A Good Week for Cooking!

 

Blogging has been way down my list over the last couple of years.  Life has been busy and interesting.  I’ll not go into all the details except to say we’re hoping for a MUCH better 2023! 

Over the last couple of years we’ve had way too much carryout and not enough good old-fashioned home cooking.  Hopefully that will also improve in 2023.  At least over the last week it has.  We’ve made four new recipes, four old favorites and one blast from the past.  How did it go?  Well, one of the misperceptions I find is that folks assume since I’m a good enough cook I don’t have many failures.  And, truly I don’t wind up with many two’s.  But, I do have failures.  Usually they’re ok enough to eat the meal.  But, then the leftovers wind up in the trash.  Last week we had two such failures.  I’d read a recipe for a lemon/orzo/chickpea/spinach soup.  It sounded fresh and wonderful.  It wasn’t.  I listed it as “blah to the max.”  Then, there were the mussels.  Enough for a meal after we used some for cioppino.  Another blah to the max. 

Fortunately the other two new recipes were REALLY good.  One was the aforementioned cioppino from Taste of Home.  Another was a Monte Cristo sandwich – made with a Bisquick mix from Betty Crocker Right Size Recipes.  Then the blast from the past was a tomato basil soup.  I think it was my mom’s recipe.  It’s in a “cookbook” of recipes I put together about 15 years ago and has no provenance listed.  It’ll be a regular in our rotation going forward.  Particularly since I now know it can be served warm equally successfully.  And, last but certainly not least were the old favorites:  cauliflower cheese soup and barley vegetable soup, both from Park Tudor Treasures.  Plus Alex Guarnaschelli’s French Onion Soup with Short Ribs and a Kate’s creation chicken pot pie.

Let’s start with the Tomato Basil Soup since it’s SO very easy!

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

½ c half and half

16 oz chicken stock

½ package basil ( we used about a handful of leaves)

½- 1 t sugar

 

Directions:

Combine everything in a food processor and process until smooth.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend.  You can serve this either cold or hot.

 

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Ingredients:

Shredded rotisserie chicken

Potatoes, diced and parcooked

Carrots, diced and parcooked

Mushrooms, diced and sauteed

Can of cream of chicken soup

Cream

Dry Sherry

Thyme

Gruyere cheese, shredded

Pie crust

 

Directions:

This is  one where you just need to put together whatever veggies you want with the chicken.  We were out of peas or they’d have gone in.  No parsnips either.  It’s pretty much a clean up the kitchen dish.  

You’ll want to dump the soup into a small saucepan.  Pour in about a quarter of a cup of sherry.  Then, enough cream to make a nice sauce.  Or less sherry and more cream.  Toss in about a couple of teaspoons of thyme.  Or whatever herb trips your trigger.  Then, a handful of the shredded gruyere.  Let that melt and toss in the chicken and whatever veggies you’ve cooked.  Pour everything into a pie crust lined casserole dish.  Crimp the edges of the crust and bake at 350 until the crust is nice and brown. 

 

Spicy Fresh Seafood Cioppino 

Ingredients: 

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 T olive oil

1 24 oz can tomato basil pasta sauce

1 8 oz bottle clam juice

1 c dry white wine or chicken broth (I used the wine)

Salt and pepper

1 t sugar

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 t thyme

1 lb fresh littleneck clams (I was stuck with canned)

1 lb fresh mussels, scrubbed and beards removed

1 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb uncooked bay scallops (I used a seafood medley from Trader Joes that also include calamari rings)

1 6 oz package baby spinach

 

Directions: 

Saute the garlic in the olive oil.  Do not let in brown.  Add in the pasta sauce, clam juice, wine and seasonings.  Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the seafood and cook until the shrimp is pink and the mussels and clams have opened.  Toss any that do not open!  Add in the spinach and stir to wilt it just a bit. Adapted from Taste of Home.  

We made another of our old favorites recently.  It's Alex Guarnaschelli's French Onion Soup with Short Ribs.  It's a long, complicated recipe and is totally worth the time it takes.  For me it pretty much sets the standard.  But, I'm not going to try and add the recipe to the blog.  Here are our photos:

LOTS of garlic in with the onions

The recipe calls for Korean short ribs but they're hard to find so I instant pot traditional short ribs.

Alex calls for 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere on each crouton.  She's exactly right!

You put the onion short rib mix on top of a handful of shredded gruyere.

Then, you pour in this magnificent broth.  

And, top it with a lovely broiled cheesy crouton of French bread.  Heavenly!

 

 

Chicken Mushroom Pot Pie

Let's chat for a bit about making a recipe the first time exactly as it's written versus adapting it to your taste and ingredient availability.  You can probably tell which side of the argument I fall on just from that comment.  There are those who believe it is insulting to the writer of the recipe to make changes the first time through. Then, there are those of us who believe a recipe is a suggestion.  I substitute freely.  Now, that being said, there are recipes like La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings that I make exactly as the recipe says.  Baked goods typically fall into that category.  On the other end of the scale, there are recipes like Wolfgang Puck's Chicken Pot Pie that cause ruminations about multiple combinations.  This recipe is the result of one of those.


Early in the weekend I make my menu for the week.  I typically ask Connie if there's anything he's hungry for.  Most weeks there isn't.  This week he wanted something baked.  Maybe lasagna or ziti.  Oh, how about chicken pot pie, he says.  Ok, that's easy enough to do.  Is it ok if it's chicken mushroom pot pie instead of traditional?  Sure.  That'd be great, he says.  So, a mix of mushrooms goes on the grocery list.  And a rotisserie chicken.  And, a bag of frozen pearl onions.  Then, I looked at my original post and started thinking how I wanted to change the recipe.  Parmesan or gruyere instead of cheddar.  Tarragon instead of chives and thyme.  White wine and gruyere added into the sauce. 


An aside here.  There are so many other possible combinations.  Saltimbocca with sage and some ham added in.  Curry and lemon juice.  Red wine instead of white.  Swiss cheese and a different white wine with peas and carrots and mushrooms.  Pork and potatoes and carrots with rose.  One of those dishes where you can make lists of meats, vegetables, cheeses, wines and herbs and combine to your heart's content.

What did we think?  My tongue is still dancing.  The flavor combination was wonderful.  Connie wanted a bottom crust.  I didn't but made one for him.  Next time, I'll cut the pastry recipe by 2/3rd's and just top the pot pie.  I find the bottom crust to be gooey no matter how well the top is baked.

Chicken Mushroom Pot Pie

Ingredients:

You can see I was thinking about adding asparagus too...




For the pastry:

2 c flour
1 T snipped fresh tarragon
6 oz unsalted butter
1 c shredded gruyere cheese
2 large egg yolks
6 T heavy cream

For the chicken and mushrooms:

1/2 chicken
8 oz sliced white button mushrooms
3 shitakes
6 cremini
2 portabella
olive oil
8 oz frozen pearl onions

for the sauce:
6 T unsalted butter
1/4 c flour
1/2 c white wine
1 c chicken broth
1 c shredded gruyere
1/2 c heavy cream
1 t minced fresh tarragon

Directions:

for the pastry:

Put the flour into a large bowl.  Cut the butter into slices about 1/4" thick.  Put the butter into the flour and cut it in.  I prefer to do this by hand because I have more control over the size of the butter.  You need to have pea-sized pieces of butter.  Add the cheese and tarragon and mix it gently.  Whisk the egg yolks with 5 T of the cream.  Add that to the flour mixture and mix.  If the dough comes together easily, you don't have to add the other tablespoon of cream.  If it doesn't add the cream.  Refrigerate the dough until you're ready to use it.

For the chicken and vegetables:

Use half of a rotisserie chicken.  Cube the meat.  Chop the mushrooms then saute them in about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add pearl onions.  Set the filling mixture aside.

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Stir in the flour and allow it to cook on medium heat for about five minutes.  Slowly stir in the white wine then the chicken broth.  Stir regularly until the mixture is thickened.  Stir in the cheese, cream and tarragon. 

Time to put the pot pie together:

Mix the chicken, mushrooms and onions with the cheese sauce.  Roll out the crust. 

You have two choices here.  I prefer just a top crust.  Connie likes a bottom and top crust.  So, roll whichever you want.  Either line a casserole with a bottom crust

then pour in the chicken mixture or just pour in the chicken mixture.  

Cover it with the top crust.  Crimp the edges.  Bake at 400 for  45-60 minutes or until the top crust is browned and the filling is bubbling.

Thanks to Wolfgang Puck for his wonderful chicken pot pie recipe.  I'm loving all the variations I'm coming up with!

Wolfgang Puck's Chicken Pot Pie

My favorite Wolfgang Puck recipe has always been his butternut squash soup.  Actually, there are three butternut squash soup recipes I've found on the internet that are attributed to him.  The one I crave is the one they serve in the Wolfgang Puck restaurants in airports.   I think I've now found a Wolfgang Puck recipe that's equally good.  This was published in the Indianapolis Star.  I clipped it and it wound up in a big pile of recipes to try (no surprise there, eh?)  Finally, I sorted through the recipes and identified the top 20 to try.  This was one of them.  I was particularly entranced by the pastry crust - chives and cheddar cheese.

I escaped the office really late and quite frankly shouldn't have come home and tried to cook.  It wasn't a pleasant day and I was stressed to the max.  Suffice to say that one person's greed is negatively impacting my life and I don't appreciate it.  My emails piled up all day as did my to-do list.  I had trouble focusing on my work at the office and got home and didn't want to cook.  I just wanted to curl up in a chair and read something fun.  But, I'd bought a rotisserie chicken and didn't want to waste it.  So, into the kitchen I went.  As I started prepping, I managed to cut my finger on the tip of the knife I was using to cut the butter.  But, then, magic happened.  I started to relax.  Making the pastry crust brought back wonderful memories of Mom teaching me to make pie crust.  Of using my grandmother's crockery bowls.  Just the rhythm of stirring the sauce calmed me.  By the time I put dinner on the table at 9:50 pm, I felt pretty good.  Pretty darned tired, but good.

So, what did we think?  This was probably the best chicken pot pie I've ever made.  Not the best I've ever had but the best I've made.  It's pretty time consuming to prepare but is worth the time.  The calorie count is undoubtedly off the charts so this is something that I'd make every few years.  I made it in a deeper casserole dish so I could cut the pastry in half.  The recipe below reflects the original measurements for the pastry.

Wolfgang Puck's Classic Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 6

Ingredients:

for the pastry:
2 c flour
2 T snipped fresh chives
6 oz. unsalted butter
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 large egg yolks
6 T heavy cream

for the chicken and vegetables:
2 T unsalted butter
1 T vegetable oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" cubes
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2" slices
1 large stalk celery cut into 1/2" slices
1/2 lb cremini or shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 10 oz pkg pearl onions, thawed
3/4 c frozen petit peas

for the sauce:
6 T unsalted butter
1/4 c flour
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c heavy cream
1 t minced fresh thyme
salt and pepper
1 egg yolk beaten with water

Directions:

for the pastry:  Pour the flour into a medium sized bowl.  Add the chives. 

Cut the butter in small pieces then cut it in until it is the size of small peas.  You basically pinch off little pieces and incorporate the flour while doing so.  Don't overwork it or the pastry will be tough. 

Add the cheddar and mix well. 

Whisk the eggs yolks with 5T of the cream. 

Pour that in and mix well.  If the dough comes together well, you don't need the balance of the cream.  If it doesn't, add the cream a bit at a time.   Wrap the pastry in plastic and refrigerate it until you need it.

for the chicken and vegetables:  If you're using rotisserie chicken, cut it into 1" cubes and set it aside.  You won't need 1 T of the butter and the vegetable oil.  If you're using uncooked chicken breasts, cut them into 1" cubes and saute them in 1T of the butter and the vegetable oil.  You don't want to cook these all the way through.  Set them aside in a bowl when they're lightly browned.  When I made this, I followed the instructions and found the carrots to be slightly undercooked, so I would recommend a minute in the microwave or a couple of minutes in some rolling water.  Then, saute the carrots, celery

and mushrooms in 1 T of the butter. 

Be sure to use only the caps if you're using shitakes.  The stems are pretty darned tough! 

Set those aside in the bowl with the chicken and add the onions and peas to the mix. 

for the sauce:  Melt the butter in the skillet you used to saute the vegetables.  Whisk in the flour.  Allow it to cook, stirring constantly, for about two minutes.  Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and the thyme. 

Once the mixture is thickened, slowly add the cream. 

Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.  Combine the sauce with the chicken and vegetables.

Putting it all together:  Preheat the oven to 400.  Roll the pastry crust out into an 11" diameter disk. 

Make sure you do so on a lightly floured surface or it'll stick like crazy.  Pour the chicken mixture into a 10" diameter deep pie plate.  Cover the chicken mixture with the pastry crust.  I took the leftover crust and made a rope and put an edge on the  crust. 

The original recipe calls for tucking the crust under but I thought it'd look prettier with a trim...

adapted from the Wolfgang Puck via the Indianapolis Star