A Leaner, Easier Chicken Pot Pie

My cooking philosophy changes as often as my mood. I enjoy making as much as I can from scratch, but I cheat often. I soak dried beans one week and buy canned the next. I make a cake from scratch for a birthday and then use a mix for brownies. Any number of factors influence my decision to do it one way or another. The decision to try this easy recipe was also easy. It looked and sounded like a simple and delicious way to make more of the comfort food I've been craving. I was sure glad I took a short cut in this case: I was out of time by the time I got to making dinner. Cheating or not, this chicken pot pie is delicious.

Adapted from: http://www.cookinlean.com/

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 can of low fat cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup no salt added or low sodium chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups reduced fat Bisquick mix
• 1 cup 1% milk
• salt and pepper to tasted

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large casserole dish coated with nonstick spray, layer the chicken onto the bottom of the dish. Top the chicken with the carrots, celery and frozen peas. Whisk together the stock, soup and salt and pepper if needed in a separate container. Add the mixture overtop of the chicken and vegetables. Combine the milk and Bisquick mix, whisking well to remove any lumps. Pour the batter over top of the pie. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until the top of the pie has browned. 

Pumpkin & Mushroom Risotto with Chocolate & Coffee Glazed Short Ribs

When I first saw this recipe, I drooled a little, but then did a double take at the work involved in preparing the dish. After having made all elements of it once, I can tell you that it is not as complex as it may appear at first. The trick is to plan ahead. Too bad I didn't. The beef needs to marinate overnight and I had trouble finding short ribs in the first place. When I finally did, I had to cut down on the marinating and cooking time in order to have the dish ready later that day. This isn't a meal that affords short cuts. Follow the recipe and you should be wowed. 

The second issue I had was my choice of meat. Had I had more success at finding quality short ribs, I would have picked some that were cut between the bone instead of through it. I suspect I would have been able to shred the beef with ease had it been cut differently too. 

Despite my experiment's shortcomings, I still enjoyed the meal. The pumpkin risotto was particularly yummy and can be made on its own. The ribs are spicy so if spice is an issue, I would omit the chipotle peppers. If not, add more!


From: http://www.thedevilwearsparsley.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the short ribs

• 3lbs short ribs
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 beef or veggie broth
• 1 T molasses
• 1 cup beer (recipe calls for porter or a chocolate stout, but I used pumpkin ale0
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup coffee
• 2 chilis in adobo, chopped
• 1 T sugar
• 2 t ginger, minced
• 2 T soya sauce
• 1 T dijon mustard

For the mushrooms

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t fresh chopped sage
• 1 t fresh chopped thyme
• 1, 8 oz package of crimini mushrooms

For the risotto

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup pumpkin beer
• 1 cup veggie stock
• 1 t sea salt
• 1/4 ground pepper

Method

For the short ribs

Place the ribs, the cayenne pepper and lemon juice in a freezer bag and shake well. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight, squishing the bag every so often to mix the marinade with the beef.

Once marinated, remove the beef from the bag and pat dry. Heat oven to 375F. Heat a pan on medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the ribs on all sides and set aside.

Turn heat down to medium and add the onions, stirring for about 5 minutes. Once softened add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add in the cacao powder and stir until all the onions are coated. Add the broth to deglaze the pan, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the molasses until incorporated and then add all other remaining ingredients except the salt and pepper to the mix.

Transfer the onions and sauce to a dutch oven and add the ribs. Cover and bake for 2-3 hours, or until the ribs are very tender. Remove the ribs from the dutch oven and place the oven on the stove on medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half.

When the ribs have cooled enough, remove the meat from the bones and add the meat back into the dutch oven (my ribs weren't shreddable...long story, but were added anyways). Keep warm until the risotto is ready.

For the mushrooms

In a pan over medium heat, add the oil and the mushrooms, cooking until the mushrooms are browned, about 10 minutes. Blend in the thyme and sage and cook for 1 minute more. Set aside and keep warm.

For the risotto

Mix the pumpkin puree, beer and stock in a pot over low heat. Reserve with a ladle on hand. 

In a second pot on medium heat, add the olive oil and onions, stirring frequently and letting them sweat for about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice until coated with the oil and browned slightly. Add one cup of the liquid and stir until absorbed by the rice. Continue adding the liquid, half a cup at a time until half the liquid is gone. Add the mushrooms, stirring well. Keep adding the liquid in half-cup increments until the rice is al dente. Portion the rice into shallow bowls. Top with the rib mixture and serve.

Shepherd's Pie for the Sophistimacated

Oh the weather outside is...well you know what it is. In the spirit of Mad Men, I am considering getting an apartment near work, not so I can have a mistress like the male cast members, but so I can avoid a two-hour commute home when the bad whether socks in. 

It's a good thing I had comfort food waiting for me when I got home. Thick, rich, whipped potatoes, blended with Greek yogurt and parsley and buried underneath: a bed of ground beef, vegetables and spices. This is a leaner version of Shepherd's Pie and one worth making on the weekend because it makes for great leftovers. I call this recipe sophistimacated because I doubt the Irish had all the spices and perhaps even the vegetables available for this version. Luckily, I do!

Only slightly modified from: http://jenessasdinners.blogspot.ca

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1lb lean or extra lean ground beef
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups of green peas ( I used frozen)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped and divided in half
• 1 1/2 cups of stock
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 t dried thyme 
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• pinch of allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 T corn starch disolved in 2 T water
• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (I chose 2%)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

While the potatoes cook, sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, carrots and thyme and cook until soft. Blend in the tomato paste. As the vegetables cook, break up the ground beef in a bowl and mix in the oregano, half of the parsley, coriander, cayenne and allspice. Add the seasoned beef in small amounts to the vegetables that are cooking until all is added and cooked through. Add the peas and stock and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

While the beef mixture is simmering, drain the potatoes and mash them, adding the Greek yogurt and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. 

Once the stew's stock has reduced, add the corn starch mixture, stirring well. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and top with the potatoes. Place under a broiler on high until the potato topping peaks is golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Remove and serve with the remaining parsley sprinkled on top of the pie. 

Balsamic Roast Chicken with Tomatoes & Mushrooms

I didn't realize it was already time for my annual thumb grating culinary fiasco, but here we are again. While cooking this morning, I attempted to pull off the guard on my new microplane and ended up shredding my right thumb in the process. Last year was the left with a mandolin. It appears my thumbs are taking turns sacrificing themselves in order to give each other a break.

My sous-chef did much of the preparation on this recipe due to my wound. Handling raw chicken with an open cut isn't sanitary for the chicken or the cook, so I needed a spare set of hands. I was grateful for the help and he was grateful this recipe was easy. 

My take on this dish is as follows:
While the dressing seasons the chicken quite nicely, the selling point of this recipe is the vegetable combination. It is bright and light as a side to the chicken. It was also welcome on Edmonton's first snow day of the season. If you've got a piece of fish you'd like to use, I would expect good results swapping out the chicken for your fish.

Adapted From: http://www.domesticate-me.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1, 3lb chicken or chicken parts (I used 4 chicken breasts & modified the instructions to suit)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T salt
• 1 t pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, 2 minced and 2 sliced
• 1 lemon sliced
• 4 large basil leaves
• 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• fresh arugula or spinach leaves for serving

Preheat the oven to 375F. Whisk the vinegar, oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. 

In another bowl, combine the onion, mushrooms and tomatoes. Pour a third of the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat.

Rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry. Pour a third of the dressing under the skin of each of the breasts. Place a lemon slice, a few slices of garlic and a basil leaf under each of the breasts (if you are using a whole chicken, visit the website for prep instructions.

Pour the remaining third of the dressing over the breasts. Rub the dressing all over the meat to coat it well. Place the breasts in an uncovered casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes. Flip the breasts, baste them with the juices lurking in the bottom of the dish and cook on their other side for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the vegetables around the chicken, tenting the dish with foil before returning it to the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven again (last time!) and place the vegetables and juices in a pan, simmering until the juices thicken. Once thickened, serve the vegetables and chicken on a bed of fresh spinach or arugula.

A Soup Affair

Thai sweet potato bisque

 On this do-nothing October weekend I have defied the odds and done something: cook! Soup is on the menu and it's going to be a doozy, due to the multitude of soup recipes I've found that I must try. Ruedi is sporting his baking hat and is all over the bread. One cannot experiment with soup without plenty of crusty bread.

First off is a Thai-inspired sweet potato bisque. For those of you who don't do spicy, omit the jalapeño. Heat or no heat, you'll still get a delicious soup. I opted to add sambal oelek in addition to the jalapeño because I'm on a heat kick. After tasting this soup I added minced basil to it. I felt it needed a bit more oomph and basil was the ticket.

Italian parsley soup with ricotta spaetzle

Following this, I experimented with an Italian parsley and ricotta spaetzle soup. Spaetzle is a German pasta or dumpling which is often served as a side dish. This time, it was added to a clean-tasting, but flavourful soup. The recipe calls for watercress leaves, but I had spinach on hand. Just make sure to trim your greens' stems well to avoid the stringy remains in your blended soup.


Thai Sweet Potato Bisque

From: http://jillyinspired.blogspot.ca

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 red pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, diced
• 1, 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 reduced salt bouillon cubes
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top of the soup
• 6 cups of water
• Canola or coconut oil for cooking
• 14 oz can of coconut milk (I chose light)
• Sea salt to taste
• Lime zest from half a lime
• 2 T, minced fresh basil
• To serve, wedges of lime, basil (thai if you have it), ground cinnamon and sea salt

Method

Place the red pepper face down on a foil-covered cookie sheet and broil on high for 10-15 minutes. The skin should be blackened at that point, but if not, keep broiling until blackened. Remove from cookie sheet and place in a bowl, covering to allow to steam for a few minutes longer. Once cooled, remove the skins, chop and set aside.

In a large pot, saute the onion and jalapeño in a little oil until the onion has softened. Add the potatoes, ginger, bouillon cubes and water to the pot. Cover and bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes have softened, about 10 minutes. Add a dash of cinnamon to the pot. Puree the soup with an immersion blender. Add the lime zest, basil and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with lime wedges and any combination of the seasonings mentioned in last bullet of the ingredients section. While this soup can be served immediately, it ages quite well. 

Italian Parsley Soup with Ricotta Spaetzle

From: http://www.playinwithmyfood.com

Serves 4-6

For the Soup

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 large red potato, peeled and diced
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 bunch of watercress, washed with stems removed (I used spinach)
• 2 cups fresh italian parsley, washed with stems removed
• 1 t sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add onions, sautéing until softened, but not browned. Add the potato and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. If the mixture starts to stick, add a little stock to loosen the vegetables. Add the spinach, parsley, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Set aside while you make the spaetzle.

For the Spaetzle

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
• 1/4 t ground all spice
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

Sift the flour, salt and pepper in one bowl. In another, whisk in the remaining ingredients until blended. Add the flour in batches until completely combined. 

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Spoon some of the batter into a colander placed over the pot (I used a slotted spoon since I didn't have a colander with large enough holes). Push the batter through the colander. The batter will drop into the pot in chunks and once blanched, rise to the top of the pot. With a slotted spoon, scoop the spaetzle out of the pot and into the soup. Continue cooking the batter until all of it has been blanched. 

I ended up with more spaetzle than I knew what to do with, so I set some aside for other, yet to be determined uses. This soup can be eaten immediately. I topped mine with a bit of leftover parsley and served with some crusty parmesan french bread.

Everything Green Salad

I suspect you'll be reading this after you've gorged on one or several turkey dinners. If this is the case, my timing couldn't be better. You will likely be looking for something on the light side. This is a summer salad filled with summer ingredients and I made it in July when all the vegetables in this pictures were in good form. At this time of year, your selection of greens will look a little different, but that's okay. What makes this salad unique is the dressing. It is magic when combined with fresh feta and good veg. Those with allergies should not despair. Having made a sunflower seed pesto the other day confirmed that substituting sunflowers seeds in nut-based recipes is no sacrifice. Seeds in this dressing would make this salad just as interesting. Now, go finish up that last piece of pumpkin pie.

From: http://www.chatelaine.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

Salad

• Head of green leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces
• Head of butter lettuce, torn into small pieces
• 1/2 cup of sugar snap peas
• 4 spears asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 small zucchini, cut in ribbons with a vegetable peeler
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 2 avocados, diced
• 2 T freshly chopped dill
• 2 Baby cucumber, sliced
• 2 oz feta cheese, diced

Dressing

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1T Dijon mustard
• 1 t granulated sugar
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 finely chopped pistachios
• salt and pepper to taste

For the salad dressing:

Whisk together the lemon juice, Dijon, mustard and shallot until the sugar has dissolved. Slowly add in the oils until emulsified. Stir in pistachios and season with salt and pepper. 

For the Salad:

In a large pot of boiling water, add the peas and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and dump the peas in ice water to stop them from cooking any further. Repeat this blanching process with the asparagus. Once the peas and asparagus have cooled, remove them from the cold water and set them aside to dry before adding them to the salad. Combine the remaining salad ingredients into a large bowl. Add the peas, asparagus and salad dressing, tossing well to allow the dressing to coat all elements of the salad. Serve immediately.

Plum Cakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking on a Sunday morning isn't for everyone, but the payoff is pretty sweet when you make the effort. My rewards include a kitchen that smells like goodies and a large inventory of baking. 

Now baking was just part of the day's cooking bonanza, but let's focus on one item at a time. First, the plum cakes. In an effort to sway those health nuts out there, I should refer to the cakes as muffins instead. They are lower in fat and nutritious enough that I'm in the process of making a second batch for the week's afternoon snacks. The butter amount is reduced thanks to the addition of avocado and they aren't loaded with sugar. My favourite touch is of course the plum wedges that top them. If plums aren't in season, top them with another pitted fruit. 

The cookies, on the other hand are my answer to an ongoing household debate: what constitutes a good cookie? Ruedi is a wholesome treat eater. His favourite cookies contain items like orange zest, ground almonds, seeds of some kind, squirrels' teeth, you know, nature's little gems.

My favourite cookies include of a lot of processed crap. Cream cheese, candies and artificial fillings really do it for me. I can't help it. I dig that shizzle. The recipe below is one my mom first introduced me to as a kid. It's just a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, using milk chocolate chips and vanilla pudding. Even though Ruedi has his principles, I did spot him scarfing a few down between naps. What a trooper. 

Plum Cakes

From: http://dailyburn.com

Makes 12 cakes muffins 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t kosher salt
• 3 T butter
• 2 T avocado
• 1 t lemon zest
• 1/3 sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup of low fat milk
• 1T raw sugar (optional-I opted out)

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Apply cooking spray to a 12-portion muffin tin. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, flax, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In the bowl of your kitchen mixer, combine the butter and avocado, mixing until blended, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and blend for another minute. Pour in the sugar and egg, continuing to mix until combined. Finally, add the milk and flour mixture in 3 phases with the wet ingredients.  Once well blended, spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: http://allrecipes.com  

Makes 3 dozen

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 cup butter (room temp)
• 3/4 cup of golden sugar
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 package (100g) of instant vanilla pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional-I opted out)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350F. 

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. In the bowl of your kitchen mixer, combine the butter and both sugars until smooth. Incorporate the pudding mix in with the wet ingredients until well blended. Add the eggs, vanilla until combined. Finally, fold in the chocolate and nuts using them, into the dough. Spoon 12 tablespoon-sized portions of the dough onto your cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool before storing.