Chicken Pot Pie

We live in New Jersey which is notorious for it's clusterfuck weather. It can easily be 90 degrees one day and 50 degrees the next, this was exactly what happened to us this weekend. We had the air conditioning on up until Friday and today I was bundled up in sweats and was debating turning on the heater. On top of the cooler temperatures it was raining all day, I clearly needed something to warm us up. This meal is an easy and delicious one but time consuming. It's completely worth the effort but don't try to rush it.



Ingredients

2 - 15 inch premade pie crust, room temperature
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
8 oz of frozen mixed veggies
1 yellow onion, rough chopped
16 oz chicken broth
4 - 5 tbsp flour
3 tsp dried sage
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a dutch oven, heat chicken broth. Cut two circles from the pie crust dough large enough to cover the bottom of two small souffle dishes. Place both dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in over for approximately 7-15 minutes, until just flaky, remove and let cool. (If edges get too brown before dough is cooked, cover edges with tin foil.)

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Transfer brown chicken and onions to broth. Add in frozen veggies, sage, and thyme. Bring to a vigorous boil and cook for 15 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce slightly. Whisk flour with 2 tsp of hot broth in a separate dish, once flour is dissolved add back to chicken mixture. Continue to boil for another 5 minutes, mixture will thicken.

To assemble the pot pies, spoon chicken and veggies into each dish, add desired amount of broth to each dish. Cut two additional circles from the second pie crust. Top each dish with one circle of dough. Pinch edges closed. Cut slits in top of the dough to vent steam. Place both dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for an addition 7-10 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Beef and Noodles

When it comes to Asian food, I love sushi. The husband on the other hand does not like any form of fish or seafood and much prefers beef and chicken Chinese dishes. (It makes me so sad that he doesn't like fish but he does at least try everything once.) We've been trying to stop eating out or getting take out recently so I wanted to give the husband a homemade version of the Chinese food he loves so much. We both really liked this dish and it was a quick and easy meal to make, it would be great for a weekday meal.



Ingredients

1 lb of beef, cut into thin strips (London Broil would be great for this dish)
1 package of Udon noodles
1 small bell pepper, sliced
1/4 lb of snow peas or broccoli
Marinade
1tsp of garlic, minced
1 tsp of sesame oil
3 tsp of soy sauce
1tsp of Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
Sauce
4tsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of chili powder

Directions

Combined marinade ingredients in a 9 x9 dish. Add beef slices, cover and refrigerator for at least 4 hours, best if over night.



Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, add beef to hot skillet. Do not add the marinade. Cook until no longer pink, about 7-9 minutes. Remove beef and keep warm. Add peppers, snow peas and/or broccoli to hot pan, cook until tender. While vegetables are cooking bring a pot of water to a boil. Add noodles. The noodles will cook in about 5-7 minutes. Drain, do not rinse. Once vegetables are tender, add all ingredients for sauce. Add beef and noodles and mix until coated with sauce.

Serve immediately.

Home Style Pot Roast

Pot roast as a whole is very easy to make, you can customize it as much as you want. I was going to make some bacon with this but just didn’t feel like cutting up the bacon, frying it and dealing with the unused portion of the package…maybe when I’m a little more motivated I’ll revisit the bacon idea. For now, here is my home style pot roast recipe (just like mom made it, had she been a decent cook). (I kid!! Well sorta.)

Ingredients

1 – 2lb beef roast (I prefer top round)

2 – 14 oz. cans of beef broth or stock

2lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes or Red Skinned Golden Potatoes, cut into quarters

1lb baby carrots

1 large yellow onion, sliced

2 envelopes of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Salt

Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot (about 2 tbsp). Add the onions and place the pot over medium high heat. Caramelize the onions (about ten minutes).

Meanwhile, liberally season the roast with salt and pepper. Once the onions have begun to caramelized add the roast to the pot, seasoned side down. Be sure to season the other side. Brown the roast on both sides (about 5-7 minutes per side).

Once the roast is browned add the beef broth and soup mix, be sure to stir well to incorporate the ingredients. Then add the potatoes.

Bring the pot to a vigorous boil and then add the carrots.

Reduce the heat to low to medium low, cover the pot and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half. Check the internal temperature of the roast with a meat thermometer, you’re shooting for 145-160°F. Remove roast and veggies and let rest on a large platter for 10 minutes before slicing.

This is optional but I love a thick pan gravy, especially when I have warm crusty bread to soak it up with.

While the meat is resting, bring the liquid in the pot to a boil, skim off any fat that has foamed to the top. While the liquid is boiling, mix 4 tbsp cornstarch or flour with 2 tbsp warm water. After about ten minute the liquid in the pot should reduce. Add the cornstarch mixture to the liquid in the pot. Stir and continue to heat for an additional 2 minutes. The gravy will thicken slightly. If you’d like a thicker gravy, repeat the cornstarch and water mixture until you’ve achieved your desired consistency. Pour over meat and veggies.

Cold Tortellini Salad

There are hundreds of variations to this recipe. Don’t believe me? Type it into Google and see what you find. I barely follow recipes as it is so I just made up my own for this. This was incredibly easy to make, is packed full of veggies and was the perfect dinner on a hot summer evening.

Ingredients

1.5 to 2 lbs of frozen cheese tortellini

1 orange bell pepper

5 to 6 stalks of asparagus

1/3 of a head of broccoli

5 oz of sharp provolone

5 oz of fresh mozzarella

4 oz. Italian salad dressing (I make my own with Good Seasonings)

Olive oil (optional)

Directions

Fill a large pot 2/3 of the way full with water, salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the frozen tortellini and cook according to directions on package (usually 3-5 minutes). Drain the tortellini. Lightly coat the tortellini with olive oil to keep them from sticking together (optional). Place in a bowl and let cool entirely. (I stuck them in the refrigerator and they were completely cool in under an hour.)

(Tim is a good sport and an excellent sous chef.)

Chop 1 inch off the bottom of the asparagus and then cut in half. Steam the asparagus for approximately 5 minutes or until bright green. Let cool entirely. (Again I just stuck them in the refrigerator.)

Chop peppers and broccoli and set aside.

Slice the mozzarella and then quarter.

In a large serving bowl mix tortellini, asparagus, peppers, broccoli and mozzarella. Add salad dressing and mix until all ingredients are coated.

I cubed the sharp provolone and threw it in with the rest of the ingredients, Tim said the flavor was too strong for him in the chunks of cheese and suggested that I make smaller chunks next time. You could do that or you could get a potato peeler and shave the cheese. If you decide to shave the cheese save this step until you’re ready to serve.

Let the pasta and veggies with salad dressing sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Serve cold. We also had bread and butter with the salad.