The BEST Chicken Pot Pie I've ever made!!!

Thank you to Cook's Illustrated for this... Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping. Well-written recipe... full of flavor, some serious flavor!!!

For just me and my hubby I cut the recipe in half and it was plenty... but we sure were wanting more! Wow... words CANNOT explain how yummy this was. I guess you're going to have to make it for yourself to find out!


Here's where I started... the" mise en place". I chopped, diced, measured, poured and got all the ingredients ready for the process. (I have an affinity for mise en place... what can I say?! I'm an organized person and this process is just so much fun for me.)

Chicken stock, canola oil, cream, butter, mushrooms, onions, peas, carrots, flour, soy sauce, tomato paste and lemon juice.

I've never used soy sauce, tomato paste or lemon juice in a chicken pot pie. I would consider these to be the "secret weapons" of this dish. THANK YOU to Cook's Illustrated for these secrets! (This idea opens a whole new set of ideas for me... when it comes to other dishes that might need a kick of flavor. Seriously - love it!)

In a Dutch oven I boiled the chicken until cooked...

And while the chicken cooked I worked on the savory crumble topping... which is good enough to just bake up and eat as a Friday afternoon snack! The topping is made of flour, baking powder, salt/pepper, cayenne pepper, butter, parmesan cheese and cream. Watch this...

Mix the dry ingredients together and added cubed/chilled butter... then with your hands (the best tools in the kitchen) rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse cornmeal. Stir in the cheese until well mixed and then add the cream.

Mix it with a spoon and crumble the topping into uneven globs of goodness onto a baking sheet... fun, huh?!

Bake off the topping in a hot oven while you start assembling the rest of your pot pie. (The pot below is the same Dutch oven I boiled the chicken in - no need to wash it. I transferred the chicken to a cutting board so I could chop it up... and I strained the broth and set it aside to use it later in this process.)

From here on it comes together pretty quickly. Saute the carrots, onion, celery in a little bit of veg oil and some salt/pepper, until soft... once done transfer the vegetables to a bowl.

Add a bit more veg oil to the Dutch oven and do the same with the mushrooms...

They will lose their moisture in about 5 minutes... then add the tomate paste and soy sauce and cook just a tad (until the moisture evaporates).

About now it will be time to remove the crumble topping from the oven... try not to snack on all of it... there IS another purpose for it!

Back to the Dutch oven... this is what has been left behind by the mushrooms, soy sauce and tomato paste process. That "brown stuff" on the bottom of the pan is pure gold in this dish!!! It's called FOND... and I'm very fond of fond. (My apologies... that was super cheesy!)

When you add moisture to fond it comes off the bottom of the Dutch oven nicely and imparts some amazing flavor to your dish.

As you can see I've removed the mushrooms from the Dutch oven. They are now in the bowl with the other vegetables, waiting for their next task.

We will now start building the sauce, starting with butter and flour. Stir the butter and flour together, allowing it to cook for a minute or so... otherwise the sauce will taste "flour-y".

Next pour in the reserved chicken stock and milk (or cream) and while stirring scrape the fond off the bottom and sides of the Dutch oven.

In the picture below, see the wall of the Dutch oven? And how easily that fond scrapes off? It will then just melt into the sauce mixture and that's where a lot of the amazing flavor of this dish comes from. Thank you Mr Fond! Give the sauce a little taste. If it needs a little more salt/pepper add it now.

Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and add the lemon juice, shredded chicken and vegetables (including frozen peas)...

Stir together a few times and transfer mixture to baking dish... since it's just the two of us I used a small round casserole (but the recipe from Cook's Illustrated calls for a 9" x 13" baking dish). Then add the crumble topping and place it on the middle rack in the oven.

About 15-20 mins later you TOO will be saying this is the best chicken pot pie you've ever made!!! You can do it... and you're loved ones will thank you for it!!!

A few tips from Lori:

- Always read through a new recipe completely before making it the first time. I've made this mistake so many times and am still learning it. So take it from me.... read it first, then get to it!

- Even if you don't like to, go through the mise en place process for this dish. Have all of your ingredients pre-measured, set aside and waiting for you to grab them. Just trust me...

But most importantly... ...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Spicy Chicken Soup

Today I'm home with a cold... I've got the sniffles, the sneezes, the sore throat, the puffy/watery eyes ... the whole enchilada...

So, I knew it was time to make the spicy chicken soup. In our household this is also known as the “when-you-have-a-cold-and-want-to-open-the-sinuses soup”. It's spicy... just what the Dr ordered.

But first let me ask... when writing a food blog how does one finely walk the line between today's necessity (a remedy) and keeping the post savory... especially when it comes to THIS topic?!

Well, read on if you want.

Here's where I started...




And as most soups start... saute some onion. This will start the layering process.



About a minute before the onions are ready, add the diced garlic...



... the garlic is then followed by the chicken, which I've cut into 1" pieces...



Toss the chicken with the onions and garlic and allow to cook.



Toss in the ground cumin, thyme and salt/pepper mixture to coat the chicken while cooking...



Toss the chicken until completely cooked ... and while you're waiting set out the beans to drain off some of the canning juices. I used Trader Joe's "Cuban Style Black Beans"... they are flavored slightly and have more heat in them than the regular canned black beans. (I just wanted more heat.)

You can use your favorite type... I won't get upset. I promise.



Then start adding the other flavors... the tomatoes...



Next the green chiles and corn...



Followed by the chicken stock...



Stir in the beans...



Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes...



Bring to a boil, stir it well and reduce to a simmer...



Place a lid on the pot and allow the soup to simmer for at least a half hour...



When you're ready to eat dinner... or you just can't stand sniffling any longer... add the noodles (or rice), bring to a boil again and allow the pasta to cook.



Tonight I was just having a bowl or two... not the whole pot... so I spooned some out into a smaller pot and brought it to a boil. I tossed in the pasta and allowed it to boil until the pasta was cooked.





And then it was ready. I served up the soup, wrapped myself in a blanket and sat down to watch another tv show...




Now if I could just get over this cold... I'm running out of tv shows.




Spicy Chicken Soup
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 large garlic cloves, finely diced
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 quart chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes, fire roasted is preferred
1 can black beans, drained
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup frozen corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt/pepper

Optional: add egg noodles or rice at end, allow to boil enough to cook rice or noodles before serving

Instructions
In a large stock pot allow onion to saute in hot oil until translucent. In the last minute or two, add diced garlic and chicken. Add cumin, thyme and salt/pepper to taste. Stir well. Cook until chicken is done.

Add tomatoes, chicken stock, black beans, green chiles, corn, red pepper flakes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium-low. Cover. Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes. But, the longer it cooks on a simmer the better the flavors have a chance to “marry”.



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Chicken Paillard with Garlic Risotto

From Dictionary.com
pail·lard  / [pahy-yahr, pey-] - noun
a scallop, esp. of veal or chicken, that is pounded flat and grilled or sautéed quickly.

I pounded out the chicken between two sheets of wax paper, with a glass. All it takes is 5 or 6 whacks and it's all ready. I just pounded the thicker end of the chicken breast until it was as thin as the other end. (This helps to cook the chicken fast and evenly.)

Then I salted the chicken slightly, dredged it lightly through some flour and placed into a hot saute pan with a tablespoon of garlic-infused olive oil. About 3 minutes on both sides until there's a nice crispy texture to both sides.





While the chicken cooked I started the risotto. Quick steps: butter and garlic-infused olive oil in a deep saute pan, add sliced shallots and saute until tender. Next add the arborio rice, making sure to coat each grain of rice with oil.

Following directions isn't usually my forte... but this time I followed the directions on the back of the arborio rice container.

EXCEPT, I went out on the ledge and added 1/2 cup dry white wine to the rice before starting with the chicken broth. And I'm not going to apologize for THAT rebellion!

Allowing the wine to completely evaporate first, then I started adding the chicken stock. 1/2 cup at a time... until all 3 cups of chicken stock had been soaked up... let the stirring begin!



In the meantime, I grabbed the wine bottle again... this time to deglaze the pan that the chicken had been cooking in. I also added a little bit of chicken stock for deglazing...



Next, I added a little bit of flour to start a roux. After allowing the flour to cook a little, I added the cream and kept whisking. Then I added a little more cream.



Then I added some green onions...



Then I put the chicken back into the sauce to re-warm slightly and coat the chicken.



Next step? Finishing off the risotto and testing it to ensure it was properly cooked and seasoned.



May I present... a wonderful dinner to come back to after a bit of a hiatus in the kitchen. It was a rather nice evening... I love time at home with my hero-of-a-hubby!



Quote of the day...

"The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appétit. " — Julia Child


enjoy your time in the kitchen...