Chicken Pot Pie

I love Fall, the cool weather makes me want warm comfort food.  Once I found this recipe it's became the only chicken pot pie recipe I make.  It comes from Pillsbury. This is my kind of comfort food.  Instead of making one large pot pie I like to make this pot pie in 4 individual servings.  Tonight I baked two and froze two . This is one fantastic Chicken Pot Pie!
 

1 (15 oz) pkg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup four
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
14.5 oz can (1 3/4 cup) chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
3 cups cooked chicken, cut up
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed


1. Heat oven to 400. Prepare pie crusts as directed on pkg. for two-crust pie using 9 inch pie pan.
2. In medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly and thickened.
3. Add chicken and mixed vegetables; remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust and flute; cut slits in several places.
4. Bake 400 for 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. let stand 5 minutes before serving to let cool slightly and also to let it thicken. Serves 6


Note: I always have a bag of  frozen chicken breast in the freezer and with these you just bake them frozen and the meat is so tender. 

Instead of one large pot pie, here I make 4 individual pot pies.  (I don't use a bottom crust here, only a top crust.)

At this point, you can freeze the pie pie(with out the top crust). To bake, thaw, and put on pie crust right before baking, bake as directed.

Before filling individual casserole dish, cut pie crust to fit dish.

Bake as directed in recipe.

Apple Caramel Dip

I have to post this recipe again as it is apple season and this is the most delicious apple dip.   It's also simple to make!

Apple Caramel Dip

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I used Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/2 cup Heath English Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits
apples, sliced

1. Beat the cream cheese with brown sugar until smooth. Spread onto a small to medium serving dish (with sides). I used a 3 cup Pyrex glass dish.

2. Heat the caramel slightly (about 10 second in microwave) to make spreadable. Spread on top of cream cheese.

3. Sprinkle the nuts and toffee bits all over the top. Serve with sliced apples for dipping.

I found this recipe on Janetishungry.blogspot.com but I made a few changes.

Chuck Roast Chili

 I was at the library and picked up this cookbook-Morton's The Cookbook-and found this great Chili recipe.  I've never posted a Chili recipe because I never have found one that was worth it until now.  I like that this recipe has tender chunks of beef instead of ground beef.  The texture and beefy flavor makes this a keeper!

 With the leftovers we added some extra cheese on top and had chili nachos (sour cream and guacamole on the side).  Lets just say, not one spoonful went to waste, it's that good.

Serves 12 (half the recipe for 6 servings)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 pounds yellow onions, chopped (about 4 cups)

6 tablespoons minced garlic (about 18 cloves) (use mini food processor to mince garlic)

3-4 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed some of the fat and silver skin, cut into 1/4 inch dice (I get 4 lbs chuck roast) (this takes time but so worth it!  Don't worry about some fat just cut off large pieces of fat)

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (I used only 1 teaspoon)

Four 14 1/2 ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice (I used petite diced)

Four 16 ounce cans spicy chili beans (I only use 3 cans)

2 cups water

Two 8 ounce cans tomato sauce

2 tablespoons beef base (bases are available in supermarkets in the soup isle)

2 bay leaves 

Salt (I didn't use any salt)
Garnish:
shredded cheese
chopped onion
jalapeno peppers
sour Cream

1.  In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium low heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften.
2.  Add the beef, raise the heat to medium high, and stir for about 5 minutes as it begins to lose its pink color.  Add the chili powder, cumin and pepper and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to let the flavors develop.
3.  Add the tomatoes and their juice, beans and their juice, water, tomato sauce, and beef base.  Stir to mix well and then add the bay leaves.  Stir gently.
4.  Reduce the heat to low and let the chili simmer gently for about 2-3 hours, or until the meat is tender.  Stir frequently so the the chili does not stick to the bottom of the pot.  Adjust the heat up or down to maintain a slow simmer.
5.  Thin the chili with water, if necessary, and add salt to taste (I don't use any salt, don't think it needs any).  It might not be necessary, as the beans and the base are salty.  Remove the bay leaves and serve.  Serve with shredded cheese, chopped onion, jalapeno peppers and sour cream.
6.  The chili can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 1 month.  Reheat it gently, stirring frequently.

BLAT''s (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato)

If you like avocados you will love them on your BLT's.  I don't think I ever want to eat another BLT without the A, only BLAT's for me!  No recipe needed just make a BLT and add sliced avocado or mash avocado and add mayo to make a creamy spread.

Homemade Pizza Crust

I have never been good with yeast.  What I mean is yeast scares me!  I've attempted to make homemade rolls and the end result was my husband going to the store to get rolls that wouldn't choke our dinner guests!  I've also made pizza crust but never had one that was really good until today.  I found the recipe on Megan's blog, another blog I'll have to add to my blog roll.  She has some great looking recipes!  This pizza dough was crunchy, soft and chewy and not doughy at all.  I think the secret to this recipe is cooking the pizza on the preheated pizza stone.  It was perfect!

Perfect Homemade Pizza Crust (made a few changes)

1/2 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

1/2 tsp. sugar (On the Fleischmann's jar it said to use sugar to proof yeast)

2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast (or active dry) I used Fleischmann's Active Dry
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup water, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup.  Add sugar.  Sprinkle the yeast over the top.  If using active dry yeast, stir the yeast into the water and allow to sit until bubbly, about 5-10 minutes. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  (Dough comes off sides of bowl (if not add a little flour) but will stick to bottom) Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball.

If freezing the dough, wrap each ball of dough in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag and freeze.  Place the dough in the refrigerator on the morning of the day you want to use it. (If using the dough for lunch, transfer to the refrigerator the night before.) Before making the pizza, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

If using the dough right away (not freezing it), cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.

To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. (a pizza peel  or parchment paper) Shape the dough with lightly floured hands. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil (I didn't do this step but will try it next time and let you know). Top as desired. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes.


http://www.whatmegansmaking.com - check out Megan's Blog for more great recipes

I used a pizza peel for the first time.  I sprinkled it with cornmeal and a little flour.  Worked out the dough right on the peel making sure it would move before I added my toppings.  Then when pizza was all prepared I slid the pizza right on the preheated pizza stone.  I thought 500 degrees would be way to hot but it wasn't.  The crust was done to perfection and the cheese was melted until bubbly.