Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday morning I woke with two sick little boys. It always makes me sad for my babies when they are not feeling their usual sprite selves. They have a nasty cold and are plagued with a lingering fever. My boys are troopers, though. They certainly do not want to admit they are sick, but whenever they curl onto the couch and cover up, I know they are feeling their worst.
I remember as a child, my mother would dote over me when I was under the weather. She would rent several movies, make a "bed" on the couch with lots of comfy and warm blankets and curl up with me. We would watch those movies all day long. She would even make me a special meal when I was able to eat. I try to carry that tradition over with my boys. This time, both came down with the crude at the same time. I would rather tackle their bug together anyday! After a day of care giving and running an infirmary at our house, I need a massage!
Tonight, I made the boys some homemade chicken pot pie. It was sprinkled with love to help them feel better soon! Do you have a favorite "feel better" meal that your parent or loved one makes for you when you are sick? Even if you feel miserable, that meal can lift your spirits brighter. I hope you all are staying well this winter. Here is a recipe for my oldest's favorite feel good meal, Chicken Pot Pie.





Chicken Pot Pie

2 chicken breasts, cooked ( I bake mine, but you can cook however you prefer)
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cup frozen or canned kernal corn (drain if canned)
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
2 1/2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp. italian seasonings
1 tsp. garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 puff pastry

*While the chicken is baking, saute in a saucepan or dutch oven, carrots, onions and celery in olive oil over medium-high heat. When veggies start to get tender, add seasonings and bay leaves. Continue to cook about 2 more minutes, stirring throughout. Add 2 cups of broth to veggies, reduce heat to med-low. Add cornstarch to remaining half cup of broth, stir until mixed. Add cornstarch mixture to veggies and broth. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Shred the chicken. Add to veggie mixture. Pour the chicken and veggie mixture into a deep dish pie pan. Place puff pastry over chicken mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and the pastry is golden brown.

Shepard's Pie with Port Wine

Helloooooo friends! How's the new year working out for you? How about those resolutions? Me, I did not make any resolutions this year. Why, you might ask? Well, honestly, I never see them through! I wish I could say to you that I am a disciplined person, one who is capable of trudging through any adversity, but that would be a lie. I have difficulty just fulfilling my daily plans and intentions! So, this year I have taken a different perspective on this glorious new year. I start each day by asking God to reveal to me His plans for my day, and to please keep myself from getting in His way so that I may carry out those plans. I then empower myself with the scripture of Psalm 139:23-24, which I want to share with you. It says, " Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting." (NIV)

What a prayer! I can tell you, it is not easy to give your life totally over to the lord, though it should be. We Christians tend to "cut off our nose in spite of our face!" It is our sinful nature to want to be in complete control of EVERYTHING! At least it is mine. Ok, where am I going with this?! My point is, if you are a failure at New Year's resolutions, IT IS OK! Let me repeat that, IT IS OK! Set realistic goals and pray for guidance and determination in meeting them. Realize that there will be many failures no matter what you do, but if you keep on trying and learn fromthose failures the end rewards will be phanomenal!

So without me rambling on any further, here is a GREAT recipe the whole family is sure to love. And if they don't, you might want to have their tastebuds checked out! J/K! It is Shepard's Pie. I'm sure many of you have heard of it! I got to wondering though, what the history of this all-in-one dish is and where it generated from. So, because I want my reader's to have the culinary knowledge of a scholar, here is what I learned. The first mention of Shepard's pie is in 1885, but it is believed to have existed LONG before then. It is popular in the UK and mainly made with sheep or mutton, hence the name "Shepard's". We make it here in the states mostly with beef' which actually is referred to as "Cottage Pie" in the UK. My version is different from the traditional recipes, but hey, I'm like that. If you like satisfying meal, my version of Shepard's Pie is sure to placate your appetite!



Shepard's Pie with Port Wine
For the Beef Mixture
5 lbs. chuck roast, fat trimmed and cut into 1 in. cubes
5 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 med. sweet onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 pkg. sliced baby bello mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp. flour
2 cups beef stock (or broth)
1/2 cup tawny port wine (you can find at your local wine store)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. herbs de provence (which are made of thyme, rosemary, oregano, savory and basil) Yes, you can make your own at home.
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 cup sweet peas

* In a large stockpot or dutch oven, pour olive oil into pot over med-high heat. Place beef into pot and brown on all sides. Add onions, carrots and mushrooms.Cook until slightly tender. Add flour, stir. Add chopped garlic. Cook one minute longer, stirring constantly. Add beef stock (or broth), port wine and water. Next add salt, pepper, herbs and garlic powder. Reduce heat to low cover and simmer about 1 and 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Meat should be nice and tender. (You can add more port if you like, depending on your taste, this is some pretty stout stuff!)

For the Potatoes

4 medium baking potatoes, peeled
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream (light)
2 tbsp. milk or half-n-half

*Boil potatoes until tender. In a mixing bowl, blend potatoes, butter,salt, sour cream and milk until creamy.

In a deep dish pie plate or baking dish ,(sprayed with cooking spray or buttered), place in beef mixture, cover with peas and mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. I even spread shredded cheddar over the peas and then again sparingly over the potatoes.

Bake in a 350 degree oven til potatoes are brown around the edges and cheese has melted. Serve in individual bowls. Enjoy your hearty meal!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hello Blogger world! I've missed you! I do hope all of your holiday's was as peaceful and blessed as mine. We stayed fairly busy and on the go the later part of our vacation. But I'm back! I have been cooking up a storm and reserving several recipes to share with you.

Unfortunatley the weather down here in the deep South has not been amenable. One day it is warm, almost Spring like, the next rainy and dreary and the following cold, windy and bitter. This has been a pattern though; so since today it is rainy, I can suffice to say tomorrow will be bitterly cold and windy?. Does this set the tone for this coming year? Unpredictable? I'd like to rely on the old adage, "God is in control." And He is! So in the spirit of uncertainty, but faithful, let's focus on the fact that it is Winter and I will share with you a light and satisfying soup. Chicken Tortilla Soup. This is loaded with protein and fiber. All those good things you want to put into your body at the start of each new year! Or, if you are not as concerned about your waistline, make sure to top the soup off with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese, YUM! This recipe feeds about 4-6 people, depending on the hunger level of the individuals!

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 box 34 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 cups water
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 large chicken breast, cooked (I baked mine)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp. half-n-half
1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper (regular will work just as well)
2 tbsp. Chipotle Tabasco sauce
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernal corn
Fresh Cilantro, for garnish and added flavor
Tortilla strips, for garnish

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, combine ALL ingredients, minus black beans and cilantro. Bring to a boil and reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add beans the last 10 minutes. Scoop into individual bowls and garnish with cilantro and tortilla strips. Remember: sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese is great on top, too!

Ah, Divine Divinity!

I must confess, this time of year all I want to do is bake! I'm not afraid to tackle "the impossible", to me nothing is impossible! I'm not saying EVERYTHING I bake or cook comes out as cuisine refinement, I just don't let those trivialities stand in my way. Take yesterday for an instance, if you could have been a fly on the wall in my kitchen, you would have thought I was cooking for a show named Catastrophe Kitchen, or maybe, Cooking Catastrophe! I was making divinity. Now I feel I must give myself some justification here, I have only made it once before. Yep, just once. I believe that the lively lips of several ladies I know has kept me in fear of ever being able to make a good batch of divinity. I hear the horror stories ranging from "it just won't stick", "you can't make divinity on a cloudy or rainy day", to "I overcooked it." Well yesterday I conquered my fear! That's right, I charged into my kitchen like Wonderwoman (minus the outfit) and got my baking on. Now, I decided to make this divinity for my husbands office employees. Yes, they were to be the ginuea pigs. I searched through my lofty recipe box and found that secret of secret recipes, yep, the one I copied from the church cookbook a decade ago! You must stay with me here! There is NO deviating from the sacred divinity recipe! Once you get a tried and true one, stick with it! Mine was tried and true from that sweet little church lady. I decided since I was making a vast amount of this culinary confection, I would triple the recipe. I gathered all of my ingredients and pre-measured each one into seperate bowls. I followed the directions and used the candy thermometer as a back-up precautionary method. This little gadget really is a handy tool and in my book, essential if you are making candy over the stovetop. Now, is where you must use your inner visionary skills and imagine you are the fly on the wall in my kitchen.
The candy has started boiling, I am eagerly awaiting for the temperature to reach 245 degrees, which it seems in no hurry to do. I have my handy candy thermometer in my syrup as it is steadily boiling. I also have the cup of water for the hard ball testing, which I do several times. Now, I do not recommend tasting the syrup, for not only does it scold your mouth, but also will temporarily glue your teeth shut! Yes, this happened to clumsy little ol me! When I tried to walk away from the boiling candy pot, I also realized I was glued to the counter by my shirt. In my haste to unstick myself I knocked over the candy thermometer onto my hand, which I might say burned like the dickens! So, here I am teeth glue shut, stuck to the counter with a nasty burn on my hand. So, I did what any self-dignified Southern lady would do....I cried! I kept telling myself, "This is why I don't make divinity!" It is dangerous! Then, God's sweet voice came into my thoughts and told me not to give up. I trudge on, and to make a rather long story somewhat short, It turned out to be some of the best divinity I ever have had!

What did I take with me from all this you might be asking. Well, in one afternoon's cooking experience I was reminded of how we may go through what seems a disasterous experience at the time, but if we perservere and refuse to give up, we will reap the rewards. It might even hurt. I love how God opens little windows for us to peer through, He taught me such a valuable lesson that day.

I even am going to pass along this Devine Divinity recipe and will pray that your cooking experience will be far less catastrophic than mine was!

Devine Devinity

4 cups Sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
3/4 cup Water
3 egg whites
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups. chopped Pecans (You can toast if you like)

* Cook sugar, syrup and water in a broiler over medium heat. Stir until clear. Cook without stirring until mixture forms a hard ball when dropped in cold water, or if using a candy thermometer, it reaches 245 degrees. Beat egg whites until they are a soft stiff consistency. pour hot syrup mixture into egg whites while beating at high speed. Be careful, mixture is scalding hot! Beat until mixture is stiff. Stir vanilla and pecans into candy. Drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper.

I tripled this recipe, which I was made to fear I couldn't do! Don't be afraid to make divinity, if I can do it so can you!

Praise is God's plan for making our character more like his.