Chicken Pot Pie

I have no idea why I decided to try making chicken pot pie. The only time I’d ever eaten it was at the dining hall in college. I had a recipe bookmarked, probably because it was a featured recipe one day, and randomly decided that I needed to give it a try. So I did.

Start off with a pound of chicken breasts, cut into small pieces. With mine, this was something like 2 chicken breasts. The rest went in the freezer.

Then cut up some carrots and celery.

I put the chicken into a saucepan.

Topped it with the carrots and celery

And some frozen peas.

Then I covered everything with water and cooked it for a while.

While that cooked, I melted some butter in a big skillet.

Added some chopped onions and sautéed it for a while.

When the onions were translucent, I added a bit of flour.

Along with salt, pepper, and celery seed.

Then as it cooked, I slowly added both milk and chicken broth, whisking and cooking until it was creamy and thick.

Then I explored my store-bought pie crusts. Should have used homemade, but didn’t feel like doing all that. I unrolled the first without reading the package, and it cracked in the process.

Trying to prevent that, I nuked the second one for 20 or 30 seconds, as per the directions. That was a mistake, as it softened so much that it was impossible to unroll. This is what I ended up with.

By this point, the chicken and veggies were done, so I drained them and put them in my pie shell.

And then I topped it with my cream sauce.

Then I tried to figure out how to get my smooshed pie crust on top of it. I managed to pry it off the cutting board and got it onto a plate.. but then I had to repair the tears and rips, so it was stuck to the plate.

This was my best idea.

I had to use a spatula to get the pie crust on the chicken pot pie, it looked like this. I tried to seal the edges, but cream sauce leaked and ended up on top. I tried to vent the shell, too, but only ended up with puddles of cream sauce. I decided to quit ruining dinner and put it in the oven without any more tweaks.

Not bad, not bad!

Okay, yes, it’s leaking, and yes, it’s a bit dark on the edges, but the golden brown is pretty awesome. If I’d made my own pie crusts, I would have had much more success, but this isn’t bad.

I felt the need to take a picture of the first cut. I guess it was a magical moment.

It was goopy and difficult to serve, but I know that’s because I couldn’t wait to cut into it, like I should have.

But it sure was tasty. Really, really good. Hubby told me that this is how chicken pot pie is supposed to taste, so I guess that means I did it right.

I think I’ll be adding this to the rotation.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Chicken

I've been working behind the fine jewelry counter at Macy's to help make ends meet until I can find something full time. I actually like it. Retail really isn't what I want to be doing, but as far as retail goes, I do like getting to play with diamonds and sapphires and gold and pearls. Especially when it comes to helping men pick out gifts for their ladies. But that's beside the point. Though I've left my availability pretty much open with Macy's, I tend to get scheduled for the closing shifts because that's what they need the most. I don't really mind it, except that it makes spending time with hubby in the evenings hard. I still try to get something together for dinner when I can, even if I can't be there when he gets home.

That's where the appeal of this meal comes in. It's really more of a technique than a recipe, but I do think it's worth blogging about because it is so easy, so versatile, and so yummy.

First, to keep the chicken from getting soggy, put a few balls of aluminum foil on the bottom of your crockpot (I added more after taking this picture). Then, to keep the chicken moist, pour in some chicken broth.

Next, prepare the meat. I'm using a whole chicken. Remove as much of the skin and fat as you can. If you leave it on there, dinner's going to be really greasy, so it really is best to get off as much as possible.

This step attracted some sad, starving critters.

After that, I seasoned the meat with some chicken rub.

Then I put the chicken in the crock pot. I put it in breast down, since the breast is the most vulnerable to drying out.

And I stuffed the cavity with an apple. Here it is.

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I'm not posting a picture of it stuffed in the bird because it was just too hard to get a picture of it, but it's not hard to imagine, is it? I just stuffed as much of the apple in the cavity as I could.

Finally, grab some BBQ sauce. You could make your own, or you could just use what you have.

I went ahead and dumped about 2 cups worth right on the chicken.

Then put a lid on it and walk away!

I have it set to "high" in this picture, but it really should be on low.

I wasn't going to be home when hubby got home and was ready to eat, so I set out some packets of BBQ sauce and wet wipes for him.

When I finally got home after my shift and put my own plate together, I was pleased with the way it turned out.

The chicken was falling off the bone, which made it really messy, but it was very tender and didn't require a knife. As for the apple, I didn't touch it because I thought the texture was kind of icky, but it was nice to boost the flavor of the chicken with it. But the chicken was moist and delicious.

And just wait until you see what I did with the leftovers!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Shallots

I got a pretty unique package in the mail from my Aunt Nancy recently.

When I opened it up, this is what I found:

She had sent me home-grown shallots and garlic. After I trimmed them a bit and put them in bowls, this is what they looked like

I’ve never used shallots before and pretty much had no idea what to expect, so I peeled one just to see what it was like.

Then I may have nibbled a bit at it to see what it tasted like

Then I may have had to brush my teeth because it was both onion-y and garlic-y.

Anyway, I was on the lookout for recipes that used shallots. My Aunt Lilith was in town and described a dish that Julia Child made with chicken breasts and shallots. Not long after, I found a recipe that seemed to follow Julia’s pretty closely, so I decided to go for it.

The recipe called for four chicken breasts, pounded thin. Since my chicken breasts were pretty big, I elected to slice them into cutlets instead of pounding them. Make your big breast jokes now, I’ll wait.

I heated a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet with some olive oil.

While the butter melted, I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper.

Then I put the chicken cutlets in the pan to begin searing.

While they sizzled, I turned to the shallots. It was time to chop them up. Physically, they seemed pretty similar to garlic, so I treated them similarly. I crushed them slightly with the knife to loosen the skins and then peeled the cloves.

Interestingly, when I cut into them, I discovered that they’re more like onions on the inside, with layers. Very interesting.

Next, I got out some of the homegrown garlic and did the same to it.

I probably should have diced the garlic much more finely, but I was trying to watch a movie and make dinner at the same time, and cutting the garlic any finer seemed like too much of an effort at the time. That’s how I roll.

The chicken’s doing well. I flipped it over to cook the other side.

When it was just about cooked through, I took the chicken out and put it on a plate. It could have used another minute or two, but it was going to go back in the pan later so it didn’t need to be finished up yet.

To everything that was left in the skillet, I added the chopped shallots and garlic, plus a little basil from a tube of pureed fresh basil that I had in the fridge. The basil wasn’t in the recipe, but it seemed appropriate. Plus, my aunt had suggested adding herbs at this point. So I did.

Next, I added some white wine and let it warm up, and then some chicken broth. Because some reviewers complained that the sauce was too runny in the end, I thickened the chicken broth with some corn starch before adding it.

After about 5 minutes of simmering, I added two tablespoons of butter and reduced the heat to let it melt slowly.

Finally, when it was about done, I returned the chicken to the pan to let it cook in the sauce for a few minutes. The recipe didn’t say to do that, but my aunt did, and it sounded good to me.

And that was that!

I served with some boxed roasted garlic mashed potatoes (always surprisingly yummy) and sautéed zucchini and mushrooms. The dish was pretty elegant and is something that I would serve company. The flavor was rich and complex, and the creamy sauce would have gone nicely over rice or some pasta. The recipe is here and I’ll put it in the recipes tab, as well.

Now, what else can I make with shallots?