Chicken Pot Pie

 

Chicken Pot Pie 

5 or 6 chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed

2 cans chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 tbsp butter (or cooking spray)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/4 cup fat free half-and-half *

1 (12 oz or thereabouts) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (optional)

about ½ cup cornstarch

2 boxes refrigerated pie crust (4 crusts total)

6 aluminum foil disposable pot pie pans

Salt and pepper to taste

The chicken pot pie is really all about the crust, right?  So I like to make individual pot pies so we all get the most crust possible.  I use these little ones from the grocery store . . . maybe someone will get me some real ones for my birthday (hint, hint).

Preheat your oven to 375.

I suppose you could make your own pie crust if you are a super over-achiever but these work just fine for me!

Unfortunately, these pie crusts are not quite big enough, and I guess they would be too thick if used as-is, so you will need to roll them out a bit.

From your first pie crust, you need to be able to cut out three pot pie tops. 



To do this I get out my little pans and press the top so it leaves light marks and I make sure I can cut out three full tops.

Use a paring knife to make a circle around the top.  Set aside and separate your tops with pieces of wax paper.

Repeat with your second pie crust.

Save your scraps!  You'll need them for your bottoms.

Roll your second two pie crusts out to about the same thickness, but this time you will be cutting out the bottoms, so you'll need to leave about 1/2 an inch of overlap.  You will only be able to get two bottom crusts out of one circle of dough, so you'll have to cobble together two bottoms with all your scraps. 



Gently place one of your bottom circles over your pie plate.

Work your pie crust down into the bottom of the pie plate.  Don't smash it in there, just make sure the crust touches the bottom.

For the two bottom crusts that you'll have to cobble together with your scraps, you will have some sections that will wrap around the top easily.  You don't need to reroll the crust, just lay your various pieces next to each other in a way that minimizes overlap.  Cut away any excess with your knife and gently pinch the seams together.  No one is going to see this bottom part anyway so it doesn't have to look great.

See, not bad!  They'll never know the difference.

In a medium to large saucepan over medium heat, melt tablespoon of butter.  You could also use a tablespoon of olive oil or cooking spray.

Add onions and saute until translucent.  Then add cream of chicken soup and chicken broth and stir until combined.

Remember the flower pin?  It's still in one piece, even after an accidental trip through the washing machine and dryer!

Put about half a cup of cornstarch in a small bowl and add half a cup to a cup of your broth mixture.  Whisk until there are no more lumps.  Pour back into your pot and stir to combine.  Then add your salt, pepper and fat free half and half (of course you could use real, but FF works just as well!)



Add your chicken, carrots, peas and parsley (optional).  Normally I use the bag of frozen peas and carrots.  This time I had frozen carrots left over from my dill roasted carrots.  I thawed them in a Ziploc steam bag and chopped them.  They turned out fine but next time I will go back to the frozen bag due to its ease.

Place all of your pot pie bottoms on a cookie sheet.



Fill them almost all the way to the top.  Just make sure everyone gets the same amount :)

Place your top on top, and pinch to seal.

Cut slits to vent IMMEDIATELY after you put the top on.  If you attempt to put all the tops on first and then go back and cut slits, your dough will have gotten all melty from the heat of your filling and your slits will be all gooey (trust me . . . . )

As such.



Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until tops are a nice golden brown.  The inside is already cooked, so you don't have to worry about it getting done.

The inside will be hot! 

Yummy!

(Slightly) Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo

I have been trying to find "the perfect" cream sauce for pasta for a while now, and I think I may have finally found it!  One day I even threw caution to the calorie count and tried making authentic Alfredo sauce but it was so rich I got a tummy ache.  This version isn't exactly healthy, but it's definitely healthier than heavy whipping cream!

(Slightly) Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo (with chicken)

1 lb fettuccine

1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, diced

2 tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups whole milk

4 oz (1/2 a block) Neufchatal cheese

2 cups parmesan cheese, shredded

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

dash of nutmeg (optional)

1 tbsp fresh parsley (optional)

Get your fettuccine started first because it's a thick pasta and needs to boil for a while.  I used 3/4ths of the box. 

In case you don't know what a shallot looks like, here is one.  Something my mom definitely didn't cook with!  It seems like cooking has changed a lot since the Food Network came into being.  Like remember how no one cooked with real garlic?  That was unheard of.  All old recipes reference garlic powder.  Anyhoo~

Chop your shallot into very small pieces, which is a little difficult.

Grate a ton of parmesan cheese!  I really didn't measure it, I just grated until my arm hurt.  Probably about 2 cups.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add olive oil.  Saute shallots until soft-ish.  About 2 minutes.

Add flour and stir to combine.  The mixture should be smooth of any lumps and paste-y.

Add chicken broth and stir to combine.  A whisk really helps get the lumps out.  Let it heat up for a few minutes.

Add milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Stir to combine and let heat a few minutes more.

Add parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

I'm not entirely sure what Neufchatal cheese is.  It's similar in calorie content to reduced fat cream cheese, but it seems to be a lot creamier.  I really like the texture.  Anyway, it looks just like cream cheese.

Add half the block to your sauce.  Break it up with your spoon and whisk to combine. 

Add your chicken (if applicable).  One day a few months ago there was a big sale on chicken breasts so I bought a bunch, separated them into Italian, Mexican and plain.  I marinated/seasoned them accordingly and grilled them because I like chicken breast when it's grilled 100x more than baked in the oven.  I chopped and froze them in 1 lb bags.  The day before I made this dish I put my 1 lb of Italian chicken in the refrigerator and right before adding to the sauce I microwaved the bag for 1 minute.  It turned out great!

Bring your sauce to a boil, then reduce to low and let it cook 2-3 more minutes.  Pour over your fettuccine and let set for 2-3 more minutes.

Serve hot with a little fresh parsley and extra parmesan cheese on top (optional). 

These two really liked it, although they both ate all their broccoli first.  And I didn't even bribe them!

I'm sorry but I have to brag - look at these plates!  My little veggie eaters.  Now if I could just figure out how to get Gigi to eat fruit.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

For Soup:

2 tbsp butter

1/2 a yellow onion, diced

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 large carrots, grated and sliced

1 pound chicken, cooked and diced or shredded

8 cups chicken broth*

1 can cream of chicken soup*

thyme and parsley (fresh or dried)

salt and pepper

1/2 package egg noodles* (whole grain or regular)

For Grilled Cheese:

8 slices bread*

4 tbsp butter

4 slices American cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

* I tagged this post as gluten-free but I considered adding a new category called gluten-free(ish).  It is gluten-free provided that you use gluten-free versions of the starred(*) items.

 

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large pot over medium heat.

 

Put sliced carrots in a Ziploc steam bag and steam for about 4 minutes.  This will help move you along in the cooking process because carrots can take a long time to get soft.

 

Chop your celery.  I like mine in the little crescent shapes.  Also it's faster.

 

Dice half your onion.

 

Add onions and celery into hot, melted butter and let cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

 

Chop up your chicken, or in our case, leftover turkey from a Christmas get-together!  This is probably more than a pound, but you know A-Dub likes his dishes to have a lot of meat.  You can add as much or as little as you like.  Those grocery store rotisserie chickens would be great in this.

Next add the steamed carrots, chicken and the 8 cups of chicken broth to the pot (or in our case, 8 cups of water and 16 tsp of this broth base which I was trying out).  I realize this isn't necessarily the best reason . . . but this was really good and I prefer it to real chicken broth because it is saltier.  I know, the sodium.  Don't care.  It was so yummy.  It did make the soup have a slightly green tinge though.

 

Next add the can of cream of chicken soup.  You could leave this out for the calorie's sake, but I like it because it makes the soup a little creamy.  Also add the half a package of whole grain egg noodles (or however much depending on how noodley you want your soup).  I have given up on most whole grain pasta because it never seems to cook and ends up having more "bite" than I like in my pasta.  But I do like the whole grain egg noodles--they taste just like regular ones.

Add your fresh or dried parsley and thyme (I happened to have fresh on hand but generally never do and dried is just as good) and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir it up and put the lid on the pot, bring the soup to a boil and let cook until the noodles have softened, about 10 minutes.

 

While the soup is cooking, heat up your griddle pan or skillet to medium, if you have one.  I love my griddle pan because it does 4 sandwiches at once!  But since A-Dub doesn't like grilled cheese (I know, can you believe it?) I just made 3.

So you're probably wondering why I am bothering to post a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich.  Well, that is because there are grilled cheese sandwiches and then there are Taylor's grilled cheese sandwiches.  Sorry to toot my own horn, but if you can't toot your own horn, whose can you toot?  (Credit: Dana Kantalis). Here is how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.

Obviously the most important part is the cheese.  You must use both Deluxe American slices (NOT the individually wrapped American slices) and cheddar or another melty cheese.  I always use at least 1 slice deluxe American and about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend.  But I will also throw in pretty much any cheese we have on hand.  Shredded Monterrey Jack, mozzarella, sliced provolone or sliced muenster are also very good.

Lay out your bread slices and butter them.  Try not to tear your bread apart like I did here.  Yeesh.  I usually use margarine but I'd already used that pat of butter earlier so I used real butter.  I think the marg spreads a little easier.

Place first piece of bread, butter side down, on hot griddle.  You could spray your pan with Pam, but if you put enough butter on your bread you don't really need it.

Then add about 1/4 of a cup of your shredded cheese.  You want to add your shredded cheese first, so it can get melty so it will stay in place when you flip your sandwich.  Also, don't measure your cheese, just add a small (or large, what the heck) handful.  You need to be fast!

Then add your slice of American (and then provolone in our case).

Top with other piece of bread, buttered side out.

Quickly assemble your other sandwiches. 

Flip your sandwiches after they have spent 2-3 minutes on one side.  Don't let them burn!  There's nothing worse than a burned grilled cheese sandwich.  No one wants to eat it (don't even think your kids will!) and you definitely don't want to have to start over.  I almost burned these while taking pictures!

Once your second side has cooked as well, transfer to the plate and do not cut it immediately!  If you do, all the cheese will ooze out of your sandwich on to the plate.  Let the sandwich sit for a minimum of 2 minutes undisturbed (3 is better but if you're impatient, 2 will do.  This will let the cheese set and when you do cut it into slices the cheese will stay put.

Yum.  So it's a little overly specific for instructions on how to make a grilled cheese but it is the perfect grilled cheese.  I should know, I have spent years perfecting it!

When your sandwiches are done, your soup should be too.  Since this soup has been boiling, it may help to throw an ice cube or two in your soup bowl to help it cool down, especially if you're giving it to kids who are too impatient to blow on their spoon. 

Enjoy!