Chicken-Bacon-Dijon-Pot-Pie

Anyone remember David Cross singing "Chicken-pot, chicken-pot, chicken-pot-piiiiiie" on "Just Shoot Me" ...? It's kind of an obscure reference, but it makes me laugh every time I think of it.

Now then, some disclaimers.

1. I'm a pretty decent cook, but I'm a mess when it comes to pie crust. This one actually turned out quite okay taste and texture wise, but it was hard to roll out and kept splitting apart. Nine out of ten times, I get a store-bought rolled pie crust for my quiches and pies, because well, it's $4 toward me not having a meltdown in the kitchen. Trader Joe's has a good one that I like which is not full of weird synthetic ingredients. However, I was not at TJ's yesterday so instead I opted to make my own crust, and I used the recipe in this book Good Kitchen Magic which I think should make a good crust in theory. My trouble is that I don't usually get the dough to bind together with the first 2 tablespoons of water as they say. Sometimes even the 3rd tablespoon of water doesn't do the trick so maybe I'm using too much flour. Who knows. Either way, I won't chide you for using a store-bought crust, because I do it all the time myself.


2. This is NOT a quick meal. It can be made significantly faster with a few shortcuts, which I'll put in parentheses next to directions or ingredients. Of course, as with any of my recipes, alterations are often necessary.

3. Even though I know my way around a DSLR, it is January in the Pacific Northwest, and rather gray, and I have no window light in my kitchen, and it was dark outside anyway, so I have done my best to get some good photos with my tripod and bounced light.

4. Because of the multiple steps and ingredients, read this all the way through before starting the recipe so you see the way I split up my directions and ingredients.

5. This recipe can make two 6-inch pies, (I made my pies in cast-iron skillets) or one larger 9-inch pie either in a skillet or in a glass pie dish, so you'll divide up your dough and filling accordingly. 

Thus, I present you with Chicken-Bacon-Pot-Pie.

Potato & Leek Au Gratin

A really good "gratin" is such European comfort food... it's kind of like Mac and Cheese, to me, but fancier so you could serve it up with a nice cut of meat, and there it would make for a really festive meal.  But it's also so easy to do. 

I put together this little casserole a few days ago, but didn't have time to write up the description.  So without further ado, here it is, in all its beautiful simplicity! 

Beef & Mushroom pie

This is another amazingly simple and delicious dish my mother has been making for years, and who knows where she got the recipe originally.  But given her stack of vintage cooking magazines from the early 1970s and on, there is probably a source somewhere.   However, I don’t know the source, and she probably barely remembers where it came from herself, since she has been making it for decades.
I was in a hurry when I made this, having painted all day at my in-laws’ house, so I used a store-bought crust to expedite it all.  Otherwise, feel free to use the pie crust recipe of your choice.  It’s a pretty standard butter, flour, cold water type of crust.

Hawaiian Chicken casserole

This is one of my mom’s best-loved dishes, and the one we request multiple times a year when we visit our parents.   My dad's co-worker had shared this recipe with them, and perhaps she got it from a Swedish cooking magazines.  Of course, we still lived in Da Ol’ Country.  So, go figure – Hawaiian chicken, via a Finnish woman, who got it from a Swedish nurse. The Hawaiian part is the pineapple, but other than that, I don’t suppose this is an actual Hawaiian chicken dish.  Then again, I’m not Hawaiian, so someone may correct me if needed. 
Granted the ingredients may sound a little peculiar, but trust me, it’s so savory and delicious, it may just be one of your go-to recipes when dinner guests come over. 
INGREDIENTS:
4 chicken breasts (with or without skin, depending on your preference) (or 12-15 chicken tenders)
1 cup heavy cream
8-12 rings of fresh pineapple slices (or 1 can if fresh can’t be gotten)
1-2 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
Seasoning salt
Fresh ground pepper
DIRECTIONS:
First season each chicken breast with some Seasoning salt.  You could go all gourmet, but seriously, Lawry’s is really good on here, so the paprika should be a part of the equation. Then the two options are to either pre-bake the chicken in a casserole dish, which you will use again for the completed dish, or to fry the chicken in a skillet with some olive oil until cooked all the way through and reading 160 with a meat thermometer.
When the chicken is prepped, this would be a good time to get some long-grain white rice going in a pot or rice cooker.  For four chicken breasts, I’d probably use about 2 cups of uncooked rice and 4 cups of water.

Layer pineapple rings at the bottom of the casserole dish. 

Then put the fully cooked chicken on top (I used chicken tenders, because I always have them in the freezer.) 
Pour heavy cream into a bowl, and whip it until soft peaks form.
 
Beat in the egg yolk and Dijon mustard, and whip another minute or so until you get a nice golden colored cream mixture.
Spread out the cream-mixture over the top, like you’re frosting a cake.
 
Now, put it all back in the oven at about 400 for about 15-20 minutes until the cream bubbles up and browns. 

Serve over white rice, and don’t forget to ladle on that creamy goodness all over your rice… (And add a vegetable of your choice, to offset the ultra decadent cream-sauce!) 

Technorati Tags: chicken,dijon,pineapple,main dishes,casseroles,cream,Hawaiian chicken

Swedish Style Potato Salad

So, it's summer time, and everyone loves a big ol' bowl of potato salad. It keeps for days in the fridge, and is a nice, cool side dish on a hot day.

My take on potato salad is sort of inspired by a traditional Swedish-style potato salad.

And... it's way-hay-hay less fattening.

INGREDIENTS:

15 or so medium sized red potatoes
1 cup Plain yogurt (Greek would be good, since it's so thick & creamy)
1-2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
(1-2 tbsp Mayo – optional)
4-5 green onions
2-3 stalks celery
(2 tbsp chives – optional)
(1/3 cup crumbled bacon – optional)
seasoning salt of your preference (one that’s a little paprika-y is always good)
pepper

DIRECTIONS:

First off, make sure you start early. This is not a last minute type thing, unless you already have left over cold boiled potatoes in the fridge. Boil the potatoes until fork tender, drain immediately, and fill pot with cold water to stop cooking. Dump out cold water within 5 minutes to prevent taters from getting water-logged (which I inadvertently did last week. Boo.)

Chill potatoes for several hours or overnight in the fridge. It makes them way easier to dice. Believe me-- I tried it once with slightly warm potatoes, and it was a mushy mess.

Now then... Assuming your potatoes are boiled, and chilled, just take those cold, little potatoes, and dice them up with a nice big knife.

Then slice up approximately 2-3 stalks of crispy celery (trim the nasty ends off, first, and wash really well.)
Chop up about 4-5 green onions, and put all of the above in a large bowl.

(Optional-- for an extra kick, scissor-cut fresh chives into small pieces, and/or add crumbled bacon for a little sumpin’ sumpin’. )

The dressing is as such:

Approximately 2/3 to 1 cup plain yogurt
(It can be made entirely with yogurt, or else I often will stir in two tbsp of real mayonnaise just to help bind the yogurt and keep it from being too watery. Use a little more yogurt if not using the optional mayo.)
1-2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Seasoning salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Stir together and chill.