Chicken & Leek Pot Pie

Oh hey there! It's been a while. I have been focused lately on exercise and healthy cooking. And much of what I have made or eaten hasn't really been blog-worthy. I plan to change that and update here more. Another issue I have been having is food photography. Our kitchen is dark and we have no windows there. We had to get rid of our kitchen table too so we have been eating off of a rickety old coffee table. Not the best circumstances for good food photography. I hope to be able to pick up this blog back to it's old glory when we move out into a new home with a better kitchen. Until then, expect some posts here or there.

Now this Chicken & Leek Pot Pie is the best chicken pot pie I have EVER MADE! Leeks are much tastier in this pie than onions. I don't add herbs or celery but feel free to add them in if you want. This is simple and delicious.

Chicken & Leek Pot Pie

Ingredients:

Extra Light Olive Oil
1.25 lbs of Chicken Tenderloins, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1-1/2 lbs of baby tricolor potatoes, halved or cut into thirds depending on size
2 leeks halved, sliced and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsps of flour
2 cups of Chicken Broth
Pie crust dough
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water)

Makes 6 servings

Preheat oven to 385 degrees

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a dutch oven or a wide bottomed pot. Once the oil starts to sizzle, brown the chicken. I brown the chicken in two batches. Take the chicken out and set aside.

Add another drizzle of oil and add the potatoes and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Then add the flour, leeks and chicken. Stir so the flour covers all the ingredients Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Stir well.

Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes. Shut off heat and cool for 10 minutes.

You basically want to do all the cooking of the filling on the stove top. The baking time is really for the crust.

Add the filling to a baking pan. I use a 9-1/2 inch oval one.

Cover with your pie dough, stretch and cut off extra bits.

Cut a few diagonal slits along the top. Brush the top with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes in your preheated oven.

I forgot to add the egg wash to this one in the photo above. Oops! Otherwise the crust would have been a lot glossier and not as dry.  It was still good though.

The filling is a bit light on the chicken but I like it that way. You can always reduce the amount of potatoes and add some more chicken if you want. Fresh herbs would be nice too but since they are expensive and don't keep well in our fridge I skipped them.  

It's important to let the pie cool for 20 minutes. Or 10 minutes in front of a fan! Cooling time is crucial so you can serve the pie without it completely falling apart. Enjoy!

Grilling Without a Grill ~ Hoisin Chicken with Cucumber Salad and Rice

It's almost summertime and grilling recipes are flooding food websites across the internet. A great variety of different recipes grilled appetizers, meals and desserts are making me salivate. So what's a girl without an outdoor grill to do?

I saw Bobby Flay's recipe for Hoisin Chicken and Cucumber Salad on the Food Network website and I knew that it would be the perfect dinner for Carlos and I to have on a Saturday night. I could have just shooed the idea away but I decided instead to figure out a way to make it with my limited resources. I modified the recipe by using my broiler instead of an outdoor grill and using skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks. I still don't have a food processor (::gripe::) so I had grate the garlic and ginger instead of pureeing them with the other ingredients. With some modifications the end result still turned out to be perfection. This was an amazing meal which I'll definitely make again. 

Ingredients:

Skinless Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks (about 5 of each)

salt to taste

3/4 cup of Hoisin Sauce

5 garlic cloves grated

1 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

Zest and Juice of 2 limes

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

chopped scallions

Rice cooked Raquelle style

2 cucumbers sliced thinly

1/4 of a red onion sliced thinly

a splash of rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

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Cook your rice Raquelle style. Set aside.

Preheat your broiler and season the thighs and drumsticks with salt. In a bowl, combine Hoisin sauce, grated garlic and ginger, lime zest, lime juice and rice vinegar. Mix thoroughly and add the chicken pieces. Coat the chicken with the sauce and let sit.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and add the coated chicken. Cook under the broiler for about 10 minutes on each side. When you flip, baste the chicken pieces with leftover sauce.

While the chicken is cooking, slice your cucumbers and red onion. Toss with a splash of rice vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. If you don't like the taste of rice vinegar (it's oddly sweet), substitute it with lime juice and add a drizzle of light olive oil.

Turn off the broiler and let the chicken rest. Serve the chicken in a dish and sprinkle chopped scallions over the top. Enjoy!

Raquelle's Ridonk Chicken Pot Pie

A fancy chicken pot pie that's fast and easy? That's ridonk! With very little effort you can create an amazing chicken pot pie.

I created this recipe out of necessity. I didn't have time to make a fancy pie from scratch with crust and all but I didn't want a boring chicken pot pie either. And I would never EVER resort to one of those frozen chicken pot pies from the supermarket. ::shudders:: So I developed a recipe which required very little cooking and could be made super fast. This is the result:

Ingredients:

1/2 rotisserie chicken, meat removed

3 celeries with leaves sliced thinly
2-3 carrots sliced thinly
1/2 onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup of frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup of frozen peas

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chicken broth

Pillsbury golden biscuits (8)

melted butter with chopped fresh dill

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This recipe makes 4 servings.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Chop your onion and slice your celery and carrots. Heat up some extra light olive oil in a skillet and sautee the veggies until they start to become soft. While they are hot, place them in a bowl with the corn and peas. Season with salt and pepper and add dill. Set aside.

Now for the gravy. I make a simple gravy based on my rule of 1 tablespoon fat, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 cup liquid. In this case it's butter, flour and chicken broth. I like my pot pie light on gravy so you can double this recipe if you like more of it. Cook the butter and flour and mix until you get a roux. Slowly incorporate the chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring until it's gravy consistency.

Mix gravy with chicken and vegetables. Pour mixture into a casserole dish.

Cover the top of the casserole dish with the biscuits. Melt a tablespoon or two of butter and add some chopped dill. Brush the butter mixture over the top of the biscuits.

Bake in the oven at 375 Degrees for 25 minutes. You can cover with foil for 15 minutes and then uncover for the rest of the time so your biscuits won't get brown. Serve hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!