 cloves of Garlic minced, Cream of Mushroom, and about 2 ladles of the cauliflower water to it along with the Balsamic vinegar and Red Pepper flakes. I covered it and let it cook for 10 minutes at a low simmer.

5. Last I added the Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, the Oregano (reserving a few pinches) and last the Tomato. I gave it another stir and covered for another 5 min. Topped it off with more cracked black pepper. (cook uncovered if you want to thicken up a bit more)

6. Last I drained the Cauliflower and added it in my Kitchen Aid mixer, or you can use a hand mixer in a separate bowl. I gave it a good mix until all broken down, then scraped it down a bit and whipped it up some more with the addition of the remaining Oregano, about another 2 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese, some salt and pepper to taste and a tsp of Olive oil. Continue mixing until it starts taking form like mashed potatoes but with a different texture.

I loved the sauce to this chicken. Was so bright and fresh tasting with the basil ribbons. The Cauliflower mash was perfect with the oregano and cheese. Gave it a new life and a new meaning. I would definitely serve this chicken and sauce with some pasta. Perhaps you can add some spinach to it and wilt it up a bit. Nice! It's all about your palette, texture. Think beyond salt and pepper!