Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Pie, Pie, Me Oh My!


I went all out for National Pie Day. I made homemade Chicken Pot Pie for supper and Apple Crisp Pie for dessert. This was the first time I have made a Pot Pie from scratch. I must say the whole family was shocked at how good the Pot Pie was. It reminded me of the store bought ones I had as a kid. I found the Pot Pie recipe at reneebeck.com. The only thing I would change is saving myself a step and use frozen mixed veggies instead of chopping celery and carrots. I also used the pioneer woman's perfect flakey pie crust. Her recipe is perfect because it makes 3 crusts. 2 for the pot pie and 1 for the apple pie!  
Healthier Chicken Pot Pie (adapted from AllRecipes.com)
  • 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
  • 1 1/2 c. sliced carrots
  • 1 c. frozen green peas
  • 1/2 c. sliced celery
  • 3 tbps butter
  • 1/3 c. chopped onion
  • 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp celery seed
  • 1 3/4 c. chicken broth
  • 2/3 c. low-fat (1%) milk
  • 1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
  • 2 (9-inch) unbaked pie crusts
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  2. Chop veggies. Combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery in a saucepan. Cover with water. Boil until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and vegetables are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
  3. Cook and stir onions in butter in a saucepan over medium heat, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and remove from heat. Set aside.
  4. Place chicken mixture in bottom pie crust; pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in top to allow steam to escape.
  5. Bake in preheated oven until pie is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Pie Crust from: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
  • 3 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 whole Egg
  • 5 Tablespoons Cold Water
  • 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions

In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
Separate the dough into thirds. ***Note: Separating it into thirds will result in three thin crusts. If you prefer a more substantial crust, separate it in half.*** Form 3 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it’s still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)
When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it’s a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it’s about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.
With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

"I ATE THE BONES...I ATE THE BONES..."

Sorry for the long 4 month hiatus... It isn't that we didn't have some great food and great times in between now and then. 

Life was just busy!

But I am back! 

And with a finger licking good recipe...


I was a little skeptical when my Mother-in-Law first gave us this recipe. I really didn't think I could replicate the famous not so great for you KFC chicken. But I am here to say and I still can hardly believe it, but it did taste just like it. The best part was not loosing the flavor when you pealed away the slimy skin, because there isn't any skin on this chicken.

One change I would make for next time I think, is to omit the butter and just spray the pan with cooking spray. I ended up needing 2 pans when I made this, so the second pan got a coating of cooking spray. The chicken in the second pan turned out with a crisper crust and didn't loose as much seasoning in the turning process.



Baked Fried Chicken

2-3 lbs thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips
Milk
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 T seasoning all 
3/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 cup flour

1. Place thawed chicken into a bowl of milk and let soak for 20-30 minutes
2. Pre-Heat oven to 400 degrees. 
3. Melt butter in 9x13 pan
4. Spread butter around the bottom of the pan, Lightly spray the pan if needed to make sure that there are no dry spots
5. Combine spices and flour either in a bowl or ziploc bag
6. Shake off excess milk and dip/shake chicken in seasoning mixture and place in pan
7. Bake for 20 min. Turn chicken and cook for 20 more or until cooked through.







Monday, February 27, 2012

Our Chicken Noodle Soup

Growing up, my mom always made homemade noodles for our Chicken Noodle soup. We never had it any other way. So, when I had kids and started making Chicken Noodle soup for them, I knew I had to make the noodles. I don't know what it is about them, their imperfect shape, thickness, or the way they take on the chicken flavor. What ever it is they are a must have!

Homemade Noodles...
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
slightly beat then add...
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together, use your hands if needed (don't be afraid to get messy). Dough should be in a ball form. Let sit covered for 30 mins. Then roll it out on the counter, and let them sit and dry. Right before making soup use pizza cutter and cut into noodles. 

*I usually try to make them after lunch so they have at least 5 hours to dry. You could make them ahead of time and freeze, I have done that before as well. This time I also tried adding Flax Seed Meal to the noodles. I replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with the meal. I think next time I will try cutting it down to 2tbs. I felt that this time they didn't have the flavor I was used to.

Before you start cooking the soup get your pizza cutter out and cut into noodles. We prefer shorter, fatter noodles.


Chicken Noodle Soup
2-4 cups chopped carrots and celery
8 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
1-2 chicken breasts cooked and diced
celery salt
minced garlic

Bring water to boil. Meanwhile chop carrots and celery. Add to boiling water along with bouillon cubes, celery salt and garlic. Cook over Med-high heat for 20 minutes. Then add noodles and continue to simmer for 10- 15 minutes until noodles are tender. Lastly add in chicken.

Chop veggies

Adding noodles and cooking 10 more mins