Chicken Pot Pie

This is favorite cold-weather dinner of mine, for sure. Delicious, hearty, and packed full of veggies! I combined a few different recipes, and added some things of my own... so this is what I came up with:

Chicken Pot Pie

In a large sauce pan saute for 5 minutes:
3 tbs butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1 chopped med onion
1/4 cup sweet red pepper
1/3 cup white wine

Stir in to make roux:
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper

Add:
2 - 2 1/2 cups chopped/shredded cooked chicken

Add:
- 2 cups whole milk (or half and half)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 1 1/2 cups sliced baby carrots (steam until semi soft before adding)
- 2 cups chopped potatoes (boil until semi soft before adding)

Add a little more flour if the sauce doesnt seem thick enough (I think I added another tbs of flour at this point)

in a deep pie pan, (or 8x8, 9x9) put pre-made roll out pie crust dough (I used Pillsbury), pour in pot pie mixture, then top with another pie crust roll.

Cook pie for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

Modified Beef Bourguignon

My friend, Merrie, made me Julia Childs Beef Bourguignon a couple of months ago and it was delicious! I wanted to recreate it without all of the work (she said it seriously took her all day to make!). So here is my modified crock pot beef bourguignon... with cream.

Modified Beef Bourguignon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 pounds beef roast
Salt and pepper
2 cups red wine (used Burgundy)
1 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3 carrots, sliced
12-15 white onions, small
1 cup mushrooms, fresh and quartered
1/2 cup half and half or cream
Salt and Pep to taste

Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the beef, and brown in oil on the stove. Place beef in crock-pot. Pour wine into pan, let the alcohol cook out, and scrape up the little left over beef bits. Add beef stock, tomato paste, and garlic to the wine, and pour into the crock-pot. Add the rest of the ingredients to the crock-pot (except cream), cover, and for 8 hours on High, or 4 hours on Low.

When meat is tender enough to pull apart, suction all of the juice out, put in sauce pan, and simmer. Mix 1-2 tbs corn starch in a small amount of water, and whisk into sauce until it thickens to a thin gravy consistency. Whisk in 1/2 cup of cream. Add salt and pepper until it tastes the way you like it.

Pull beef apart into small chunks. Add sauce back into the crock-pot with meat. Serve over rice.

(I also always throw potatoes into the crock-pot to cook along with the other stuff, and remove them when they are tender, to eat on the side)

Tortilla Soup

Love this soup! I usually make it when I am running out of food in the fridge, and am wanting to use some of my food storage.

Tortilla Soup

1 T olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cups shredded chicken
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 can original Rotel (with reg canned tomatoes)
1 16 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
2 cans chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime squeezed over soup
salt and pepper to taste

heat oil and sauté onion tender. Throw everything (including onion) into your crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours.

Garnish with:
tortilla strips
avocado
Sour cream
shredded cheese

Blueberry Muffins

This is my all-time favorite blueberry muffin recipe. I think what I love most about them is that the blueberries are chopped, not whole, so instead of getting a sour blueberry burst in every bite (some people love that... I don't quite as much), the blueberry taste is all throughout the muffin. I got this recipe from my cousins wife who got it from a friend who used to own a bakery. It was a little heavy on the sugar, though, so believe it or not, I took out almost 1 cup to make the recipe below! Dont worry, it is still definitely sweet enough.

Blueberry Muffins

2 c. flour
1 c. (rounded) + 1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. blueberries, chopped
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 and grease 12 muffin cups

In a large bowl stir together dry ingredients. In another bowl mix together wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet. Stir just to combine. Add berries and nuts.
Pour into muffin tin. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp sugar over top of muffins. Bake 20-25 mins

Tortillas

There is nothing better than home-made tortillas. I first had these when my friend, Merrie, made them for me. After making them myself, I don't think I can ever buy the pre-packaged kind again! They are ridiculously delicious and easy! I also love this recipe more than other tortilla recipes because it just uses olive oil - so much better for you than crisco!

Tortillas

3 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4-6 Tbsp.olive oil
about 1 1/4 cups warm water


Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add vegetable shortening or lard. Or use a combination of the two. Use a fork to cut in the shortening or just your hands.

Next add warm water a little at a time until your dough is soft and not sticky. You do not need very hot water. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Now you will pull off pieces of dough to form about 12 small balls. Let them rest on parchment paper for at least 10 minutes, longer if you like.

*flatten and cook with a tortilla maker, or...

Flatten dough balls and sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Roll out (on parchment paper) with rolling pin as thin as you can, from the center out.

Melt a tiny bit of butter in pan on med to med-high heat, and cook tortilla in pan until it has lots of nice brown speckles (about 20-30 seconds).

(The dough also freezes really well! I usually double the recipe, and freeze a bunch. Make sure you roll each dough ball in flour, before throwing in a freezer bag, to prevent them from sticking together!)

***Since I wrote this, I have purchased this.  Hello, new best friend!  All I do is make the dough... and that thing cooks and flattens them.  I make tortillas about once a week or so.  Easy peasy. 

 pretty, huh?