Chicken Pot Pie November 13, 2009

I love pot pie, it’s a comfort food. My husband in our 6 1/2 years of marriage has always told me he hated it so I never dared to make it, finally I decided to ask him what he hated about it, and he said “I hate the fake chicken, the peas and the sauce” I said what if I can make it without those things would you be willing to try it, and of course he said yes. So I pretty much made up a recipe based on a few things I know about casseroles, and pot pie is a casserole in a pie crust basically. I hope you enjoy it because it is super easy AND got rave reviews from my husband…Oh yeah and about halfway through the prep I realized I didn’t have a pie pan so..Don’t laugh at my square pie 

Chicken Pot Pie

Crust

1 cup butter chilled and cut into 16 pieces

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp Sugar

1/3 cup ice water

Sift together flour and sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until it resembles course crumbs. Lightly knead to form ball split into two  balls and then flatten each, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour or over night.

 

For the Filling

2 cups chicken (or turkey)  cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

1 small onion diced

2 large carrots diced

2 stalks celery diced

1 potato diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tbsp oil

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 egg lightly scrambled

Saute onions garlic and potatoes in oil in skillet for 2 minutes, then add carrots and celery saute for 2 minutes, remove from heat add soup  and chicken and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375º

Roll out  one ball into a  9 inch circle (or in my case square) Lay over pan. Pour in the mixture then roll out second ball into a 9 ” circle (or square) and lay over the top. trim edges to hand just over the edge of pan (longer if you like more crust) fold under toward pan and then either scallop with fingers or use a fork.  Brush with egg mixture,  Bake for 15  minutes and then sprinkle Parmesan on, cook for 15-20 minutes longer until lightly browned.

let cool Ten minutes before serving. Yum Yum

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramel Pecan Syrup November 12, 2009

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flower

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup pumpkin

3 tbsp butter melted

1 3/4 cups Milk

2 eggs Slightly beaten

Mix together dry ingrediants, make a well in the middle of the bowl and put in remaining ingrediants, mix just until combined batter will be slightly lumpy

Pour about a 1/2 cup batter on a hot skillet and spread with the bottom of the measuring cup to thin out each pancake.

 

Caramel Pecan Syrup

 

3 tbsp REAL butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2-3 tbsp pecans

milk or water to thin to your liking

melt butter slightly in pan, and sugars keep stirring till sugar melts, add pecans, and milk or water 1 tbsp at a time till thin enough should be no more than 3 or 4 tbsp.  Let mixture bubble for a minute, and serve over warm pancakes. (if you make this in advance you will just have to reheat it to pour)

Sausage Stromboli!! October 23, 2009

I love Taste of Home, their recipes almost never let me down. Sorry this is the picture from their website, I didn’t get a chance to take of of my own because this smelled amazing coming from the oven.

Ingredients

* 5 cups all-purpose flour *

2 tablespoons sugar *

2 teaspoons salt *

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast

* 1-1/2 cups warm water (120° to 130°)

* 1/2 cup warm milk (120° to 130°)

* 2 tablespoons butter, melted

* 2 pounds bulk pork sausage *

4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

* 3 eggs *

1 teaspoon minced fresh basil or 1/4 teaspoon dried basil *

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

* In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add water, milk and butter; beat on low until well combined. * Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. * Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain and cool. Stir in mozzarella, 2 eggs and basil; set aside. * Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll one portion into a 15-in. x 10-in. rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Spoon half of the sausage mixture lengthwise down one side of rectangle to within 1 in. of edges. * Fold dough over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cut four diagonal slits on top of stromboli. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Beat remaining egg; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. * Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Slice; serve warm. Yield: 2 loaves .

Chicken Parmigiana October 20, 2009

Chicken:

4 chicken breast pounded to 1/2 ” thick

2 eggs

4 tbsp Vegetable oil

2 cups Italian bread crumbs

mozzerella cheese (set aside till the end)

Preheat oven to 450º, lightly Grease a cookie sheet.  mix egg and oil in a bowl, pour breadcrumbs into a shallow dish. Dip chicken into egg mixture then coat in bread crumbs evenly. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

1 6oz can Tomato paste

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 cloves garlic minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp Mrs Cavenaughs greek seasoning

Mix all into a pot and let simmer until chicken is done.

Pull out chicken put sauce over the top of each piece, then put a slice of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle parmesan on top. Place back into oven and broil till cheese is bubbly. Serve over Spaghetti noodles with a little sauce on them.

Caramel Popcorn October 16, 2009

Cracker Jacks Caramel Corn Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4  cup unpopped popcorn kernels

1 -2 cups  Peanuts

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large cookie sheet, greased

Directions:

In an air popper, pop the kernels according to your machine’s manual. My machine only allows you to pop 1/3 cups at a time, so make sure you follow your machine’s capacity instructions. You should have almost 4 quarts of popped popcorn using 1/2 cup of kernels. Dump the popcorn and the Spanish peanuts in a clean tall paper grocery bag. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a medium sauce pan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter,and salt over medium heat and allow to gently boil for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Carefully and immediately pour caramel sauce into the paper grocery bag and stir the sauce, popcorn, and nuts with a wooden spoon until the sauce is evenly distributed. Take the popcorn mixture and evenly scatter it between both greased cookie sheets. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring the popcorn every 15 minutes. Allow to cool and break up the pieces (if desired). Store in zip lock bags or airtight containers.

For Conference morning we had… October 9, 2009

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(Source: Barefoot Contessa)

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks)butter at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1½ teaspoons  vanilla extract
1¼ cups sour cream
2½ cups  flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

For the streusel:

¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
¾ cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

Sorta Homemade Chicken Curry October 2, 2009

I found this amazing Curry seasoning and at the request of my sister in law I am posting the “recipe”

Curry

1 S&B Curry Brick

1 lb Raw Chicken, beef or lamb

1/2  medium Onion

3-4 Medium Potatoes peeled(or a can of sliced potatoes)

3 carrots

2 tbsp Cooking oil (or Butter)

2 1/2- 3 cups water

Cut the meat into cubes and chop onions finely, stir fry meat and onions in OIL in a large skillet until onions are lightly browned and meat is no longer pink. While thats cooking chop carrots and Potatoes into small pieces   Add 2 1/2 cups of water to the pan, then add chopped vegetables cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat break curry brick into pieces and add them to the skillet. Stir until melted…if sauce is too thick add extra 1/2 cup water.  Serve over hot rice or noodles.

Best EVer Banana Bread August 14, 2009

Moist Banana Bread
(From Gypsy Soul ’s Blog)
2 1/2 C flour
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
1 C butter
2 C sugar
2 C mashed very ripe bananas (about 4-6, depending on the size – the best bananas are those just on the brink of going rotten)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 C chopped walnuts and/or 1/2 C Mini chocolate chips (optional, I usually leave this out)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour loaf pan (or muffin pan). Stir & toss together flour, salt, baking soda then set it aside. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, eggs and bananas until well blended. Add the combined dry ingredients until batter is thoroughly blended. Pour into loaf pan or muffin tins. Sprinkly with the streusel topping.

Baking time:
loaf pans : 60-70 mins.
mini loaf pans: 45 mins.
muffins: 15 mins.

Check center for doneness with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s ready. Remove from oven then let cool for 5 minutes before inverting.

With this recipe, you can choose to make either 2 regular loaves, 3 mini loaves or about 18 large muffins.

Streusel Nut Topping:

1/2 C packed brown sugar
6 T all-purpose flour.
4 T butter
2/3 C chopped walnuts (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Then using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the walnuts. Sprinkle this on top of the loaves or muffins before baking.

Easy Penne Rosa (like Noodles & Company) June 1, 2009

Ingredients

1 (1 lb) box penne pasta
1 lb boneless chicken breast (optional)
1 (8 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach (I left out but will try next time)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes (drained)
2 (16 ounce) jars alfredo sauce (I use ‘light’ alfredo sauce to cut a few calories)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (8 ounce) container sliced mushrooms
red pepper flakes
parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Fill a medium size pot with water and add red pepper flakes, bring to boil and penne noodles.

Cut chicken into pieces and cook thorougly. Set aside and keep warm.Saute mushrooms.Unthaw spinach and drain out all excess water.

In a large saucepan mix alfredo sauce, tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, spinach and more red pepper flakes (to taste). Simmer on low for 15-20 minute.

Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl.
Add chicken to pasta and stir.
Add sauce and stir.
Serve immediately and sprinkle with parmesean cheese and additional red pepper flakes if desired.

Lack of updates May 21, 2009

Sorry for the lack of updates on this blog, we have a baby girl Due August 6th and I have been so busy/tired. I will update again I promise. Stay tuned.