Chicken Pot Pies a la Tasty video Featuring Wolfgang Puck!

For those of you that happen to follow those Tasty cooking videos that usually show the recipe being made from an above-the-stove view that include the quantities as they are added and mixed, I've been enjoying drooling over them for some time now.  Recently, they worked in conjunction again with Wolfgang Puck to create yet another Chicken Pot Pie recipe.  

This time, instead of making the entire vehicle out of puffed pastry, they showed how to assemble it using a ramekin or other oven-safe vessel which you cover with rounds of the pastry.

Though there is a little prep work, and judging by the comments on the video, there is prep work even beyond what is listed in the video, the general process is pretty straight forward to make these.

Two big things come to mind.  First, to ensure a good consistency, pre-cook your veggies, particularly the carrots and potatoes.  I brought them both to a boil for several minutes in the same small stock pot that I later made the sauce in.  You don't really want to completely cook them.  Instead, get them to just past the "still crunchy" stage, but still fairly firm.  This should put them in a good place once they get their time in the sauce and in the oven.

Second, I used a medium onion as listed in the recipe, and this became a Chicken and Onion Pot Pie.  My medium onion was about half a cup of onion diced.  I'd recommend half that much, but you know.  Do what tastes good to you. 

The sauce came together exactly as the video described right down to the stick-to-the-spoon bit.  One thing I considered doing but forgot was to enhance the flavor with some fresh herbs like thyme or sage.  The general flavor between roasted chicken, the veggies, and salt and pepper is pretty good though rather simple.  It can be doctored up almost any way you'd like.

The pastry part of the equation was also really easy to work with.  Be sure you defrost the dough at least 30 mins before you work with it. 

The recipe created enough filling for 6 - 10 ounce pies (even though it says 4), though at the time I only had enough dishes for 4, so I have leftover "stew" for another time. :-) Your mileage by way of your vessel size may vary.  

Generally a pretty easy and highly rewarding recipe, and I can well imagine this will end up on the rotation served on its own or perhaps with a small side salad.

You can find the recipe here:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambianchi/wolfgang-puck-made-chicken-pot-pie-for-us-and-we-all-rejoice

Food Porn: Chicken Pot Pie

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

For a lover of Green Chile and a denizen of New Mexico for over half my life, I find it strange that it took moving away to become acquainted with making enchiladas with the verdant version of the pepper.  Apparently it takes missing it in order to dig deeper into it.

There are several ways to present these, and I want to talk about a couple of them.  Much like my Red Chile Enchiladas, there are tortillas, there is a sauce, and there is cheese.  Something that sets the presentation decision is how soon they will be consumed after they are made.  If you are going to eat them right away, the flat method (layer on the plate like a lasagna: tortilla, sauce, cheese, tortilla, sauce, cheese) is the easiest and fastest.  If, on the other hand, you will be taking it to a potluck or a dinner, another option is to build it in a baking dish (either layered or rolled), and then pop it in the oven before you eat to get the cheese melty.

However you decide to present them, lets talk about how to get things ready to go.

Most recipes I've found, including my step-Mother's, use condensed soup as a base for this.  There are certainly options and ways to build the sauce on your own, but since the goal for this is quick and easy, I recommend the soups as well as using pre-made corn tortillas.

Here are the ingredients:

Half an onion, diced
1/2 pound of chopped medium or hot Hatch green chile (8-10 pods, stemmed, seeded)
a Tablespoon of corn oil or butter
2 cans of Cream of Chicken condensed soup
1 can of Cream of Mushroom condensed soup
1 cup of milk/half-and-half
1-2 cups of water
2 cups sour cream
1 whole roasted chicken, skinned, boned, and cubed (or equivalent cooked, cubed chicken)
corn tortillas
salt, to taste


Because of the volume of the ingredients, I recommend using either a dutch oven or a similarly large stove-top vessel.

Using the oil/butter, saute the chile and onion until the onion just starts to soften and become fragrant.  To that add the milk and all three cans of soup.  Stir thoroughly to mix, and depending on the consistency at this point is where you will add some or all of the water.  What we're going for is a thicker stew-like consistency since when we add the sour cream later, the sauce will thin out a fair bit.  Now add the chicken and mix well.  Lower the heat so that the sauce barely bubbles.  This is where we'll keep it for about 20 mins.  Stir regularly.

This is now a good time to make the corn tortillas if you'd like to go that option.  If you are going with pre-made, you shouldn't need to worry about pre-heating or frying them.

After the sauce has simmered some, add in the sour cream and mix well.  Then continue to let it heat back up.

Once it has heated through, it is ready to serve or build for later as you see fit.

There are a lot of other things that can be added in the cooking process.  I've heard of oregano being added.  You can certainly also spice it up even further with your fire of choice including using Sandia variety green chile.

It may not be easy BEING green, but it is fantastic to eat it!

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

So I've been in the frame of mind to try new and interesting things lately, and one of the things I decided I wanted to do was find a recipe something similar to Charlie's Blackened Chicken Fettuccine.

What I found isn't quite the same, but turned out tasty nevertheless.

And this arrangement serves 4 conservative portions.  The sauce may run dry, so you might bolster it a little if you like your servings more saucy. :-)

First, I brought water to a boil and began to cook a pound of whole-wheat penne pasta.

Then I pounded out two chicken breasts flat (I like putting them between two sheets of plastic wrap, and giving them a good wallop with the bottom of my marble mortar.  No fuss, no muss.

After that, I liberally coated one side of the breast in Emeril's Essence (though any good blend of good rubs and seasonings would work as long as they will toast well).  Pop it in the hot cast iron pan with a 1/2 tblsp pat of butter, and let it cook for a good 3-4 minutes until the surface chars.  Coat the other side, top with another pat of butter, and flip.

For the sauce, I sautéed a cup of green pepper (recipe called for red, which I think would have tasted better, but I forgot to grab it), a cup of scallions (green onions), and a cup of mushrooms, all 3 diced up, in about two tablespoons of olive oil.

Once they softened up a bit, I added in a whole pint of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of butter, and let it come up to just the other side of a simmer.  Then I added a good fist full of Parmesan, and stirred to incorporate.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Plate some pasta, sauce over the pasta,  chicken breast sliced, and then placed on top of the pasta with a little drizzled of sauce over top.

Nom!

Portion-wise, we found that with good sized breasts, as is often the case ;-), one split between us was good to go with about a quarter of the pound of pasta, give or take.

While this wasn't faithful to what Charlie's makes, it was very good on its own.  I hope to tweak this to make it something more like the recipe I love, but I would definitely make this again, and may even see about mixing things up between the two for the sauce when the time comes.

Chicken Casino-Name-In-Vegas

So as much as I enjoy cooking, I of course love to eat out as well.  Whether it's a burger at the greasy spoon, or something a little more classy, I enjoy eating and getting ideas for my own cooking.

One dish I always appreciate when I go out is called Chicken Bellagio from Cheesecake Factory.  It is a breaded chicken breast pan fried, placed on top of angel hair pasta and a garlic basil pesto sauce, and then topped in strips of prosciutto and the whole thing covered in fresh arugula.
The chicken melts in your mouth, and the basil pesto is amazing.


So naturally, I need to make it at home from time to time. :-)  It's a pretty quick fix.


A pair of chicken breasts, bread crumbs, an egg (scrambled), flour, angel hair pasta for two, a cup of heavy cream, about a quarter cup of basil pesto, half a cup of shredded parmigiana, prosciutto, and washed arugula. Salt and pepper for the sauce, and oregano and parsley for the breading.


Pound out the chicken breasts one at a time in between two pieces of plastic wrap until flattened out evenly.  Coat the breast in flour (cover all the wet spots), and then dip in the egg, and then into the bread crumbs mixed with the herbs.  Press the crumbs in evenly.  Fry on each side until golden brown.


To prepare the sauce, I decided to go with an garlic basil pesto alfredo sauce.  It's a little thicker, but I find that its less greasy and more yummy.  I've talked about making this sauce before.  Basically bring the cream to a low boil, stirring constantly and incorporate the basil pesto (which you premade while it was fresh in season, and then froze, yes?).  Salt and pepper to taste, and as it begins to thicken, add the parm and stir vigorously to incorporate it.  Continue to stir until it thickens more, and then remove from the heat.


Pile a small nest of the cooked aldente angel hair pasta on the plate, pour a bit of the sauce over it, place the breast directly on top of it, top with a little more sauce, tear up a slice of prosciutto and layer over the chicken, and then top the whole thing with a small handful of arugula.  


Yum.  :-)