Chicken Pot Pie

Perhaps I only decided to make chicken pot pie for potluck knowing I'd have a chance to include this video clip:

And while it certainly doesn't hurt, it wasn't the only reason. We roasted a chicken on Friday night and I had some leftovers that needed tending to. I was also feeling in need of comfort food, and what better dish to whip up then a creamy, flaky chicken pot pie?

Since I don't make chicken pot pie on the reg, I looked up a bunch of recipes online. Some seemed too simplistic and basic while others had more prep work than I could deal with. So...I made up my own recipe. And while some of the time my attempts at creating recipes are huge flops, this one was actually a hit, so I'm sharing it with you all.

Start by sauteing one chopped onion and two cloves of garlic in some olive oil in an oven proof pot.

I cooked them for about 5 minutes before adding in 1 large carrot, chopped. I probably could have used two carrots, to be honest.

After cooking them all together for another 5-10 minutes, I added 1/4 cup of flour.

I stirred the flour till it coated all the veggies and then let it cook up for a bit, probably five minutes or so, just until it started browning. Then I added two cups of chicken broth and whisked, whisked, whisked until it turned into a perfect gravy-like consistency. I added a cup of peas (ok, I'll be honest, I didn't measure, I just added the remains of one bag of frozen peas...so, use your own judgement there), salt, pepper and some fresh thyme.

I tossed this in, uncovered, into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. While that was cooking, I took out some frozen puff pastry (yay for Trader Joe's finally stocking this again!) and let it defrost for 10 minutes before slicing it into strips. I took out the filling and after it cooled for a few minutes, I made a very poorly constructed lattice top to my chicken pot pie. I'm pretty certain you can do a full top as well, but I was trying to be "good" and not use too much of the buttery, flaky pastry goodness.

I turned the oven on to 425 and baked it for another 15 minutes. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but trust me when I say it looked beautiful. The pastry puffed up to a lovely golden brown, and it complimented the chicken filling perfectly. If you have extra time, I'm sure you could easily whip up a pastry topping of your own (Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee is my go to recipe for such things), but for a quick and easy chicken pot pie, using some frozen puff pastry can't be beat.

Potluck itself was a small affair, but perfect for a Monday night that certainly brought with it a "case of the Mondays." February definitely has that "wah wah" winter feel to it, so hopefully we can find ways to stay on top of that in the next few weeks.

Despite the small crowd, we enjoyed a lovely meal of kale & potatoes along with the chicken pot pie and topped it off with some sweet bread pudding (smothered in homemade kahlua for the adults). Yum! 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Have I mentioned lately that we've been getting some snow?

Just a wee bit

 Oh, right...and ice.

The past two days have been spent shoveling and snow blowing and generally stuck inside watching the snow fall. I can't imagine how much more we can take, because honestly...I have no idea where we'll put it all.

So, instead of dwelling on the snow, I spend a little bit of each day thinking about all the fun activities the warmer months will bring with it (eventually). My son and I like to day dream about the camping trips we'll take to Cape Cod or how we'll run around in bathing suits and go swimming in pools. Clearly, all those things are months away, but we can dream about them as much as we want.

Another thing I love to dream about is our garden. I plan and re-plan our garden in my mind, trying to decide what we'll plant this year. Our garden journey has definitely been one of trial and error, but it's certainly been a fun one.

When we had finally purchased a home of our own, one thing that I really wanted was a little bit of land to use for gardening. Unfortunately, also wanting to live in town made that next to impossible and we ended up with a house with no yard what.so.ever.

At all.

So, we had to get creative.

 March 2009

We did have some space right in front of the house that was bordered by a brick wall. The previous owners had filled the space with bushes, flowers and a dogwood tree, leaving it mostly useless as far as planting goes. As the winter thawed, we got to work and ripped out everything except for the tree, which we pruned back as much as possible.

We pulled out hundreds of roots, turned the soil and then hoped for the best. Having never really gardened myself before (if you don't count the wheat grass I planted in a styrofoam cup back in 3rd grade) and despite my husband's illustrious career as a landscaper during his summers home from college, we seemed to be starting at ground zero, knowledge wise.

I turned to the internet and found a vast array of websites that were more than willing to walk me through the process. I learned what veggies grew best in this climate and when to plant things. I decided that for our 1st venture into gardening that the best thing to do would be to use starter plants rather than seeds. Thankfully, our local farmers' markets had plenty of starters for sale.

Salad green starts and herbs

We plotted out the spacing and then planted away. We decided not to go overboard for our first try and planted cooking greens, salad greens, cherry tomatoes, string beans, and a variety of herbs.

Cooking greens, all in a row.

Rosemary

Checking in on the greens w/tomato plants up in front

The greens are growing!

The best part about planting our own garden was having my son get involved. Of course, for him it was a chance to play in the dirt, dig for worms and have fun, but he also seemed to grow a sense of pride in the garden. He spent time watering, weeding and eating straight from the garden! When friends came over he never hesitated to let them know what we had planted and offered to let them try something. It was a great way to get him interested in vegetables without even really trying. 

Watering the garden - 2009

We kept our CSA membership that first year, not really knowing what our yield would be. Color us surprised when our experimental garden flourished and we were inundated with greens, tomatoes, herbs and beans. It didn't take much convincing at all to prep the garden the following spring.

Spring 2010 - getting the ground ready

We shook things up in 2010, planting the usual suspects of herbs, cooking & salad greens, but decided to try our hand at heirloom tomatoes and snap peas as well as the string beans. We also threw caution to the wind and dropped out of our beloved CSA. While we really enjoyed being a part of it, by the end of the previous summer, we were swimming in greens between the CSA and our garden.

Thankfully, our 2010 crop was just as successful and we got some real gorgeous produce.

Mama size heirloom tomato

And so...with all the snow on the ground, I'm already dreaming of what new veggies we'll try our hands at. Instead of sugarplums, I have visions of tomatoes and collards and possibly even cucumbers running through my head! I am so ready to toss my snow boots in the basement, peel off my socks and go running barefoot in the garden. (Please feel free to remind me of this when I start whining about how hot this summer is...)

Pizza & Processing

In this blog I usually stick to discussing the lighter, easier aspects of potlucking. I talk about the delicious food we make, the fun times we have together and the celebrations we share with each other. And why wouldn't I want to focus on the positive parts? Nobody ever likes zeroing in on the pitfalls, and yet...sometimes that is unavoidable.

Due to various reasons,  there was a shift in our potluck group about 8 or 9 months ago. This shift caused various members who had been with us to drop out for a while and the group sort of stumbled for a bit. There were definitely a few weeks of uncertainty, but eventually, we worked through it and continued on.

Currently, another shift has occurred and we're doing our best to work through it, and I can see that bright light at the end of the tunnel. This past Monday's potluck certainly helped with that. We were able to sit down and voice our concerns, fears and uncertainties and work through them, sharing how we saw the future of potluck.

In lieu of spending time preparing food, we opted to order in some pizza and instead take the time to sit and connect. It wasn't easy, but once we got the ball rolling, it was really fruitful. As we ate (the pizza was quickly followed up by chocolate chip cookies!) and talked, I noticed a word that got thrown around a lot: family.

It's true...this group of friends that I've been sharing Monday night meals with for almost four years has certainly become like a family. And like a family, we share the good and the bad. While it would be easier and simpler if we only had to deal with the good...sometimes it's the bad parts that remind us of how sweet we usually have it.

While it's never fun to have to sit down and hash things out, it's usually helpful, and in our case it certainly proved to be so. We're far from having everything figured out, but I have hopes that we're on our way there. So, while I don't have pictures of yummy food or even delicious recipes to share, I come with the overused (but perhaps for good reason?) message of "anything worth having is worth fighting for." Continuing with the cliches, a good friend reminded me that this type of "family" isn't born, rather, it's made.  And anything you make can take a few tries and some reworking, but that just makes it worth more.

It's helpful to remember these sentiments as I'm sure this isn't the last bump in the road we might ever face, but I know that just like before we'll figure it out and only grow stronger. Then, as we figure it out we'll be back to the fun, delicious times (and posts) we're all familiar with.

Chicken With Rice

Last night we made a simple dinner...chicken with rice (and mushrooms). But, oh...how I wish we had chicken soup with rice, if only so I could post this:

But alas, soup wasn't in the cards, and instead we settled for roasted chicken parts, sauteed mushrooms, broth-cooked rice and a little mushroom gravy. So, really...it wasn't settling at all.

We had a bunch of bone-in chicken parts form our meat CSA to use up, and decided to roast them. It couldn't have been easier. Set the oven for 425 and prep your chicken. We poured a bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan, but sometimes I use coconut oil - really, whatever is on hand. Then, I added a bit of salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and a few lemon wedges, and roasted them, breast side down for 15 minutes.

After flipping them, I cooked them another 15 minutes, re-seasoned and flipped them again, cooking another 15-20 minutes. Since they were smaller pieces, they cooked through perfectly, but make sure to check that the juices run clear when you slice into the meat and there is no pink.

Crispy skin and juicy meat!

For the mushrooms, I just sauteed them in a tablespoon of olive oil and added some salt and pepper.

I then saved some of the mushrooms to make a gravy. I added a couple tablespoons of flour, some drippings/oil from the pan of chicken, and some wine. I had hoped to add some white wine, but only had some Pinot on hand. So, in it went.

mmm...gravy!

Yes, the plate lacks some green, and I totally own up to that, but it was a chilly night (we woke up to yet another snow storm!!) so I cut myself some slack.

And, the best part is - leftovers! Tonight I'll be using the leftover rice to make a Mexican style rice and beans, while the leftover chicken will get shredded and star in some chicken nachos. And I'll make sure to have extra greens! 

Art for Dinner

Last night's potluck took on a different form than usual when we ventured out to an art gallery at a local university campus. One of our potluck members (and my best friend!) had the opening night of an installation that she's spent a lot of time on.

We wanted to be there to support her, and so instead of our usual Monday night gathering, a few of the families met at the art gallery and then we followed it up with take out burritos from a local restaurant. While our night was different from the norm - the same key elements were there - community, friendship and food, just in a different setting.

And so, while I don't have pictures of delicious food or a recipe to share, I do have some shots of Hannah's art show, which can at least feed you in a different way.

Hannah's installation: With Paper and Pins

Artist's Statement

The artist and her work

Potluck friends checking out the installation

Simply Delicious

It's been a long week.

I think we're on our 5th or 6th storm of 2011. I'm not quite sure, as they tend to blur together after a while...a big mess of ice and snow and sleet.

I do know that I'm done with shoveling snow... that my upper arms bear the mark of somebody intimately familiar with the shovel-scoop-toss that accompanies these New England storms.

My son has only had 1.5 days of school this week. I may have even turned to Dr. Google, and am 96% certain that I suffer from an actual case of Cabin Fever.

And so, tonight, after yet another snow day, I needed something simple. Simple and delicious. Only two requirements, and I think I managed to come out on top. At least one thing is in my favor this week.

There really isn't much to this meal, and I even wondered for a second why I should even devote a blog post to it. However, in the end, I came to the realization that they reason is in the simplicity of it all. Not only is this meal easy to prepare. satisfying and delicious. There are very few ingredients and it takes very little "hands on" time as well.

Ingredients: 
-a bag of small, fingerling potatoes
-one large onion, quartered
-2 peppers, sliced
-turkey (or pork) kielbasa
-herbs (I went with thyme and oregano)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350*

Mix together the potatoes and onions with some olive oil to coat. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on them and set them in the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add the peppers.

I went with a green and a yellow

After mixing in the peppers, cook for an additional 20 minutes, stirring once midway. Then add the kielbasa. I like to slice mine up to the same size of the potatoes. Stir it all up again and add your herbs, about a teaspoon of each. Pop it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Check the potatoes to ensure it's done. Piercing with a fork is the easiest way to do so.

nom.

We paired this with a simple salad and it really was the perfect meal to end this week with. Hope you all stayed warm and well-fed, wherever you are!

Snowman Cake

This past weekend we held a birthday party for my son, filling our house up with friends, family and food! Starting many moons ago, my son made sure that I knew of his wish for a "snowman cake." I'm not sure how he came up with that idea, or if he had seen something similar, but all I know is that he really, really, really wanted a snowman cake.

I grew up with fond memories of homemade birthday cakes that came in various shapes and sizes and I wanted to continue the tradition with my own family, so a snowman cake it was. Despite my husband's apprehension, I decided upon a tall snowman cake, rather than a shaped sheet cake. I didn't really have a concrete game plan, only that I wanted it to be tall, round and super cute. I think (hope) I accomplished that.

Okay, so he's kind of stumpy, but he was damn tasty! And isn't that what counts?

While it may have looked a little bit like a hot mess, the cake was actually pretty easy to make, and really delicious as well. The day before the party I made all four layers of cake. Yup - that's right: FOUR. In addition to knowing he wanted a snowman cake, my son was also very clear as to what it would include. He wanted alternating layers of chocolate and yellow cake as well as strawberry filling. 

I used the same recipe that I had used earlier in the week for cupcakes for the yellow cake, and it made enough for the bottom and top layers of the snowman. For the chocolate part (I made two 8 inch pans worth) I found a really easy and delicious recipe. 

Start by whisking together: 7 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 cup flour, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Make a well in the middle and add: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk. Whisk about 40 times until all blended. I beat the eggs and added it to the milk and stirred before adding it to the dry ingredients.

Then add: 1 stick of melted butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Whisk it all together.

Then bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

It really came out perfectly and only used up one bowl - a total success in my book! When all the cakes had cooled, I wrapped them up so they'd be ready to use the next day. Saturday rolled around and I made some strawberry filling. I didn't really have a recipe, and just kind of winged it. I took a bag of frozen strawberries, mixed in about a 1/4 cup of sugar and a few tablespoons of corn starch. I let it cook down on low and mashed it around with my fork. Once it cooled I spread it between my layers of cake and then frosted the whole thing in cream cheese frosting.

Then it was time to decorate! I used blackberries for the snowman's eyes, a carrot nose, raisins for its mouth, strawberries for buttons, fruit leather for a scarf, a cupcake hat, pretzel rod arms, and shredded coconut for snow.

I also took a slew of photos...

The birthday boy assesses the cake

Phew. He seemed to dig it

ooooh, cake! 

Yeah, it was pretty delish

The remains