Chick-a Chick-a Boom Boom Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie goodness from my freezer!

While working on filling up that freezer, I turned out two deep dish chicken pot pies.  Chicken pot pies are the ultimate comfort food.  Since having enough leftover chicken to make a chicken pot pie in the Little Kitchen never happens, I buy the already cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to make this dish.  I am sometimes leery of buying these chickens as they can be dried out.  I am the one digging through the cooked chickens looking for one with the meat that hasn't shrunk too far away from the bone.  They are helpful in a pinch and are great for chicken pot pies.  (As a sidebar, the carcass itself will yield a nice chicken stock as well).

With some left over mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli....mmm boy, dinner!

This is another one of those dishes that I really don't follow a recipe for...either I have made it that much or it is one of those things that I am just comfortable making.  I will do my best to describe the process.

First you need to decide on the crust.  I have used, and really like the one that Chef Dennis posted for his pot pies.  I also like the one Lefty posted on Oil and Butter....decisions, decisions....Sorry Lefty, today I went with Chef Dennis' Pastry...next time I am using your recipe!

Pastry

• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 3/4 cup butter cut into 1/2  inch pieces
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup ice water

Get your food processor out of the cupboard and place a cup of water in the freezer to chill.


Set up your food pro on the counter with the blade nicely in there.

Put 2 cups of flour in the processor and the salt...pulse to mix.

Add in the 3/4 cup of cubed, cold butter to the flour.  Pulse a few times to get the mixture all crumbly.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, pulse twice after each addition.

Remove the water from your freezer and add 1/4 cup of it to the food pro and pulse 3 times.

Dump this crumbly mixture into a bowl or onto the counter.  Squeeze the crumbly goodness so it holds together and press into 2 discs of dough.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour.  I have made this a day ahead of time before and it always turns out great.

While the dough is chillin' in the fridge, get the filling cooked up!  The filling can be adapted to suit your tastes and what you have on hand.  This is what went into today's pot pies.

• 1/2 large onion chopped
• a couple of carrots, Peel and sliced (today I used mini carrots)
• 2 ribs of celery, diced (use the leafy parts too)
• 1 large potato scrubbed and diced
• a handful of mushrooms sliced (today I used cremini)
• a handful of frozen peas
• a handful of frozen corn
• 1/4 cup butter (or canola oil)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off the bones and chopped (all of the meat)

Heat the pot on medium and add the butter or oil (or a bit of both).

Saute the onions with some salt and pepper until tender.

Add the celery, carrots, mushrooms, and potato to the onions and let it cooks for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and then to keep things from sticking.  (oh and add the bay leaf and some salt and pepper as well)
Stir in the flour to coat the veggies and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the stock and stir continuously to get the flour incorporated.  The stock will thicken as it heats.
Stir in the chopped chicken, the peas, and the corn.  Go hunting and take out that bay leaf!

You are going to want to let the pot pie filling cool before you dish it up and add the pastry topping.  (It is just better for the crust that way.)

Once cooled, spray a couple of casserole dishes with non stick spray and divide the filling evenly between them. (This is a matter of preference, if you prefer a more shallow dish, then use it as it will make more pies.  You will have enough dough with this recipe to cover more pies.  We just happen to prefer a deeper dish pot pie)

Two dishes, sprayed with non stick spray

Rolling, rolling, rolling.....

Yup, looks good.

Roll out the dough so it will fit over the entire casserole dish.  I like to measure it out by placing the dish over the dough to make sure it is rolled out enough.

Cut off the excess dough

Voila!

You can go ahead and bake these right away in a 350F oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  (Brush the pastry with egg white first)

Remember a couple of slits to vent the steam!

If you are planning on freezing the pot pies for later use, pop them into a zip top freezer bag (or wrap really well with plastic wrap and foil).  Place in the freezer, flat and keep in the freezer until ready to use.

With my busy week which included my return to work and the making of a monster truck cake for my nephew, this was a great week to have a chicken pot pie in the freezer!

To bake from frozen:

Remove all forms of wrapping from the pot pie and place the dish on a baking sheet (protect that oven).

 Test the heat of the centre of the pie by inserting a knife for 10 seconds. Remove the knife and touch the blade...if the blade is hot, it is done, if the blade is cold, put it back in the oven!

On Top of Spaghetti, All Covered With Cheese, I Lost My Poor Meatball When Somebody Sneezed.

You know what I don't make as often as I would like?  Meatballs.  Spaghetti and meatballs to be exact!  Of course it is impossible for me to make just one dinner's worth of meatballs.  I must make extra for the freezer.  It seems now that the holiday season has passed and freezer space is no longer dedicated to baked holiday treats, it is time to fill it with dinner type goodness.  The some 10 dozen perogies I made yesterday will serve us well but a family cannot live on perogies alone (despite the attempts of a certain teen age boy).

Today was a busy day for stocking the freezer but the meatballs were also a part of tonight's supper.   I didn't feel like thawing the ground beef from the freezer so I sent the boy out to the store....he is so helpful.  This is one of those dishes that I make different every time I put it together.  I really have no measurements for this one.  Please bear with me.

Meatballs
In a small bowl, combine:

between 1/2 to 1 cup of bread crumbs (tonight I used panko because that is what I had)
enough milk or half and half for the crumbs to soak up

Not pretty, but it all adds flavour!

Let this sit for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime:

Grate 1 medium sized onion and place in a large bowl. (or grate the onion right into the bowl).
Using a micro plane or a garlic press, get 3 or 4 cloves of garlic into the mix.
Add 1 or 2 eggs, a healthy pinch of salt and pepper.
Don't forget the handful of grated Parmesan!!
Add the meat as well!Today I used a large family size pack of ground beef but a combo of beef and pork is good, so is ground turkey or chicken...use what you like!

Add the milk and breadcrumbs to all of this and mix it together with your clean hands.

I used a scoop to help portion out the meat balls.

 Bake in the oven at 350F for about 20 minutes.

If you forgot to tell your teen shopper to pick up lean ground beef, and had to use regular ground beef, there will be a lot of grease on the baking sheet.  Let the meatballs cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a paper towel lined sheet or to a cooling rack.  Once cooled, lay the meatballs in a single layer and freeze until solid.  Now transfer the frozen meatballs to a zip top bag or other freezer safe containment unit, label and place back in the freezer until you next spaghetti night!  (Meatballs thaw so well in your favourite sauce!)

A very simple sauce to go with your meatballs!

Heat a pan and add a tbsp or so of olive oil.  Now saute up 1 medium onion, chopped and 1/2 a bell pepper of your choice....today I had a yellow pepper so I used that.

Grate or press in 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and keep cooking for a minute or two.  Open up a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and add this to the mix.

Pop in a bay leaf and let this simmer on low for about 15 minutes.
Next add about 24 meatballs and continue to cook on medium until the meatballs are heated through.

Enjoy with a helping of your favourite pasta.

Not Your Baba's Perogies: Because They are Aunty Vel's Perogies

Pan fried perogies with keilbassa, sauerkraut and sour cream...YUM!

Having been raised on the Prairies in a community with oh so many Ukrainians, perogies are everywhere! The local churches and legions hold fundraising suppers.....wait for it......all you can eat perogie fundraising suppers!! You show up, you pay under 10 dollars, you eat perogies. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Unless you have the same problem I do where it conjures up visions of a perogie sweat shop filled with cute little babushkaed Babas cranking out perogies. Perogies are serious business on the Prairies! I even looked it up and found the website talking about it. Click HERE for the website. According to this website, I live in Perogy City so don't even get me started on the cabbage rolls and perishky scene.

I have been wanting to make perogies again for quite some time. They can be labour intensive, which is why they are so often done it groups. Perogies also store so well in the freezer and a great to cook up for a quick meal (or a snack if you are the Boy). There happens to be a perogie place right by the high school and the boy will often stop to get a dozen perogies to tide him over on his walk home! For this perogie making day of mine I looked around and asked around for people's recipes. I remember using a recipe that had sour cream in the dough but I couldn't find that recipe but Aunty Vel came through with one I hadn't tried yet so I went with that one. Thank you Aunty Vel! She was so right. This dough comes out so soft and forgiving. It really is so easy to work with.

Perogy making is best broken down into steps. The fillings need to be made and chilled. There are so many different fillings for perogies, it would probably be impossible to count them all. Potato and cheese is one of the most popular, so is sauerkraut but dessert fillings as well as meat fillings are also delectable. I have decided to go with potato cheese and sauerkraut. There are some recipes that require the dough to rest overnight but this recipe calls for a 10 minute rest.

Start with making the fillings. I would tell you to use leftover mashed potatoes but in my house leftover mashed potatoes rarely happens. Also, I rarely peel my potatoes but here you will need to peel them. Remember to save ½ cup mashed potatoes for the dough!

Potato cheese filling

2 cups cold mashed potatoes

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 to 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I like to use the full 1 cup)

Salt and pepper to taste

Basically, combine, mix, and stir together until all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Set aside until ready to assemble the perogies.

Sauerkraut Filling

3 cups sauerkraut.

1 onion, chopped

4 tbsp bacon fat or butter

2 tbsp sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

In a colander, rinse the sauerkraut and squeeze dry. (To squeeze dry, place the rinsed sauerkraut in the centre of a clean tea towel, bring up the sides and wring out over the sink.)

In a sauté pan, melt the bacon fat or butter and cook the chopped onion until tender.

Add the sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook over low heat for 15 minutes until the sauerkraut is tender.

Chill before assembling perogies.

(Some people also like to add some crumbled bacon to the sauerkraut, which of course I did!)

Perogie dough

½ cup cold mashed potatoes

2 tbsp shortening

2 egg yolks

½ cup lukewarm water

1 ¾ cup flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

¼ cup flour

Mix the mashed potatoes, shortening, and egg yolks together.

Keep mixing so the shortening, egg yolks, and potatoes are all thoroughly combined.

Add the lukewarm water and beat well. At this point the mixture will not look pretty. You will think you have done something wrong but don't fret. It will all pull together.

Sift the flour, cream of tartar, and the salt together then stir into the mashed potato mixture. This forms a soft, sticky dough.

Add the last ¼ cup of flour in 2 tbsp additions until the dough does not stick to your fingers. (Add more flour in 1 tbsp portions if needed) The dough will be very soft.

Knead the dough lightly then set aside and cover with a tea towel to let it rest for 10 minutes.

This is a good time to set up your assembly area. (Clear off some counter space or move the operation to the kitchen table.)

Roll out the dough until you think it is too thin. Use a drinking glass to cut out rounds of dough. Continue to roll and cut until there is no dough. Keep already cut circles lightly floured and covered with a clean tea towel.

Scoop 1 tbsp portions onto one half of a dough circle and fold the other half over so the edges meet.

Pinch the edges well to seal. (Use a touch of water on the edge to help the dough seal)

Drop a few perogies at a time into a large pot of salted boiling water. Boil 3 to 4 minutes stirring gently to keep them from sticking to each other. Perogies will puff slightly and float when done.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain thoroughly.

Perogies have a tendency to stick together so keep them separate both before and after you have boiled them. A touch of oil or melted butter on the pan helps keep them from sticking as well.

Lay out on a baking sheet in one layer and freeze until solid. Once frozen solid, transfer to zip top freezer bags and put back in the freezer.

Panfry with butter or bacon fat and onions. Perogies are best served with kielbasa, sauerkraut, and a dollop of sour cream on the side!

Assembly is a great group project, one person can roll and cut dough circles, another person can scoop the fillings and seal the perogies, another person can boil the perogies....there is always a job for someone!

And now...the 1st episode of Little Kitchen on the Prairie courtesy of Wild Horse Jack Productions! Enjoy!