Chicken pot pie with a sweet potato crust

I love this recipe. My dad first came across it as a use for leftover Thanksgiving turkey (using up the leftover sweet potato casserole and leftover veggies as well), but I usually use leftover roast chicken. I don't make it that often because it always seems a bit fussy to have to make both the filling AND the crust, but the last time I cooked it, I realized it was really actually pretty simple. I've typically just boiled and mashed the sweet potatoes, but I think roasting them might make for a fluffier crust - that takes some planning though.

You can add other vegetables as well - it's a great use for leftovers. Potatoes, green beans, or asparagus would all be nice additions.

Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust

Serves 6

3 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped carrots

12 small whole white onionscut in half, or 1 large onion, chopped

½ cup chopped celery

1 tsp dried thyme

1 cup cooked peas (or frozen peas)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

6 tablespoons butter

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons flour

1 cup cream or half-and-half

2 cups chicken broth

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes - let cool first

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute until softened, a few minutes. Add the thyme and cook for one minute more.

Put the chicken, carrots, onions, celery, peas and parsley into a 2 ½ quart baking dish.

Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the 6 tablespoons of flour and stir over medium heat for one minute. Whisk in cream and chicken broth slowly. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper. Continue to stir until the sauce boils and thickens. Pour over the chicken and vegetables and stir gently to combine.

In a medium sized bowl mix 1 cup flour, baking power and ¼ teaspoon salt. Use a fork to mix in the sweet potatoes, oil, and egg. Roll or press out dough on a lightly floured board to about ¼ inch thickness.

Cover baking dish with dough and pinch edges all around. Make a small slit in the center. Bake for 35 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Recipe from dad, and tweaked by Gwyneth

Chicken and Dumplings

 

 

Like many people, I'm a fan of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and a number of the most popular recipes at my house have been taken  or adapted from recipes I found on the site. This is one of the recipes I make the most often, as it takes advantage of ingredients I almost always have on hand, it uses inexpensive chicken thighs, and it just tastes yummy. I modified the recipe from the original a bit, replacing leeks with celery, since I usually don't have leeks lying around, omitting a bit of sherry (same reason) and substituting dried herbs for the fresh. I've never made this recipe with tarragon, but it sounds like a great idea, so I left that ingredient in. I did, once, toss in a few fennel seeds instead and it gave the stew a wonderful Eastern European vibe.

 

Chicken and Dumplings

 

Serves 4

 

Chicken

6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Table salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, minced
1-2 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tablespoons dried tarragon leaves (optional) 

Dumplings
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat (or unsalted butter)


Heat the oil in a large casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken thighs, about 5-6 minutes per side, then take them out and set aside. Drain off all but about 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil, and save it for the dumplings. Return the pan to the heat, and add the butter. Lower the temperature to medium, and saute the onion and celery until translucent. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken broth and bring the mixture up to a simmer. While you wait, remove the skin from the chicken thighs (it should come off pretty easily once it's been cooked, but be warned, it is a greasy, messy job.) Put the chicken thighs and herbs into the pot, and then turn down the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and let the stew simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the chicken is falling off the bone.

Remove the chicken pieces and let cool. Turn the heat off the stew. This is a recipe I usually make on the weekends, so I cook everything up to this point earlier in the day, then let it rest a bit until I'm ready to finish everything off.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Skim off any fat from the top of the stew and discard. Add the chicken, peas, and milk to the stew and bring to a simmer.

Make the dumplings: Warm up the milk and chicken fat togther in a saucepan or the microwave. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk mixture until the dough comes together. It will be very sticky still. Using two spoons, scrape balls of the dumpling batter into the stew. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then serve.

Recipe adapted from the Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/12/chicken-and-dumplings/

Leek and Asparagus Quiche

This is another recipe dedicated to my grandfather. Shortly I graduated from college I spent a couple years living in L.A. Finding myself. (And then once I found myself, I said - "Look at you! What are you doing here in L.A.! Go back to school and get your Master's!" So I did.) Well, actually, the way I remember it, there was a lot of dancing to Brit-pop in crowded Hollywood nightclubs, but that's another story.

Anyway, this is not about my wild party days. It's about the day that I invited my grandparents over for lunch at my little West Hollywood apartment. I wanted something that would impress Grandma and would reassure Paga that I was not living on potato chips (Veggie Booty, actually. It was L.A.) and broccoli (which in fact I was). And then I thought - "Quiche!" It's French, and therefore fancy, perfect for lunch, and not too rich for my grandmother. I went on a search for a great quiche recipe, and ended up finding this recipe on the Williams Sonoma website, which I adapted a bit. Needless to say, it was a big hit, and has become a mainstay of my entertaining menu.

There are many ways to modify this recipe to use whatever it is you have on hand - this time, for example, I threw in some red bell pepper for color. I gave the recipe to a friend and she made a delicious mushroom and zucchini version. Bacon, onion, and cheddar is another great combination.

Don't be put off by the small number of eggs in the recipe. It's not a typo. The end result is a very rich, creamy, custardy quiche. It's really important to let the quiche sit and rest for at least 30 minutes before serving; otherwise, you'll end up with a runny mess.

“Impress the Grandparents” Quiche

For the pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into small cubes

1 to 2 Tbs. ice water

For the filling:

8 asparagus stalks

1 bunch leeks (white and pale green parts only), cleaned and chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbs. butter, melted
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Dash hot sauce

To make the pastry, in a bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Drop in the butter and, using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the ingredients together quickly until crumbly and the mixture resembles oatmeal. Add the ice water a little at a time just until the dough begins to hold together. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 425ºF. On a lightly floured work surface, using your hands, flatten the ball of dough into a disk. Dust it with flour and roll out into a round 11 inches in diameter. Fit carefully into a 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim the dough to allow a 1-inch overhang, then fold under the overhang and flute the edges. Prick the dough in several places with fork tines and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Alternatively, save yourself the trouble, go to the store and buy a pie crust. No one has to know.

Partially bake the pastry shell until it just begins to color, 10 to 12 minutes. If the pastry puffs up during baking, prick again with a fork to release the steam.

Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 375ºF.

Now, prepare the filling: Blanch or steam the asparagus stalks for about 5 minutes, or until just cooked. Plunge into bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Slice into ½ inch lengths and scatter around in pastry shell.

Next, sauté the leeks in butter until they are soft. And smell good…Mmmm... Add these to pie crust as well.

In a bowl, combine the cream, milk, eggs and melted butter. Using a whisk or fork, beat until well blended. Stir in the cheese and season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper or just a splash of hot sauce. Pour into the prepared pastry shell and mix around with a fork so that everything is distributed evenly.

Bake until the custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes. The center will still look a little jiggly, but check the center of the quiche with a knife to make there is still no runny liquid there. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 30 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Sweet and Sour Pork

We ate a lot of Chinese food growing up. A LOT. Maybe it was a Pacific Northwest thing. According to my sister Joy, this was the first Chinese (OK, "Chinese") recipe my dad tried making at home. He moved on to more complex recipes and flavors, ones that did not involve pineapple juice, but this stayed a family favorite.

When I make this recipe, I lighten it up by skipping the batter, and just browning the pork in a non-stick skillet with about a teaspoon of cooking oil. I also add sliced onions.

Sweet & Sour Pork

1 pound boneless pork loin (or boneless chicken breast), cut into strips

8 ounce can pineapple chunks with liquid

1 green pepper

vegetable oil for frying

Batter:

½ cup flour

¼ cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cups cold water

Sauce:

¾ cup water-pineapple juice mixture

2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons ketchup

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

Mix together the batter ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add the pork to the batter.

Chop the green pepper into 1/2 -inch cubes (and any other veggies you might feel like adding).

Drain the can of pineapple into a measuring cup and add water to make ¾ cup.  Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan.

Put oil into a wok to a depth of about one inch and heat on medium-high. When the oil is hot put in as much chicken as will fit. Cook the chicken about 5 minutes, flip the pieces over and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove the chicken from the pan, drain on paper towels, and then put in a bowl in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

When you’re on your last batch of pork, put the sauce over high heat and recruit a volunteer to stir it constantly until it boils. When it boils, turn the heat down to low and add the green pepper and pineapple.

To serve, pour the sauce over the bowl of pork. Serve with plenty of white rice.

 

Recipe from the Whitworth Elementary School Cookbook

Grilled Chicken with Onion Marinade

This is an easy marinade for chicken that we've been using for backyard barbecues in Los Angeles. It came from a cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey and is an Indian dish called Murgh Lajavaab. But we all just call it "delicious".

Marinade Ingredients:

1 medium onion, cut into large chunks

2 garlic cloves

1-inch cube fresh ginger

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1½ teaspoons coriander

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Combine all marinade ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree. It will look something like this (but there will be a lot more of it):

 

Cut 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into 1" chunks and add them to the marinade. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Put the chicken on skewers, allowing plenty of marinade to stick to the chicken. Grill, about 5-6 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

Toad in the Hole

Tonight, we had Toad in the Hole. I know, weird name. Delicious dish. Toad in the Hole is basically Yorkshire puddings with sausages baked into them. Or, how I make it, one GIANT Yorkshire pudding with sausages baked into it.


What? You don't know what Yorkshire pudding is? My goodness, you have truly been missing out. Yorkshire pudding is sort of a savory popover, made of flour, eggs, milk, and water. The liquid in the water evaporates and causes the whole thing to puff up as it cooks, making it light and crispy. My dad is a Yorkshireman born and bred, and the traditional holiday meal in our house has always been Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding. As a kid I could eat my weight in those things, smothered in gravy. Deeee-licious.


Nowadays, I haven't got any Yorkshire pudding tins, so when I'm in the mood for a fix, we usually make Toad in the Hole, served up with roasted potatoes, steamed veg, and a bit of beef gravy to drizzle over the top.

Toad in the Hole

Serves four to six

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

4 eggs

½ cup water

16 good breakfast sausages (I like to use chicken-apple sausages)

Some vegetable oil

Mix the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add milk and mix until combined. Add eggs and mix again. Add water and mix again. Then turn the mixer on full blast and let it run for 2 minutes (According to Dad, the batter should be given “100 strokes by the arm of a Yorkshirewoman” but it’s easier to just use a mixer.)

Put the batter in the fridge for at least a half an hour.

Heat the oven to 400. Brown the sausages in a large saucepan. Put the batter back in the mixer and give it another 2 minutes at full throttle.

Pour a thin later of oil into each compartment of four Yorkshire Pudding tins (16 puddings total). If you don't have Yorkshire Pudding tins, use two heavy metal baking pans.

Put the pans into the hot oven for 5 minutes. Carefully lift them out and pour a little batter into each, about 3 to 4 tablespoons (if using pans, pour half the batter into each pan). Drop a sausage into each (or just scatter them at random if using pans).

Bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, use that saucepan to make a beef gravy.

Check out that gravity-defying Yorkshire pud! 

Bon Bon Chicken

Over the last few years, we have become a Sunday Roast kind of family. My father is English, so you would think that it would just be in the blood, but no, up until recently I couldn't cook a roast to save my life. Enter my digital meat thermometer as a wedding present, and life changed. This is one of the recipes I like to make with leftover chicken. It's a family classic from my childhood, and as a kid, we often made Bon Bon Turkey the day after Thanksgiving.

Bon Bon Chicken

1¼ pounds skinned, boned chicken or leftover cooked chicken, shredded

1 cucumber, peeled, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon salt

2 oz bean noodles or other type of noodles (sometimes I use spaghetti, sometimes rice noodles)

3 cups hot water

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon Szechwan pepper

½ teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

Seasoning sauce:

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chili Oil

4 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 1/2 teaspoons sesame paste or peanut butter

 

Bring about 4 cups of water to a boil in large saucepan; reduce heat to medium. Add chicken.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Remove chicken and let cool, reserving broth in saucepan. 

Sprinkle cucumber slices with salt and let stand about 15 minutes.  Squeeze slices to remove water.  Arrange on a platter. 

If using bean noodles or rice noodles, soak noodles in 3 cups hot water for 5 minutes to soften.  Bring chicken broth to a boil. Dip noodles in boiling broth 3 to 5 seconds; drain well and arrange on top of cucumbers. If using pasta, boil pasta according to instructions.

Remove bones from chicken and chop into 2" shreds.  Place chicken shreds on top of noodles.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger root. 

Combine ingredients for seasoning sauce in a small bowl; mix well.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Serve at room temperature.  Toss at the table just before serving.

Recipe from:  Chinese Cookery, a very old cookbook of my father's 

 



Ham and potato casserole

While it hasn't been particularly cold this winter here in Dublin, who can resist a good casserole on a gray, drizzly day? This dish is pretty versatile, and we often use whatever leftover meat we have on hand, although I do think ham is best, (but smoked sausage is also delicious). I have been known to replace the onions with leeks (very tasty) or sometimes I will also throw in a bit of cauliflower or brocolli. But it's also delicious prepared exactly as described; this is total comfort food at its best.

Ham and Potato Casserole

½ pound cooked ham, cut into medium-small cubes
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds potatoes, medium dice, boiled
bread crumbs, mixed with a little melted butter

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk (or 1 cup milk and 1 cup cooking water from potatoes)
8 oz cheddar cheese (could also use gruyere or swiss, or a combination of cheeses)

Heat oven to 350°. Toss ham with mustard in a medium sized casserole dish. Let sit while you cook the onion in 2 tbsp butter and a bit of salt and pepper until translucent. Mix onions in with ham, then gently fold in cooked potatoes.

Make sauce: Melt butter over medium-low heat, add flour, then add the milk (to lighten the dish up a bit, you can also make the sauce using the water that you used to cook the potato in), whisking quickly to avoid lumps). Let thicken a bit, then add cheese. Cook until sauce has thickened, 2 or 3 minutes.

Pour sauce over ham mixture, and stir very gently just until combined. Top with buttered breadcrumbs. Bake for 45 minutes.

Recipe from Gwyneth, from a potato cookbook I found years ago

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is a simple, quick meal, great for busy weeknights. When I was growing up, my dad's go-to dish when he had very little time to prepare dinner was usually something along these lines - he sauteed chicken breast in a skillet, deglazed the pan with wine or chicken broth, then added seasonings and sometimes cream to vary the flavor. I often follow the same plan, adding and subtracting ingredients based on what's in the fridge. For example, this time I sauteed a bit of onions before deglaxing the pan, for a chunkier sauce.

I also find it works well as a potluck dish for a luncheon - I just make sure there is plenty of sauce, and then serve on top of some pasta with butter and fresh herbs.

½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons white wine (can substitute chicken broth)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons capers (optional)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Combine four, salt and pepper and use to coat the chicken breasts.

Melt butter and oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken breasts over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove and keep warm.

Stir wine into pan juices. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan and cook for about 3 minutes, until sauce thickens slightly. Garnish with capers and parsley.