Honey Ginger Baked Chicken Wings

When you think chicken wings, you probably think Buffalo wings. But there are so many more flavor combinations to explore! And there's no need to fry them to get a juicy, delicious wing. Baking them on a rack at a high temp will get you the same crispiness you're looking for. 

Notes:  These are so, so delicious. I could eat them all by themselves and be happy. 

I bet this would be lovely on chicken thighs as well. If you're using white meat, I would let the spice mixture sit on the chicken in the fridge for at few hours. White meat is hard to season really thoroughly. 

If you're looking for something to make for a football-watching spread, these wings would make a great appetizer. 

I haven't tried it, but I think it would be safe to double this recipe if you need to feed more people. This feeds Scott and I, but it wouldn't be enough for four.

Ingredients:

1 dozen chicken wings, approx (party wings, drumettes, etc.)

3 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or ginger paste

Sesame seeds garnish

Olive oil

Directions: Heat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil. Put an oven-safe cooling rack on the baking sheet.

In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings with all the dry spices (salt, pepper, chili powder, onion powder, allspice). Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Place the wings on the rack. Bake for 35-40 minutes until they're starting to get brown and crispy. 

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, and ginger. When the wings are done, let them cool a few minutes just so you can safely handle them. Put them in a large bowl and pour the soy sauce mixture over them. Toss to coat. 

Put the wings back on the rack, pouring any excess sauce left in the bowl over the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve and and enjoy!

Almost didn't get a photo before we ate them all

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki and Homemade Pita

Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I am an impulse baker. I bake on a whim all the time. You'll recall that I made chicken pot pie risotto earlier this week. I ended up with leftover chicken. I had planned to make some greek-inspired chickpea cakes, but, I decided, chickpeas will keep just fine in their cans. The chicken will not keep as long. So, why not make greek-inspired chicken instead? 

I'm not sure what made me think "pita," but I decided yesterday that I would make them today. That's advanced notice for the impulse baker. I've never made them before, but I will definitely be making them again.

Notes: I tweaked this recipe for the pita and this recipe for the tzatziki sauce.

So, making bread from scratch. It can be intimidating, but that shouldn't stop you. You just need planning and patience. These tasted so fresh and delicious, it was well worth the work!

A lot of the kneading is about feel. When you first start kneading, the bread will feel loose and almost too soft. That's because the gluten hasn't developed yet. Just keep going, sprinkling more flour on the bread and your hands if it starts to stick. As you knead, the gluten will develop and the dough will start to feel springier and denser. 

When you're rolling out the pita, be careful not to sprinkle too much flour on it. Try to flour the rolling pin. I got a little too much flour on mine and it was stuck on there after my pitas were cooked. 

You can see the too much flour here, but also, look at that good puff!

It's likely you will have leftover pita. Don't worry, you can keep them in the fridge. Let them cool completely and put them in a zip top bag, separated by pieces of wax paper. Then you can heat them up for a few minutes in the oven.

English cucumbers work best for the tzatziki sauce because they're seedless and the skin is thinner and less bitter. But, if you don't have them, don't go buy one just for this. Use a regular cucumber, but peel it first. 

I would make the tzatziki first and get it out of the way. If you're doing all this in one go, make sure you have your chicken ingredients all prepped and ready to go before you start rolling and cooking the pita. You'll probably have to cook some pita while you roll out the others (if you're like me and don't have enough counter space for 8 pitas). Start the chicken when you're about halfway through the pitas.

I don't have a picture of the whole assembled pita with the chicken. The pita was kind of the star of the show. It all turned out really well.

Ingredients:

For the pita:

1 packet of yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for the bowl

3 cups of flour plus more for dusting

For tzatziki:

1 cup of greek yogurt

1/2 English cucumber (see notes)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper for seasoning

For chicken:

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (approx)

1 lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

4-5 cloves garlic

3-4 springs of fresh oregano

Diced fresh tomatoes, sliced onion, sliced cucumber for serving

Directions for pita: In a large mixing bowl, mix the water, sugar, and yeast together until the yeast and sugar dissolve (it's OK if there are some little lumps left). Allow it to sit uncovered in a warm spot in your kitchen until it's bubbly and frothy (about 15-20 minutes). 

Stir in the olive oil, salt, and flour. The dough should start out looking sort of rough and shaggy. If it's really sticky and wet, sprinkle in some more flour. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together and starts to look a little smoother. Then turn it out on a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springs back when you poke it. Wipe out the dough bowl with a paper towel and coat bowl with olive oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and allow it to rise until it's doubled in size, about an hour.

When the dough has risen, deflate it and shape it back into a ball. Turn it out on a floured surface and divide it into 8 pieces. Let them sit under a clean kitchen towel for 10 minutes. Roll the pieces out into circles, about 8 inches or so in diameter (see notes).

Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. To check and see if it's hot, flick a drop or two of water in the pan. If it beads up and sizzles immediately, you skillet is hot. Drizzle the pan with olive oil and wipe the excess away. Put a pita circle in the pan. It will start to puff and bubble after about 45 seconds. Flip it over with a big spatula (you should see some little brown spots on the side that was touching the pan). Cook for about another minute. Put your finished pita on baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Cover the finished pita with a towel while you make the rest. 

Directions for tzatziki: Grate the cucumber on the small holes of the box grater into a strainer lined with a paper towels or cheese cloth. Squeeze the water out and leave in the strainer. 

Add the yogurt, salt, pepper, and olive oil to a small mixing bowl. Grate the garlic with a microplane or zester straight into the bowl. Add in the cucumber and stir well to combine everything. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Directions for chicken: Mince garlic and oregano. Zest the lemon and cut it in half. Heat a skillet on medium and add olive oil. Add garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add oregano and lemon zest and cook for another minute or two. Squeeze half the lemon into the oil mixture and then add the chicken. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until the chicken is heated and some of the liquid in the pan evaporates. Turn off the heat and finish by squeezing the other half of the lemon over the chicken.

To serve: Speak some tzatziki sauce on one of the pitas. Top with chicken and add whatever toppings you like. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie Risotto

It's just like me to decide that the hottest day of the summer is also the day to make risotto, a dish that you have babysit on the stove. It's a good thing this turned out well.

Notes: Risotto can be fussy, but it's worth it. The rice has a creamy, rich texture that you just don't get from regular rice. You make risotto using arborio rice, which you can find at the majority of grocery stores these days. It's usually right there with the other rice. You use a special method to make it. Instead of bringing water to a boil and then adding the rice, you add the warm liquid to the rice. This allows the starches to develop, which is how you get the creamy texture. 

This is essentially chicken pot pie over rice rather than in a pie crust. You make the filling just as you would if you were planning to bake it into a pie.

There are several steps to this dish, so you should do some things ahead of time. To make shredded chicken, I throw chicken breasts in a slow cooker for about 5 hours on low (set it for 8 and then check it at 5, if it comes apart easily and there's no pink, it's done). I did this step the day before I made the risotto. I also roasted the vegetables this morning and just kept them in the fridge until I was ready to make dinner. 

If you'd rather not do that much work, feel free to get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. You can also use some of the frozen mixed veggies. 

Ingredients:

For the rice:

1 cup of arborio rice

4 cups of water or chicken stock (approx)

2 tbs of butter

Salt and pepper 

For the chicken pot pie filling:

2 cups cooked shredded chicken

1.5-2 cups each of:

-Broccoli florets

-Celery, diced

-Green beans, cut into bite-size pieces

-Carrots, diced

-Frozen peas

-Frozen corn

1 onion, diced

5 tbs butter 

1/3 cup of flour

2 cups of chicken stock

1 cup of milk (not skim)

Olive oil

Nutmeg (a pinch)

Salt and pepper

Directions: Start with your roasted veggies. Put green beans, carrots, and broccoli on a baking sheet (you can mix them together). Drizzle them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast them at 425 for about 15 minutes. When they're done, set aside while you prep everything else. 

For the risotto, pour the 4 cups of chicken stock into a sauce pan heat it on medium. Heat a large skillet on medium-high and add a little butter. When the butter melts, add the dry rice, stir, and toast it just for a minute. Add about four ladles of stock to the rice and stir. Let the rice bubble away until it starts to look dry and then add two more ladles of stock. Continue this process until the rice is done. The timing will depend on your rice, it will be between 25-40 minutes. 

When the rice is about halfway done, start the pot pie filling. 

In a large skillet or stock pot, heat the 5 tablespoons of butter on medium-high. When it's melted, add the diced onion and celery to the pot and cook until translucent. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the flour. Cook for about 3 minutes and then whisk in the 2 cups of chicken stock. Stir well and then add the milk. Add the nutmeg and season again with salt and pepper. If the mixture gets too stiff, just add a little more milk until it loosens up. 

When the milk mixture thickens a little, stir in the chicken, the roasted veggies, the peas, and the corn. Let everything heat together (about 5-7 minutes). Add the rice and stir everything to combine. Serve (preferably on a day that isn't so hot) and enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Winter weather has reared its ugly head yet again. Time for a warm and toasty soup.

Notes: This tastes EXACTLY like the inside of chicken pot pie. If you like chicken pot pie, you will like this soup.

I served mine with homemade buttermilk biscuits. If you don't want to bother, grab your favorite bakery rolls.

Since there's lots of chopping involved, you might want to save this for a weekend. Or you could do what I did and do all your chopping on Sunday. I just kept all the chopped veggies in the fridge. Then I just made the soup on a weeknight.

I made my chicken in the crockpot over the weekend. I bought a pack a chicken tenders and just set it on low for about 5 hours. I shredded it, put it in a tupperware container, and it was ready for me along with the veggies.

If you want to forgo the chopping altogether, just grab a bag of mixed frozen veggies! Couldn't be easier.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
5-6 carrots
5-6 celery stalks
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups green beans in bite size pieces
1 onion
1 bunch parsley
4 cups of chicken stock
1/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Prep all the vegetables: dice the carrots, celery, and onion. Mince the parsley. In a large stock pot, melt the butter. Add in all the veggies and parsley. Saute for a few minutes. Add in the flour and stir to coat the veggies. Add in the chicken stock. Bring the pot to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes. About 10 minutes before the time is up, add the chicken and corn. During the last 5 minutes, stir in the milk.

Serve and enjoy!

Baked Spinach and Chicken Taquitos (Slow Cooker Option)

Happy New Year, everyone! As often happens, the blog took a back seat to school last term. No matter! It's a new year and a new day, so time to get back to cooking.

For you, I have a fun and delicious finger food: taquitos! Taquitos are often fried, but these are baked. If you're trying to eat healthy for the new year, you've got a good recipe to start with.

Notes: I modified this recipe for my taquitos. You'll notice that these are freezer friendly, which is great. I made enough filling to make two batches, so I might try freezing some. So far I've just made one round.

I made my filling in the crockpot. If you wanted to cut down on your prep time, you could use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. As long as you have about three cups of shredded chicken, you're good.

Make sure your tortillas are warm or at least room temperature. If they're too cold, they'll crack when you try to roll them.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken tenderloins (see notes)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion
2 heaping tablespoons chili powder
2 heaping tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Hot sauce to taste
1 package of 12 taco-sized tortillas (corn or flour will work)
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 to 1.5 cups shredded cheese (I used colby jack)
Cooking spray
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
If using a crockpot to make the chicken, slice the onion and lay the slices in the bottom of the slow cooker. Lay the chicken on top and the season the chicken with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and hot sauce. Pour the diced tomatoes on top. Set the slow cooker on 8 hours on low.

When the filling is ready, heat the oven to 425. Roughly chop the spinach. Shred the chicken with two forks. Mix the spinach, chicken, and cheese (I mixed it right in the slow cooker) until combined.

To assemble the taquitos, place a small amount of the filling (about 2 tablespoons) toward the bottom of the tortilla in the center. Roll it up and put the taquito seam-side down on a baking sheet (the baking sheet needs to be lined with non-stick foil or parchment paper). When you've rolled all the taquitos, spray them lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos with Kale Honey Lime Topping

The weather is getting chilly, which is the perfect time to break out your slow cooker. But what should you put in it? How about something with just four ingredients? These slow cooker chicken tacos are perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

Notes: This an easy meal with just a few ingredients. It take no time at all to put together. When you get home from work, the chicken is ready for you whenever you're ready for it.

I loved the kale salad, but Scott was not so crazy about it. He thought it was overpowering. I thought it was different and refreshing. You be the judge!

If you didn't want to put the kale on top of the tacos, you could always eat it on the side. Toss some chopped nuts and maybe some fruit in the bowl and you'd have a delicious salad.

Ingredients:
1 1/2-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 onion
Taco shells
Cheese of your choice (I used a Spanish cheese)

Kale Topping
1 small bunch or 1/2 large bunch kale
1 teaspoon honey
1 lime

Directions:

Slice the onion into rings. Lay them at the bottom of the slow cooker. Lay the chicken on top of the onions. Sprinkle half the taco seasoning packet on top of the chicken. Pour the tomatoes over the chicken and onions. Sprinkle the rest of the taco seasoning on top. Set on low for 8-10 hours.

About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, add the honey to the bottom of large bowl. Slice the lime in half and squeeze out the juice. Whisk until combined.

Slice the kale thin and add it to the bowl. Using your hands, toss the kale in the dressing and massage as you toss. Keep massaging and tossing until the kale starts to get tender and shrinks down. Set aside.

Take the chicken out the slow cooker and shred it on a plate. Return it to the slow cooker and stir.

Heat up your taco shells, shred your cheese, and put everything together. Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Buttermilk Dumplings (Freezer Friendly)

Well, thanks to the hurricane, we had several days of cold windy rain. Luckily, these are the kinds of days that slow cooker comfort food is made for!

Notes: For me, slow cooker meals work best when I've done my ingredient prep ahead of time. No one has time to dice vegetables before they go to work. I usually peel and chop everything on a weekend day or a slow week night, stick it in a container in the fridge, and then it's ready for me whatever morning I'm ready for it. In this case, I did my prep on Sunday and made the chicken and dumplings on a Thursday. Worked perfectly!

Figuring out when the dumplings are done took some work. 30 minutes was about how long it took mine, but it will depend on your slow cooker. You mainly just have to look at them and poke them. They will look darker (not golden brown) and they will look dry on top. You'll be able to move them without your fork sinking into them or tearing them. When in doubt, cut one open and look: does it look like a biscuit inside? Then it's done.

WARNING: don't make your dumplings too big. They expand in the chicken mixture. 1/2 teaspoons will look too small, but once they expand, they'll be the right size.

I used my buttermilk biscuit recipe to make the dumplings. It works great, but you will have leftover dough. No worries! Just use the dough to make some drop biscuits. Once you finish making the dumplings, just drop big tablespoons of leftover dough on to a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 and you'll have made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits. They can bake while the dumplings are finishing.

This recipe freezer friendly. I like to freeze mine in meal-portion sizes using freezable plastic food storage containers. Wait for the chicken and dumplings to cool before you start putting it away.  Pull a container out of the freezer 24 hours before you want to eat it and put it in the fridge. You can heat it in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken
1 pound carrots, sliced or diced
1 celery bunch, sliced into large bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
32 oz chicken stock
Salt
Pepper
2 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick cold butter
1 cup buttermilk

Directions for the chicken:

Put the chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Put the onion, carrots, celery, and parsley on top. Pour in the chicken stock. Season everything with salt and pepper. Set to low for 8-10 hours.

Before you start the dumplings, take the chicken out and shred it. Return it to the slow cooker and then start the dumplings.

For the dumplings: About 40 minutes before you want to eat, start the dumplings. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and work it into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers until the butter is the size of large peas. Mix in the butter milk until the dough comes together.

Spoon 1/2 teaspoon balls of dough into the slow cooker on top of the chicken mixture (you'll have dough leftover: see notes). Put the lid on top of the slow cooker and cook for 30 minutes until the dough is cooked.

Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cheerwine BBQ Chicken

BBQ chicken is one of the best ways to make chicken if you ask me (frying is the other).

Also, if you're asking me, Cheerwine is the best cherry-flavored soda.

Why not combine them and make Cheerwine BBQ chicken? Again, if you're asking me, this sounds like a perfect plan.

Notes: Of course, not everyone has access to Cheerwine since it is the legend of North Carolina. Dr. Pepper makes a great replacement. It won't have the cherry flavor, but it will still be good.

This recipe deviates from my standard use of slow cookers in one way: I typically hate slow cooker recipes that call for cooking something ahead of time. What's the point?! The slow cooker is supposed to do ALL the work for you as far as I'm concerned. Given that, if you wanted to skip the heating of the sauce and the marinating, be my guest. Just melt the butter and whisk in the brown sugar. Then stir all the sauce ingredients together in the slow cooker before you turn it on, add the chicken, and set it. I'm sure it would be just fine.

That said, marinating the chicken kept it nice and moist. So, if you have time, you might as well do that step.

We used spicy ketchup and hot sauce, so ours was nice and spicy. Spicy ketchup isn't something people typically keep on hand, so I left it out.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breasts
1 tablespoon butter
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Cheerwine (see notes)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Hot sauce to taste

Directions:

In a sauce pan, heat the butter until it melts. Cook the garlic for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add in brown sugar and stir continuously until it looks wet and soft. Add in Cheerwine and stir. Stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt, onion powder, and paprika. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat and allow it to cool.

Once the sauce cools, pour it over the chicken breasts and marinate in the fridge over night (see notes).

In the morning, rub a little oil in the slow cooker just to help prevent the chicken from sticking. Put the chicken and the marinade in the slow cooker. Cooker for 8 hours on low.

30 minutes before you want to eat, take the chicken out of the cooker and shred it. Return it to the sauce and finish cooking.

Serve with your favorite BBQ sides (and a Cheerwine to drink!) and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Apple Cider BBQ Chicken

This semester has been pretty busy, so I'm experimenting with more slow cooker recipes. We have some long days during the week and it's nice to come home to a meal that's already made. Some of my recipes have turned out well, some not so well. This one is not great for a week night, but it is great for a weekend. It has a short ingredient list and the results are delicious.

Notes: Scott and I prefer dark meat, but if you want white meat, by all means use chicken breasts.

If you don't have fresh apple cider, you could easily substitute apple juice.

Ingredients:
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 1/2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 cup fresh apple cider (or apple juice)
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Add the chicken thighs to the slow cooker and season them with salt and pepper. In a large bowl whisk together the BBQ sauce and apple cider. Pour over the chicken, making sure all the meat is covered (if you need some more liquid, just add a little water). Set the slow cooker for 4 hours on high.

30 minutes before the cooking time is up, take the chicken out an shred it with two forks. Put the shredded chicken back in the slow cooker to finish up. Serve and enjoy!

Pictured here with French roasted potatoes

Rosemary Apple Roasted Chicken with Kale Cauliflower Mash

Julia Child once said that the test of a great cook is a good roasted chicken. I have never roasted a whole chicken before. If I am to be a good cook in the eyes of Julia, then I suppose it is time to pass that test.

Notes: I have never understood why people insist on stuffing the cavity of a chicken with onions or lemons. I honestly have never been able to taste them. Since people pair pork and apples together, why not apples and chicken? I thought it was good, though I wouldn't claim to be able to taste the apples.

There's no big secret to roasting a chicken. People think you have to tie it up with twine and brine it and such. I mean, if you did brine it, I'm sure it would be delicious, but there's no need to fuss. If you ask me, only four things are essential: salt, pepper, butter, and a rack. And by "rack" I mean something with holes in it that you can set down inside a roasting pan. I use one of my stainless steel cookie cooling racks. Again, think about how long people have been roasting meat -- long before Crate and Barrel was telling you that you needed a special pan. My biggest fear about whole chickens are the innards, but nowadays the giblets are all packaged together in an envelope and stuffed in the cavity. You just pull out the envelope and either toss it or use the giblets however you please.

For me the hardest part is carving the chicken. In my kitchen, the butchering starts after the cooking is over. Carving a bird just takes practice.

So I finally made a dish with cauliflower. There are very few foods I dislike and until tonite cauliflower was one of them. But mashed cauliflower was quite good. I did not originally puree the cauliflower and kale together, but I did it later. I forgot that cauliflower does not have the starch that potatoes do and so a mere whirl around the Kitchen Aid bowl wasn't going to cut it.

Ingredients:

For chicken:
1 4-5 lb chicken, giblets removed
1 tablespoon butter
3-4 whole sprigs of rosemary
1 apple quartered with the seeds removed
Salt
Pepper

For the mash:
1/2 bunch kale leaves, destemmed
1 head of cauliflower
4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4-1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons butter
Salt

Directions: Heat the oven to 400.

Allow the chicken to come to room temperature (approximately 30 minutes). Line a baking pan with foil (just for easier clean up) and set a rack down inside the pan. Set the chicken on the rack. Season with salt and pepper and rub the outside of the skin with the butter. Put the apples and rosemary in the cavity. Roast for 15 minutes per pound. The chicken will done when (a) a thermometer reads 165-170 in the breast, (b) the juices of the chicken come out clear, and (c) when the leg wiggles easily away from the body of the chicken. When it's done, let it rest for 15 minutes.

When the chicken has about 30 minutes of cooking time left, start the mash. Add a small amount of water to a skillet with a lid and bring it to a high simmer. Break the cauliflower up into florets and place them in the skillet. Put the lid on and steam them until fork tender (about 20-25 minutes). While the cauliflower is steaming, thinly slice the kale leaves and chop the rosemary. When the cauliflower is done, transfer it and the kale to a large bowl. Add in milk, butter, salt, and rosemary and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Serve just like mashed potatoes.

Enjoy a roast chicken dinner any night of the week!

Adventures in Dough Part 2: Chicken Pot Pie

Adventures in Dough Part 1 was homemade pizza. After that was a success, I decided it was time to conquer an even bigger baking fear: pie crust! 

Cue the dramatic music because this post is gonna be epic. It's also long, so strap in.

Again, I turned to Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. You read correctly: all butter, no fancy equipment, no fear.

So which pie to make? In my house, there is only one answer. Scott's all-time favorite: chicken pot pie.

I've been making chicken pot pie for a long time, but I've been relying on store-bought crust and frozen mixed vegetables. Those days are over, my friends. I made my own pie crust and I'm never looking back. You can't imagine the flavor difference.

Notes: This was the best chicken pie I have ever tasted, so there is nothing I would change about it.

I highly recommend this post (again by Smitten Kitchen) on rolling out your dough. This is flaky pie crust, which means sticky dough with lots of butter. The key? LOTS of flour and patience.

You can make this crust when you have the time and freeze it until you're ready to use it. Just make sure you defrost it in the refrigerator for a full 24 hours.

I used dark meat for the chicken (Scott's favorite), but you can use breast meat if you want. If you need a time saver, the rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are always available.

Feel free to use whatever veggies you like. I used what looked good at the store that day.

You and me, we're gonna do this together, OK? Don't fear the crust.

Ingredients:

For the crust (this recipe is straight from Smitten Kitchen's, linked above):
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cold tap water with ice cubes in it
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter

For the pot pie:
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
2 large carrots
1/3 of a bunch of asparagus (about 6 or 7 stalks)
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, chopped (a small onion would work great too)
10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped and chopped
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 cup of milk
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup flour
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Let's start with the crust! Just remember cold ingredients = good crust.

Your butter should be cold, straight from the fridge. It needs to be in small cubes. I cut mine up early in the morning and put in back in the fridge to chill down so that it was really cold when I wanted it.

Ice, ice, butter

Add your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) to a big bowl and whisk them together. Drop the butter on top and start cutting the butter into the dry mixture. I have a handy pastry blender that makes this easier, but you could use two knives (dragging them through the butter and flour in opposite directions) or just use your hands (I've totally done that before when making biscuits. Worked like a charm).

Not quite done

Keep blending the butter and flour together until the butter chunks are about the size of small peas. You don't want them to disappear: little chunks of butter = delicious flakiness. The mixture will look more like the color of cornmeal than flour.

Take your cold water and add a little at a time to the butter/flour mix. Use a rubber spatula (or a spoon) to pull the batter together.

Like so

The dough will become sticky and will start to look like one mass rather than half dough/half flour. Once you've used up your water, knead the dough in the bowl just a tiny bit so that it's in a ball.

Divide your ball into two equal-sized halves. Put each half on a piece of plastic wrap.

Lookin' good!

Use the plastic wrap to help you shape the balls into discs (this will help your rolling process later). Put them in the fridge for AT LEAST one hour, preferably more. Remember: cold = good.

Still with me? OK, let's take a break for the pie filling.

Now is a good time to chop your veggies. I diced the carrots and cut the asparagus on a bias.

Garlic and leeks

I cleaned my leeks by cutting them into rings, separating them, and dunking them into a big bowl of cold water. All the sand sinks to the bottom. Now chop those up, too.

I wanted to do a quick saute on my veggies because they were all raw. If you cut them up small enough, you can probably skip this step because they'll cook inside the pie in the oven.

Butter in the pan, saute over medium for 3-5 minutes. No biggie.

Now, you can't have chicken pie without the roux. So, melt your 1/3 cup of butter into a 2-quart (or larger) pot.

Once the butter has melted, whisk in your flour and you'll end up with a thick, gravy-looking concoction that looks like this:

Let the roux bubble for just a minute. Then pour in your chicken stock (while whisking) and your milk (while whisking). Add your chopped thyme leaves, season with salt and pepper, and you'll get a thin, gravy-looking concoction that looks like this:

Not quite finished

Let that thicken up until it's back to the consistency of gravy. Then add in your cooked chicken and your cooked veggies.

What does a filling have to do to get inside a pie around here?

Yay! Filling accomplished. Turn the heat off and just let the filling stand by until you're ready to put it in the pie. Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 375.

OK, deep breath. It's back to the pie crust. We can do this!

Your pie crust is chilling the fridge. Before you get it out, get your rolling pin, a butter knife, and as much flour as you can get your hands on. Pick a flat surface in your kitchen (even your table will do -- that's what I did) with lots of room and FLOUR THE LIVING HECK OUT OF IT! Got your rolling pin? FLOUR THAT TOO!

OK. Take one of your dough discs out of the fridge and put in on your floured surface. Dust some flour on top of it (yes, you need that much flour).

I am not an expert on rolling dough. I say, if you're not a pro, just do what works. You want the pie crust flat, 12-inches in diameter, and even in thickness. I got mine that way by starting in the middle of the dough and rolling the pin north, south, east, and west. Then, I picked up the dough, turned it about a quarter turn, and repeated the same process. If it sticks a little when you try to turn it, use your butter knife to help you get it unstuck.

Not done yet!

If you're like me and you (a) have a hot kitchen and (b) aren't very patient, you will likely overwork your dough. It will start to get droopy and sticky. If you are like me, at this point you will (a) panic and (b) put your dough on a sheet tray in the freezer for a few minutes.

Deep breaths, deep breaths

It's no biggie. You want the dough to be cold, right? It's not cooperating because it's too hot, right? So, let it (and you) chill out for a few minutes. Everything will be right as rain.

When you've got your dough flat, even, and 12 inches in diameter, congratulations! You have your bottom pie crust!

OK, now take dough disc number two out, make sure you're adequately floured, and repeat your rolling process with your crust top.

Once it's ready to go, add your pie filling.

So close to deliciousness

Now drape your top crust over it and crimp the edges closed.

One last step: gotta let out that steam, so cut some small slits in the top crust.

Cue the music from Psycho

Bake your beautiful creation at 375 for 45 minutes. Wait impatiently.

And then...

TA-DA!!!

Let it stand for about 10 minutes (if you can possibly wait that long) and then enjoy the greatest chicken pot pie you will ever taste.

Sorry Moravian ladies, but this is the real deal