Monthly Archives: September 2011

Mmm… Sammiches

Haven’t cooked anything for a few days.  No, grilling hot dogs doesn’t count.

I did bake a loaf of deli rye bread, same Smittin Kitchen recipe as last time.  I needed it because I stopped at the deli counter and bought some pastrami and corned beef.

 Today’s effort looked just like the last one.  Mine both sagged flat but tasted fine.  Too wet?  Dunno.

 

A Pie of a Pie Chart

I don’t know why, but this made me smile.  (via FlowingData)

Now this was a surprise

Big ol’ spider built a web in my basil overnight.  It’s a fairly common garden spider.

Argiope aurantia

Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuit Pot Pie

Well, supposedly it is Fall now…though we will see near 90 degree temperatures today.  I can only blame myself, I rearranged my closet this past weekend, bringing all my fall and winter things out.  Tempting fate, like washing your car on a sunny day ensures rain.

But I’m certain, eventually, we will have a chill in the air and when we do, it will be the perfect time for this recipe.  A true comfort food and easy to put together.  A complete meal in one pan.

Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuit Pot Pie

  • 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 cups sliced carrots
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 large Yukon Gold Potatoes, scrubbed and diced
  • 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 cup peas

Buttermilk Biscuits:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 4 tbsp powdered buttermilk
  • 2 tbsp melted butter to brush on formed biscuits

Mix dry ingredients, make a center hole in the dry ingredients and add in shortening and milk.  Blend together, then knead 10-12 strokes on a floured surface, roll out to ½” thick, cut into 8-10 biscuits.

Set a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat

In a large bowl, combine the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and olive oil. Sear chicken in pan, stirring occasionally, until the chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside in a separate bowl. Add butter to the pan and, when melted, add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the stock, browned chicken, potatoes, and spices.

Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat so that the sauce just simmers, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and potatoes are tender…about 25-35 minutes.

While it simmers, prepare Buttermilk Biscuits.

Fold peas into chicken mixture and then remove the pan from the heat.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place the biscuits on top of the chicken and gravy, with 6 biscuits around the edge of the pan and the remaining 4 biscuits in the center (if you have a left over biscuit or two, bake on a separate baking sheet). Be sure the biscuits do not touch, so they cook thoroughly. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and flaky..14 to 15 minutes. Allow the pot pie to cool briefly before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

Travelling….Again

I’ll be out of town the rest of this week.  I don’t even want to tell you why…but I will when I return.  So my posts will be a little scarce this weekend.  But Fall is upon us and the comfort cooking bug usually hits me hard during this time, so I’ll make up for it when I get back.  Until then….

Mmm… chili!

Because chili needs more color, and I have some peppers sliced and ready.

This is made with my homemade chorizo sausage, and some additional fresh pork sausage.  It features some powdered ancho and chipotle peppers I just got in, along with some more conventional chili powder.

The two on the left are as delivered from the seller, the chili powder in the Kroger jar on the right came in a sealed foil bag from Frontier something something.  All three via Amazon.  The chipotle powder is the hottest of the three, then the ancho, and the other is meh for hot though it has the flavor you need for a nice chili.

Hot dog!

We had a couple of hot dogs for lunch.  Mrs J had hers with slaw and mustard, I went with a cheese sauce and some slices of jalapeno fresh picked from the bushes on the patio.  I’ll miss fresh jalapenos when these are lost to frost this coming fall.  I have another couple of quarts worth left on them to pickle but I’m hoping to get more to turn red first.

 

Mini lasagna

More fun than anything.  I made a lasagna the other day, it was ok but nothing to write about.  I used a casserole dish I bought at the Goodwill store the other day.  I boiled up the usual number of lasagna flats but found they were just a tad too long.  I cut the tails off them and for some reason saved then with a bit of the meat sauce.  I saw the little ramekins in the cupboard and a little light bulb went off.

I turned one out onto a plate for Mrs J’s lunch :

Mmm…fresh hoagie rolls

These are versatile little rolls, also good for hot dogs or cold cuts, or they make nice garlic toasts when cut in two and spread with garlic butter.

Recipe is 4 cups bread flour, 1-3/8 cups water, 3 T sugar, 1 T yeast, 1/2 T salt, and 3 T shortening or lard.  I let the dough hook work it for 10 minutes and then put it into a greased bowl for the first rise.  Let rise till doubled, divide into 8 or 9 portions and array on a tray and cover for another quick rise, slide tray into 375 oven till they are brown.  I slit the tops of the little loaves after they are divided.

Things that Make Me Smile

 

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