On my own: Recipe 1: Chicken Pot Pie

I made this recipe last weekend and the weather is one of the reasons why. It had been dark and rainy for literally over 48 hours straight and the temperatures were quite cool. It was weather that I loved, but one of my friends was also losing her mother at the same time so it was truly a melancholy weekend. For whatever reason, I had the urge to cook something (maybe because my friend and her mom are wonderful generous cooks?)  I wanted comfort food, so I pulled out my own recipe...and it's a good one.  My chicken pot pie is awesome, and I'll happily admit it.  It takes about four hours, start to finish.

A few Black Fridays ago, I purchased a food processor and found that it did wonders for making dough. Unfortunately, I had a mishap when I was processing some meat for Kevin's meatballs and it went, uh, kablooey. I stuck a wooden spoon too far down the shoot. Yeah. That's me.  That meant that this time around I had to make the dough by hand. I use the Martha Stewart pie crust recipe. But, since I was making it for pot pie, I wanted it to have a little more flavor. So, instead of using unsalted butter like she uses, I used salted butter and just held back on the amount of salt I put in the recipe. I mixed everything together and mashed it together with my knuckles...yep, really making this by hand.

While the discs sat chilling in the fridge, I went ahead and started the filling. I use the recipe Chicken Pot Pie IX from allrecipes.com and I take some of the suggestions from the users. The recipe alone will be too dry, so I make more of the broth and milk mixture (2c and 1c respectively). I also used two cubes of bullion when I boiled the chicken and vegetables (i normally would have used broth but didn't have enough...this was a good substitute). I also change out the veggies with what I have at the time. I don't add in celery because it's not a family favorite. I normally use carrots, but didn't have any so I added potatoes (win!). I also back down the amount of peas by half. I dashed in some frozen corn as well...I guess I threw in half a cup?  Instead of celery, i used celery salt after i had the milk-broth mixture and it helped to add a little extra flavor.

Before i put the filling in, I lined the pie pan with the lower crust and baked at 425*  for five minutes to give it a head start. Once it's all in the oven, it doesn't take too long and it smells delicious. It was a reallllly yummy batch and I was happy to take leftovers the next day. The picture I used is from allrecipes.com because I realized as i was packing up leftovers that I didn't take a picture. Mine looked just like this one...minus broccoli :)

Recipe 19: Garlicky Mashed Potatoes

After a trip to the garage to peruse the deep freezer, Kevin realized we had a rack of ribs, so he decided to make his wonderful ribs and chicken dinner, which we accompany with cheese and spaghetti and mashed potatoes. Because the mashed potatoes are always my responsibility, I wanted to try something new. When I saw Mark's Garlicky Mashed Potatoes I knew that was the one! 

I will say right away that I got nervous when I saw that I was to use a whole head of garlic. Holy cow. But, Mark has never steered me wrong before so I went with it. I had to cut the top, drizzle with olive oil and pepper, and roast in the oven for like 30 minutes, but that was fine because Kevin had the ribs cooking as well. When it was finished I was supposed to squeeze the garlic out, which I predicted to be so difficult because I know how hard it can sometimes be to peel the husk (?) off when it's fresh. But I did it, and of course, it was easy like he said. I believe the recipe called for five potatoes, but I knew that wouldn't cut it with my boys, so I just made my normal colander-full amount...I also thought that would be good to lessen the amount of garlic flavor.   In the end, they turned out great...not too much garlic, but still so yummy. And yes, I served them with butter. :)  Paired with an adult beverage, this was perfect football food!!

On-the-side: Recipe 2: Chicken Tetrazzini

My wonderful friend Tina is an awesome cook. She loves looking for recipes and trying things out and she's totally comfortable in the kitchen. Yeah, I guess opposites do attract, because that is still not me, at all, haha!!  She's one of those awesome people who will call you up and ask if have had dinner yet and then tell you that she has a casserole dish waiting for us in the oven. Even better, she's just up the street. Yeah, she's that good. :)

Anyway, a few weeks ago at football practice, she mentioned that she had made this killer chicken recipe and couldn't wait to share it.  So, the mom next to her (whose son I teach) made it the next week and sent leftovers with her son for lunch.  I thought, ok, this must be worth it.  

When I made it, I knew that Kevin didn't care for mushroom-based dishes a whole lot, so I added in some heavy cream.  It was very yummy and it made a LOT of food...too much for us. But, I guess that's something else that you learn when cooking.  I've also found that one of my favorite things to do while cooking is to saute. Call me weird, but I love to saute!!! :)

Here's the recipe she sent me:

So delicious!

12 oz linguine cooked according to directions and kept warm

1 ½ pounds raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small bite size chunks

Salt & Pepper

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 medium diced onion

4 Tablespoons butter

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

5 oz. Grated fresh parmesan cheese

½ cup of water

1 cup of frozen peas (thawed)

1 cup crushed buttery crackers (I used club crackers)

With non-stick cooking spray-spray a 9x13 pan

Salt and pepper the chicken.

In large skillet melt the butter and sauté the chicken along with the garlic and onion until the chicken is done (6-8 minutes)

Remove from heat and add the mushroom soup, sour cream, cheese and water—combine well—then fold in peas—add linguine and pour into 9x13 pan bake top with crackers and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

BTW you can make ahead and store overnight or you can freeze for up to 1 month.

Recipe 18: Lemon-Roasted Chicken

I am allll about simplicity and this recipe doesn't get much simpler....and it turned out yummy too!  This chick just needed olive oil, lemon, pepper, and rosemary (which I clipped fresh off the plant outside our window!).  I was worried about putting the chicken in the oven without anything else in the pan (because the temp is set to 450*), and Kevin was afraid the chicken would stick to the pan. But, I said, "Mark didn't say to put anything else, so I'm not." In my head I was thinking, "Please God, let Mark be right!!"

When I came back to oven when the timer clicked, I saw black on top of the chicken. It's a good thing Mark couldn't hear the thoughts I had in my head at that moment, because I just knew it had screwed up...even though I followed the recipe to a tee. I opened the oven, only to have smoke billow out. I pulled out the bird and realize I was still in the right...the only thing black and smokin' was the fresh rosemary (which i guess was to be expected when being cooked at 450*...). The chicken cooked perfectly, was juicy and done, and not burned one bit. Thank you, Mark! Thank you, thank you!! ;)  


Anyway, I paired this with mashed potatoes, gravy, and mac and cheese...and we called it our Boston Market night. Shoot...i should have made some corn bread!!!

Take Two: Recipe 5: Sweet Braised Beef Brisket with Garlic

I'll admit it. I got behind in my blogging. I didn't cook as much as I'd like to have, but I did cook...and I took pictures. Some of the next few recipes are both from Mark's book, some from a friend, and one is my own!

So yep, this is take two of the Sweet Beef Brisket recipe I tried and destroyed earlier. I didn't give up hope on this recipe...and I now know the difference between stock and broth ;)  Earlier in September I had to boil a chicken for something and remembered that I could freeze the stock. When Kevin and I were making our monthly meal list, I told him I wanted to try the brisket again. He was very supportive, but I could sense fear, haha! I followed all Mark's steps again, remembering to add stock....not broth.  I also picked up some Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce from Publix, something we'd never tried before. It was a perfect match for the brisket! It was very, very yummy and none of us felt like we'd drank the whole Dead Sea. 

It's always great to eat and have a smile on your face, knowing that this time, you didn't screw it all up! :)