Sunday dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Chris and I took a meal to some friends, Daniel and Wendy Simmons, that just had a new baby girl. Daniel is going to be the campus pastor at the new Summit church Raleigh campus. We are so excited about it because they are a precious family! Wendy is a vegetarian so I wanted to find something that I could make for her but that I could also add some meat to for the boys. Enter...Ina Garten's chicken pot pie. I modified it some so that it has more veggies. If you like chicken pot pie, you will LOVE this! It was a wonderful evening with new friends. God is so good.

I made a double batch of this so we would have some in the freezer. A double batch will make 3 regular size pie pans and 6 mini pie pans (at our store, they are actually called "pot pie pans"). We ate one of the regular pie pans, put one in our freezer (which we ate for lunch today), and gave the other to Daniel and Wendy to put in their freezer.

Link to original recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-pot-pie-recipe/index.html

Chicken Pot pie (or leave out the chicken steps for veggie pot pie)
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)
1 fennel (chopped...remove the green stems/leaves)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 cup potatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
1 1/2 cups frozen small/pearl 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
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, fennel, potatoes, and carrots over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are 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. Check the carrots and potatoes to see if they are almost soft. If not, allow to cook on low heat for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, peas, green beans, small 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 (or 1 regular size pie pan and a few mini pie pans). 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.

Good friends, good food

Last night we had the wonderful privilege of hanging out with our some dear friends, Tori and Jeremy. Tori made dinner and we watched the Duke game. We had an amazing time! I feel so blessed to have Tori and Jeremy in our lives. I really started thinking about the friendships that my husband and I have in our lives. God has really blessed us with some pretty incredible friends. Really...they are all more like family than friends. True friendship is doing something for someone else while expecting nothing in return. Tori and Jeremy demonstrated this last night when they came to our house and cooked dinner for us. True friends also share a desire to see one another grow and hope for each other to succeed in life. Friends also share thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment. Friends hold each other accountable. Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another. Real friends are dependable. Friends love each other no matter what and always want the best for our each other. I am so thankful to God for giving us SO many amazing friendships. I have not been as good of a friend since I moved to Raleigh. I think it has taken me this entire year and a half to come to grips with living so far away from some of our dear friends. I am going to do better and realize the blessings God has put in front of me today.

Tori made turkey burgers, sweet potato fries, and regular fries. Everything was so yummy. However, the sweet potato fries were out of this world! This recipe is my new go to recipe when I am craving sweet potatoes or fries. This is an absolute must try recipe! Next time you want to bless some of your friends, make them some burgers and these amazing fries.

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 quarts peanut or vegetable oil
1 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup club soda
2 pounds sweet potatoes,
peeled and cut into 1/2 by 1/4 inch lengths
(To stabilize sweet potatoes for slicing, cut a 1/4 inch piece
from one side of each potato so that it sits flat. Cut the sweet
potato in 1/2 inch thick planks. Cut each plank into 1/4 inch fries,)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Combine chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl.

Heat oil in large dutch oven or large stock pot over high heat to 375 degrees. While oil is heating, whisk cornstarch and club soda in medium bowl. Working in small batches, dip sweet potatoes in cornstarch mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl, and transfer to wire rack.

When oil is ready, fry half of sweet potatoes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain fries on paper towel-lines baking sheet and transfer to oven. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining fries. Transfer crisp fries to bowl with spice mixture and toss to coat.

Not just for Thanksgiving...

I had the privilege of going to the beach with Mendi's (a very dear friend of mine) family. Her Dad is an excellent cook. I had such a blast watching and learning from him all week. We ate so good that week! This squash casserole is the best I have ever eaten...seriously. I hope you try it sometime and enjoy it. It is amazing! The picture is of the casserole before it has been cooked. I will upload another after I've cooked it tomorrow.

Squash Casserole

5-7 yellow squash (depending on size)
butter
kosher salt & pepper to taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
6 oz shredded sharp (very important) cheese
2 eggs
kosher salt & white pepper to taste
3/4 sleeve saltines crushed
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced

Topping:
1/4 sleeve saltines, crushed
2 oz shredded sharp cheese
2 oz shredded parmesan or romano cheese
2 tbsp butter, melted

Wash squash, slice & sautee w/ 2-3 T butter & salt & pepper until tender. Don't use water; it creates its own as it cooks. Be sure to stir frequently. Drain.

Beat eggs w/ sour cream, add soup, salt, pepper, butter & mix thoroughly. Add squash, saltines, garlic, cheese, onion & mix. Pour into greased casserole dish. Mix remaining saltines, butter, cheese & sprinkle on top.

Bake 350 for about 45 min until knife in center comes out clean.

Alton Brown's "Not Your Mama's Green Bean Casserole"

I can assure that my posts will slow down tremendously after Thanksgiving...hehe. I am just so excited! I will stop boring you and this will be my last post tonight...promise. Tomorrow, I will post the rest of the recipes that I am using for our dinner...Roasted Chestnut Sausage Dressing, Yummy Mac-n-Cheese, Mendi's Dad's Squash Casserole, Mashed Potatoes (still deciding on the kind), Cheddar Rosemary Biscuit, and (of course) gravy. And, yes, it is just myself, Chris, and our boys eating : )!

Ingredients
For the topping:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs (love these!)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Nonstick spray

For beans (to cut time you can just buy the steamfresh green beans in the freezer dept. and skip these steps...i like the whole beans not the cut):
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
1 gallon water
2 tablespoons kosher salt

For sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half

Directions
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Bake in the oven until golden brown, tossing every 10 minutes, for approximately 30 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use.

Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.
While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Add the half-and-half and cook until the mixture thickens, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.