Weekend Away Chicken Pot Pie...

Well, it's been a couple weeks since my last posting! Whoops!

Here's a picture of Rudy to make up for it.


    That face!
 
This past weekend I was away for a few days visiting M. and while I was away, I decided to make Chicken Pot Pie. Why not!
 
I apologize for the lack of photos... some of the photos were taken on my phone and the other half were taken on M's fancy camera and I forgot to send them to myself to upload to the blog, SO I have to work with what I got, and what I got are mediocre cell phone pictures. Sorry! You'll have to just... visualize the rest.

I didn't really have a recipe, I sort of winged it. . . but I did have a "secret" weapon...
 

 
Yep. One can of PAM. Due to the lack of a rolling pin... I had to get creative. M. takes all the credit for this one. I thought all was lost until he came up with the brilliant idea to use a can of PAM. Who would have thought!
 
So here's what you'll need...
 
1 onion
2 carrots
1 cup frozen peas
3 red Skinned Potatoes
2 cups cooked chicken (cubed or shredded)
frozen Puff Pastry (or home made!) thawed out.
3 cups chicken stock/broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
1/3 cup flour
2 tsp milk
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
 
First things first, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, melt the butter in a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onions and carrots until softened.

 
 
 
This will take about 8 - 10 minutes, which is a good time to roll out the pastry dough. You need it large enough to cover an 11" x 17"  pan. I recommend using an actual rolling pin... if you have one.


    Before...

 
   After...THANKS PAM!
 
Add potatoes, broth and dried thyme and bring to a boil. Cover the mixture and let simmer for 10 minutes.


 
    Don't worry, I got it covered.

While that simmers, whisk together flour and water until it forms a smooth paste.
 


 
 Slowly add the paste to the mixture while stirring. Cook until the mixture thickens, about a minute or so. Once thick, stir in peas, chicken and salt & pepper.



Spray (with the PAM!) an 11" x 17" pan and pour mixture into it.



 
Cover with the pastry, pressing it into the edges of the pan. Cut 4 slits in the crust for ventilation and lightly brush with milk.
 
Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until the crust is golden and puffy and the mixture is bubbly.
 
Now, be patient. Let it cool off for at least 10 minutes before you serve it. Do some dishes or something... you don't want to burn your mouth!
 
Enjoy!
 
Sorry I didn't have a finished product photo... it looked amazing though! Honest!

Not Quite Meatless Monday...

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a delightful weekend.

Here's a little snap shot from mine. Me and my pal Piper getting our self portrait on.  


    Let's just ignore the fact he looks terrified.



So, I love meat.
 
(insert dirty joke here.)
 
So it's difficult for me to go completely meatless on a Monday. And seriously, who picked MONDAY for a meatless day? Mondays have to be the worst day of the week. Why not make it meatless Wednesdays? Doesn't have the same ring to it I suppose.
 
I chose to make a Frittata today for dinner. It's quick & easy (like some people I know, ha-ha) and can be made with pretty much whatever you have in your fridge at the time, so no need to go grocery shopping! Unless of course, you don't have eggs. Then you'll have to go to the grocery store, sorry!
 
I made mine with asparagus, onions & prosciutto. Nothing special, but delicious all the same.
 
Here's a run down on the ingredients.
 
You'll need:
 
Eggs ( amount varies on how big of a frittata you want to make. I made a small one so I used 3 eggs. If you're making a medium frittata use 6-8 eggs and a large frittata will use up about 12 eggs.)
 
Oven safe skillet (NO PLASTIC)
 
Olive Oil or Butter.
 
Salt & Pepper
 
1/2 Onion
 
3 stocks asparagus (or more if you really love asparagus).
 
Prosciutto OR pancetta (I used 2 strips chopped up).
 
Parmesan Cheese
 
 
Get your oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.
 
Beat eggs in a medium bowl, add a splash of milk if you want. . . but only if you want to.
(I add milk.)
 

 
Heat up some oil or butter over medium heat and add onions.
 
 
 
Next, add in the asparagus and prosciutto.
 

 
Time to add in the eggs. Once added give it a quick stir just to settle everything in the pan. Don't fuss with it too much otherwise you'll wind up with scrambled eggs.
 

 
Let it cook on the stove top for about 5 minutes until it starts to firm up just a bit.
Add parmesan cheese on top (however much you want!) and then pop it into the oven.
 

 
Let it cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or so. It really depends on how big your frittata is. Obviously, a larger frittata will take longer than 15 minutes. Just keep an eye on it. It'll puff up a bit and start to brown.

This part is important... please make sure you wear an oven mitt when you take it out of the oven. Now I know you're probably thinking "wow, way to state the obvious Alanna", but I have burned myself a few times doing this because I just forget to put on a glove... might just be me though. None the less! Safety first everyone! It's one hell of a burn.



yum. 

Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Scones.

I'm not usually this productive on Saturday mornings. I'm usually lying in bed and watching 8am turn into 12 noon. This morning however I was feeling pretty chipper so I decided to do some baking. I made some coffee (we all know I don't function before 11am without caffeine) and began baking!
 
These scones are super easy to make and only take about 30 minutes in total, including baking time!
 
I've made them before with blueberries and lemon zest, chocolate chips and a number of different combinations. Today I decided to go with plain old cheddar.
 
Here's the recipe:
 

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 1/2 cup butter, frozen
• 3/4 cup cream, plus more for brushing the scone tops (you can also use milk)
• 1 egg

 
 Start by pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees. (make sure it's clean)
 
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.


 
Grate in the frozen butter. Use a box grater, it makes the job a lot easier. Helps if you have a man around for the extra muscle. Grating is tiring work! Don't freak out if frozen butter starts flying around everywhere. It's all part of the process.


    mountain of grated butter....

Mix together and then add in some grated cheddar cheese (or a cheese of your choice!)



In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream and the egg.



Add the cream and egg to the dry mixture and give it a good stir. You only want to mix it until it's just combined. You can add a couple more tablespoons of cream if needed. You don't want the dough to be too wet.


 



Once a dough is formed, turn it out onto a floured surface and pat out into a large circle about 2.5cm thick.

Use a biscuit cutter to divide up the dough (you can also cut the dough circle into wedges).



Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and brush with cream.





Pop into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown!



Smother some butter on those bad boys and enjoy! Best served warm. Obviously.

Have a good weekend!

When life hands you lemons, make lemon poppy seed loaf.

So I found this recipe here (http://joannagoddard.blogspot.ca/) and immediately had to try it. I am a sucker for lemon poppy seed anything. Loaves, muffins, cakes.. anything. So I thought I'd give the homemade version a whirl. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the recipe is very simple. It doesn't require a ton of ingredients and I already had everything I needed in my pantry and fridge, except poppy seeds. Of course.
 
I made two loaves from one batch, which is super handy. You can freeze one (or realistically, eat it) and give the other one to someone you care about... or wanting to impress or suck up to. Just sayin'.


 
Here are the ingredients:
 
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. poppy seeds
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest

For the glaze:

 1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 
 
First things first...Your oven needs to be turned to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 loaf pans (I used 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" )
 

    nice pans.
 
Start by mixing the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds in a mixer and mix on low until just combined. JUST. It's just the dry ingredients, no need to go crazy.
 

 
 
In another bowl, combine milk, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and almond extract, and lemon zest.
 

 
 
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, SLOWLY, and mix until combined. Once combined crank that baby up to medium speed and beat for a minute.
 

 

 
Once mixed, pour into prepared loaf pans. If you want to be a stickler about equal amounts in each pan, by all means bust out a measuring cup and do your thing. I eye-balled it.


    look at that pour!
 
Pop the loaves into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nice and clean. Side note: I discovered I don't own toothpicks. Weird right? So I couldn't do the toothpick trick. I gave mine a good poke  and jiggle (with clean hands) and when they bounced back and didn't jiggle so much, I knew they were done. So that works too.


    have fun in there you guys!
 
While the loaves are in the oven, prepare the glaze.
 
Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside until you're ready to use it.
 

 
 
 
 
Brush the glaze onto the loaves the minute they get out of the oven. Now, it seems like an excessive amount of glaze, but trust me... it will harden up and soak into the loaves and become this amazing, awe inspiring crust of delicious-ness. You won't be sorry. I promise!


    fresh out of the oven!




 
     aww yeah...
 
Let cool for 20 minutes and then get down to business. Share with your friends and family... or eat the whole thing yourself. I won't judge.

 

Best served with a fresh cup of coffee.
 
Enjoy!

Thursday Night Dinner. Chorizo & Chickpea Pasta.

I really enjoy having people over for dinner. Especially dinner followed by some board games... and drinks. Can't forget the drinks.

This past Thursday, I decided to host a mini dinner party. I had Leslie, Curtis and Courtney over for a delicious pasta dinner. I decided to go with a recipe I found in a recent issue of Bon Appetit. It's a Chorizo and Chickpea Pasta, and can I just say... it's DELICIOUS. It's also super simple to make. It will for sure be something that I make again, and soon.

Here's what you'll need:

•  2 small shallots, chopped
• ¾ lb. fresh Mexican chorizo or hot Italian sausage, casings removed 
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil 
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed
• 12 oz. small dried pasta (I used one of my favorites, Orecchiette)
• Kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
• ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 
• Finely grated Parmesan (for serving)

 

 And here's how to do it:

 

First, start by heating the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook for about 3 minutes until they brown slightly. Don't burn them though. There is a difference. Keep your eye on it, because if you turn around and stop paying attention, the shallots will go from browning slightly to "SH*T I just burnt my shallots" very quickly. Trust me. I've been there.

 

 

Alright, add the Italian sausage, Chorizo, or whatever sausage you fancy... (I used Italian Sausage). While cooking, break up with a spoon (it's not you spoon.. it's me) until browned and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. 

Add in the tomato paste and the red pepper flakes, cooking until the paste darkens. About a minute or so. 

Time to add the broth/stock. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer until the sauce is thickened. About 15-20minutes. Give it some love once in a while... aka a good stir.

Now add those chickpeas and cook until heated through... only takes a couple minutes. . Side note: I am not a huge chickpea fan. They are good, don't get me wrong, but I find that too many chickpeas is overwhelming. So feel free to adjust the sausage to chickpea ratio. I know I will.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in some salted water (adds flavor) stirring occasionally, until al dente (Italian for "DON'T OVERCOOK THE PASTA"). Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Okay,  add the cooked pasta and ½ cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce. Cook, stirring and adding more cooking liquid as needed, until sauce thickens and coats pasta, about 3 minutes.

It will look like this and you will want to eat all of it...

Serve pasta topped with parsley and an excessive amount of Parmesan cheese...because there is no such thing as too much cheese...and wine.

 

 

mmm... carbs.



 





Enjoy!!