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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Chicken Pot Pie



This is one of my favorite things ever. And it is really easy to make...

I love the Neely's on the Food Network. I remember the first time I saw them guest appear on Paula Deen's show and I thought, "Oh they totally need their own show!!" I guess I'm a psychic now because they totally got one shortly after ;)

I halved this recipe this last time because it is really filling and it makes a lot but the recipe I'm posting is the FULL recipe... so just keep that in mind.

Sadly, my husband has left me for Pocatello (for work) throughout the week and my dinners have been very sad and small and lonely and weird since I like to eat weird things apparently. Hopefully I can keep up with this blog though!!!

So here ya go...

The Neely's Individual Chicken Pot Pies
Courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 bouillon cube
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 large carrots cut in 1/2-inch rounds
  • 1 rib celery, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped chives
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 1 store-bought 2-pound rotisserie chicken, shredded
  • 1 (7-ounce) bag frozen pearl onions
  • 1 (9-ounce) box frozen peas
  • 2 (9-ounce) packages store-bought rolled out pie dough
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
(PS, I add green beans because duh, I love green beans. I use canned but you could use frozen or even fresh. With the fresh ones, I would blanch them in boiling salted water for a couple minutes)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan heat chicken broth and bouillon cube over medium heat until hot.

In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, chives and garlic, and saute until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir together until it becomes pasty and lump-free, about 2 minutes. Stir in the hot broth, heavy cream, sherry, chicken and frozen onions and peas. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

With a ladle, fill 6ovenproof ramekins or bowls with the filling. Place on baking sheet.

Sprinkle flour on countertop. Roll out dough an extra inch. Using a biscuit round or mold, cut out dough to cover the tops of your oven-proof bowls, with about 1/2-inch hangover, depending on their size. Crimp the dough over the edge of the ramekin. Brush with the egg wash and make 4 small slits on the top. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The best hamburgers EVER... and oven fries.

I found this recipe forever ago but I've tweeked it so much and it was so long ago that I found it, that I do not know who to give credit to. But since I've made it my own, I'll credit myself :)

Hamburgers and Oven fries (below)

Ingredients (for hamburgers)
1 lb ground beef (85% fat is the best select of meat for hamburgers)
2 tablespoons Prepared Horseradish (trust ME, just do it)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
6 slices of cook bacon, chopped into small bits
1 Cup Cheddar cheese
Tomato slices
Lettuce
Purple Onions (my fave)
Hamburger Buns
Ketchup
Mustard

Heat grill.

Mix first 6 ingredients until well incorporated. Don't overmix because it'll make the hamburger patties tough after grilling. Make into patties. You can get 4-5 patties out of this mixture, but 4 patties tend to be a little too big (for me).

My husband is the griller in the family, but he always grills anything for 20 minutes. I think it's a little bit longer for whole chicken breasts, but 20 minutes should work. Make sure you flip it half way through. You can always pan fry them too.

Assemble hamburgers however you like. And enjoy... because you WILL.. these are delicious.

Oven Fries
Potatoes (However many you want and whatever kind you want)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Equal parts: Onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, pepper, paprika

Heat oven 400 degrees. I put parchment paper down because potatoes always stick to my pans, even the nonstick pans.

Coat the potatoes with oil. I also sprinkle with salt and pepper at this point, but don't overdo it since you will be seasoning them when they come out of the oven.

Layer onto a baking sheet. If you don't have parchment paper, make sure you spray the sheet.

Turn the potatoes at least twice throughout the cooking process, more is always better. Cook for 40 minutes and they will be delish. Ovens are always different so you may need to adjust the cooking times.

Chicken Boudine


(Picture courtesy of Paula Deen and foodnetwork.com)


Recipe courtesy of Ms. Paula Deen

I LOVE Paula, but I don't make a lot of her recipes because she adds SOO much butter. As you should know if you know Paula.

But this recipe has zippo butter, but she instead replaces it with a lot of cheese. But man oh man is it good.

Chicken Boudine
  • 2 cups cooked egg noodles
  • 2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 4 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • 3 cups grated sharp cheese, your choice, divided
  • 1 (2 1/4-ounce) package slivered almonds, toasted (We omit)
  • 1/4 cup drained, chopped pimentos
  • 1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained (I use fresh mushrooms and cook them in a skillet with a little butter or EVOO. Once they brown, I add some seasoned salt. This is my favorite way to use fresh mushrooms)
  • Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together the noodles, soup, broth, and sherry. Add the chicken, 2 cups of the cheese, the almonds, pimento, mushrooms, and salt and pepper, to taste, and toss gently to combine. Transfer the mixture to a greased 13 by 9 by 2-inch casserole and top with the remaining cup of cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.


Chicken Kabob

This one is EASY!!!


(Sorry for the extra bad picture... but get used to it. They probably won't approve. Yay)

Chicken Kabobs
-2-3 chicken breasts, diced into big chunks (You'll be grilling these, so you don't want the chicken cut too small. They'll fall apart)
-1 green pepper, diced *again into big chunks
-1 red onion *make sure you use red. White onions burn too quickly and just don't taste the same.
-1 1/2 teaspoons Fajita seasoning/creole seasoning
-Olive oil
-Skewers

Heat grill. Put the chicken in a medium sized bow then coat with oil and seasonings. You can use whatever seasonings you like, but I found the fajita seasoning is the most tasteful. You can also add salt and pepper (which I do). Take another bowl and do the same thing to the vegetables, covering them with oil and seasonings. Take the skewers and put the chicken, onions and green peppers on them, alternating between the three.

My husband does the grilling, but he cooks them for 20 minutes and they come out so delicious and moist.

I served mine with fresh green beans and a pasta salad with feta on top.