Shannon's "Thrown Together" Chicken Sheppard's Pot Pie

I had skin-on, bone in chicken parts laying around with nothing to do with them. I had only one breast, one wing, one leg and one thigh. Shannon Wallace suggested a pot pie but I had few of the necessary ingredients. Still though, it sounded good so I "threw" this together.

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces, 1 bulb of garlic, 1 large yellow onion, 1 cup of chicken stock, phillo dough, 1 stick of butter, 10 smallish yukon gold potatoes, sour cream, cheese and seasoning. (Mushrooms and carrots would be good but I had none.)

First, season beneath the skin and roast the chickens at 350 for 40 minutes. Also place 1 bulb of garlic in foil, cut off the top of the bulb, salt, pepper and add olive oil. Wrap in foil and roast with the chicken.

Let the chicken cool. Remove the skin and cut up the meat into bite sized pieces. (Freeze the bones to make stock later). In a large non-stick skillet, add olive oil and butter and slice one large yellow onion so you have many 'rings'. Sweat them on medium-low, takes about 40 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the chicken with the onion, add some of the roasted garlic. In a large pot boil the peeled potatoes in salted water. Boil until they are fork tender and then add to a large mixer. Add milk, but I was out of milk so I added broth, salt, pepper, sour cream and the rest of the roasted garlic. (Add some cheese if you have it).

In a small pot, make a gravy from any chicken drippings you have, or stock. Add some flour to form a gravy. Add the gravy to the chicken/onion mixture. Top with the potatoes. Top mashed potatoes and top with cheese. White cheese is best but all I had was yellow.

Top with the phillo dough (puff pastry works best but this is all I had). Trim the phillo so it fits snug over the deep dish. Cut slits into the dough and then brush butter. Add dish to a 350 oven for 10 minutes, or until the dough is browned.

Enjoy!

What's for dinner 04/25/09? Arabian Spiced Stuffed Zucchini

I don't know, I'm making it up! LOL, may taste gross. Here's the plan. Take four large zucchini, slice length wise, and dig a little well so the beef has a place to rest. Then add salt,pepper and olive oil. Place in a baking dish, fill dish with water 1/2 up the sides of the zucchini, cover with foil and bake at 450 for 15 mins.

Brown ground beef... Read More (or any ground meat) with 1 yellow onion, diced. Add spice-mix to beef (I just mix it myself, using powders: All-Spice, Paprika, Cumin, Corriander, Salt, Pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon and Nutmeg) brown the beef and onions with spice mixture.

Remove zucchini from the baking dish, dry them off. Stuff with the beef and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Feta cheese sounds good to me but he won't eat it so... :-(

What's for dinner, 04/24/09? Moroccan Cigars

I'm not using all of the same spices, as I don't have them. My harissa sauce is a bit different as I don't do red chilis. I had these at Cafe Istanbul and LOVED them! So I'm trying to re-create them now.

Here's the link:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Moroccan-Cigars-10252?scaleto=4&sys=e

Grooming the dog

I groomed Brady today. He ran off twice but of the two dogs, he's the easier one to groom. Of course he never lets me touch his feet, so I'll need some help with that one. Overall not a bad job though.

Very simple-mild salsa and tortilla chips

I can't eat jalapenos or other peppers, so this is a salsa even I can eat. (This is Chris's recipe)

1 16oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup red onion
1 clove minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the liquid from the crushed tomatoes. Into a blender or mixer, add the cilantro, red onion and tomatoes. Chop and mix until incorporated and then add the garlic. Pretty simple.

(It's also very simple to make tortilla chips by purchasing corn tortillas, add canola-oil to a medium sized sauce pan set at medium high. Tear the tortilla into triangles, and add the tortilla to the oil and fry until they are crisp. Remove from the oil and salt each chip lightly. This is far healthier than store-bought chips)

Choclate Banana Won-Tons, Pillsbury Bake-Off contest

The picture looks burnt, it's not, it's the chocolate seeping out the ends. Tastes pretty good, worth a try.

I submitted this for the one million dollar Pillsbury bake-off, that I had four days notice on, so not much time. The deadline has passed so I can post what I submitted here.

3 ripe bananas
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg (for egg wash)
2 cartons of Pillsbury Refrigerated Flaky Dough
2 tbsp milk (can be skim)


Preheat oven to 375. Take two Pillsbury Flaky Dough Crusts (2 tubes, 8 ounces each) and remove dough. Cut each dough in half so you have four rectangles. In a blender, mix three sliced bananas, 2 tbsp milk, 3/4 cup of cocoa, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp white sugar. Mix until it's a pudding-like consistency.

Add 1/4 of the mixture to each dough rectangle. Fold the edge over to form a dough triangle. Bring the two edges together and fold on the center so it looks like an open envelope. Take the top point and bring it down to the center to form the won-ton.

Place all four won-tons on a parchment lined cookie sheet and add an eggwash to each and then top with some granulated white sugar. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the dough is golden and flaky.

Better picture of the dogs in the spring flowers

I got a better picture of them two in the dandelions. I took two pictures yesterday, in one, Pip looked good, in the other, Brady looked good. I took Brady's facial features only off the picture where he was looking into the camera and placed it over his other face in the picture above, where he was looking away, using Adobe Photoshop. Now that I told you, if you click on it to see the larger view, you may be able to tell that I worked this picture some, but from far away, I think it's looking pretty good.

Above that is a picture of Pippin looking miserable next to my tulips and one cute one of him sniffing them. The only photoshopping I did was to remove his leash from each picture. Also I removed their leashes from the picture of them both with the dandelions.

I finally saw my new solar lights in the garden last night. They sure shine very bright, great bargain at $4 a piece.

New Solar Lights

I got these sweet copper-looking solar lights from Wal-mart for $4 a piece! (First picture, only one is seen, not the greatest pic but it's at the bottom of the picture) They work great so I put them in my tulip bed, more like a tulip coffin actually. Enclosed is a pic of our lone spring tree in that it's the only one of our 50 or so trees that flowers in spring. The rest just show up magically one day all green, and then just show up all dead four months later! LOL!

The rest of the pictures are of my rather pathetic group of daffodils and my old solar lights that hardly work. Time to remove them. And a close up of my weeds! LOL! Well , they are flowering weeds and quite pretty actually. (Ignore the weeds in my tulip bed, next week is 'weed picking' week and niether of us are looking forward to it)

Adventures from the dog park, part III

This is what dogs do when we get back from the dog park. Yesterday was the first extremely perfect day of the year, maybe even just a tad warm since there was not one cloud in the sky. I think it was 72 or so, great day to take them to the park. Our dogs are not used to heat however and were huffing and panting 5 minutes in. After 20 minutes, Pippin sort of sat beneath the park bench in the shade for a while, while Brady JUMPED on every single human being in the park. No one seemed to care. Pippin played with the dogs, maybe a bit too much with one dog, but overall did a good job. There were three mini-schnauzers there, including Pippin. Never seen another Bichon there.

The funniest dog of the day has to go to the poor Westie, who apparently loves MUD! He found the one mud-pit at the back of the park and did nothing, and I mean nothing, but run back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until he was completely black! His owner laughed but at the same time, was a bit annoyed at his suddenly soaked-black-Westie. That dog must have run through the mud 25 times before his owner scooped him up and took him home to bathe.

Pip detests water and mud, he's a priss. Brady however, adores it. Thankfully he never found the mud-pit or we'd have a black bichon today.

Spring time Puppies

Well it's not the greatest picture I've ever taken in my life, but it's not bad either. The spring flowers (weeds) were too lovely to pass up. We can't grow much here, but we excel at growing all things weeds. Dandelions are pretty enough weeds though. Think I'll try to take some better pictures of them in the 'flowers' today later on. You can click on the image to see it larger.

What's for dinner 04/17/09? Coq au vin

Pretty much a Sunny Anderson recipe though I changed it up a bit...I don't do cayenne pepper. Turns out I've been making this for years and called it something else. Simply marinate a whole, cut, skinless, bone-in chicken w/one bottle of red wine and one bulb of garlic for 24 hours. Dry off the chicken, brown the parts in a dutch oven or deep pot, remove chicken and saute onions, celery, carrot and tomato paste. Add 3 tbsp flour and slowly add the wine-marinade back into the pot.

Put chicken back in, simmer covered for one hour. In a pan, cook up 4 slices thick cut, low-sodium bacon, add pearl onions and mushrooms. Remove chicken from pot, strain the sauce, put sauce back in pot, add chicken back in, add bacon, onion and mushroom into pot. Simmer for 5 minutes, serve with huge chunks of bread to dip into the thick-luscious sauce! Enjoy!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html

What's for dinner 04/16/09?

Well I have a use for all those artichokes I prepared last week. Spinach and artichoke stuffed shells tonight. YUM. It's a Rachael Ray recipe. I know I'll like it, him....hmm, we'll see I guess.

(http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2708).

Oh my tulips...so few bloomed this year

I'm a gardening moron. I planted 20 bulbs 2 years ago in October. Last year 18 bloomed, this year only six! A friend said I need to dig them up and replant...what a joy! Well here's the few strong ones who made it in 09. Enjoy!

I don't think I shall ever see, a dog as lovely...as me!

What can I say? They love to pose!

My Middle Finger!

My middle finger is giving me the middle finger lately. Ever since yesterday, my middle finger-tip has been numb. You know that painful numb, like when you bang your fingernail really hard and the nail feels like it's going to fall off? Don't you hate that? I do! It feels like little ants under the nail crawling around. What can I say, it sucks pretty bad.

I have to get some typing done today, so I must type even though my fingernail feels like it's going to fall off any second. I can't believe my middle finger is giving me the middle finger! LOL!

Meatloaf

I used to hate meatloaf. Probably because of the cold ketchup that was served with it. Cold ketchup and hot meatloaf makes me very cranky. Also, it was always a 'straight' beef-loaf. I've since learned any meat can be made into a loaf.

I like the 1/2 pork, 1/2 sirloin combo myself. I serve with brown gravy, not cold ketchup. Ew. Deep fried okra on the side tonight. Mmm-good.

"Coffee is the drink of cowards!"

I heard that line quoted in a movie last night, and I think I'll start using it. Yeah, lots of people love coffee. I'm related to people who use it daily and were obsessed with it. I've never been obsessed by it and ever since my gall bladder committed suicide, I've not drank it. (I found this T-shirt on buy.com....it's a good saying)

Some people just can't function without coffee....never understood that. Anyway, the movie line was from The Grand, pretty funny movie.

Most of you on here know my hatred of coffee from my last job too. My 'boss' was addicted but it was my job to make it and clean it up....however it was her job to set my office on fire via-coffee maker one day since even though she was an addict, she apparently forgot to remove the plastic coffee-holder from the burner....what can I say, she was a genius.

What's for dinner 04/13/09?

Roasted chicken. Up-the-butt chicken as I call it since I ram all sorts of stuff up the cavity to offer more flavor. Today? Lemon, Lime, Garlic, White Onion, Salt and Pepper. I make a spice-rub of Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and rub it beneath the skin on the breasts and on the skin. Then I brush on plain low-fat yogurt all over the bird so the skin gets golden and crispy.

350, 6 lb bird for1 hour and 40 minutes uncovered. To the bottom of the dutch-oven I put 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup chicken broth, slices of onion and garlic. After the bird rests for 30 minutes we slice and serve the pan juices with fresh bread chunks. That's all. After, we freeze the bones for stock down the road. (Need about four chicken carcasses to make a good pot of stock.)

*The yogurt topping idea is from Ask Aida*

Pippin's teeth are bright and shiny!

All it took was to knock him out and for us to give them $275 but Pip's teeth are white and clean! He needed NO extractions! However, his gums are not the greatest. We will attempt to brush him regularly and use some dental products to slow down any more rot. Glad he's home, was worried all day. He's a bit out of it and naturally Brady is all over him, annoying him!

Here's the pix of my VERY sleepy looking Pippin.

carpal tunnel, this makes no sense

I realize this is the worst place to complain about it, since TYPING causes it! But just typing what I did for that last post, which was 3 sentences, has caused my left hand to go completely numb. How am I to complete my stupid fanfic, which is currently 1k pages long and needs another 200 pages or so, if I can't type?

Why did this come from no where? I mean, it snuck up on me, I've had minor symptoms for years now, at least 2 yrs....but just knitting for 2 weeks caused total devastation to both my hands. I got a hands free for my cell phone, otherwise I can't talk on the phone at all.

Oh well...off to buy another wrist splint I guess.

Pippin's getting his teeth cleaned today

I mean, I take my dogs to get their teeth cleaned ($250) but I've not had mine cleaned in 6 years, and I think mine cost less. Go figure. But Pippin has the breath of a dead-dragon who dines on nothing but feet and rotted fish so....plus his back teeth are turning brown. Ew.

Reeses Pie with chocolate ganache

Much simpler than it sounds. It's a glorified brownie baked in a pie-pan and then topped with chocolate sauce.

8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips, 6 ounces peanut butter chips, 1/8 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 cup 'hot' water, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 stick room temperature butter, 4 large eggs, 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 inch pie-tin or pan. Put half of the chocolate and peanut butter chips along with the flour into a blender or food processor. Grind until the chips are chopped. Remove from blender and set aside in a bowl. Add the remainder of the chocolate and peanut butter chips and sugar into blender, blend until the mixture is finely ground. With the machine running, slowly add the hot water (you'll see the chips begin to melt). Then add the vanilla, eggs (one at a time) the butter which has been cut into cubes, and peanut butter. Return the bowl of previously chopped chips and flour back into the mixture. Continue to blend until incorporated.

Pour into a pie-pan and bake for 35 minutes. The top of the pie will crack and rise. Let cool on a cooling rack for 1 hour and then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Top with whipped cream or chocolate ganache. (Honestly I eyeball this). Make a double boiler by using a medium sized pot with 2 inches or so of water. Place on stove and bring to boil. Place a safe-glass mixing bowl over the pot so the steam will melt the chips. Add 3-4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup heavy cream along with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir gently until the chips have melted. Top cooled pie with ganache and refrigerate for another hour before serving.

(I MUST give credit where it's due. This is a Giada recipe from foodnetwork.com. However I modified it. Hers is a chocolate/hazelnut pie with cinnamon flavored whip cream. I made it, it was great but Chris loves peanut butter so I modified the recipe and today I had chips left over and thought ganache would be good.)

What's for dinner

So I post this stuff all the time on my Facebook about what I'm making for dinner. Some people like it, I imagine others don't care. So why not just post it here? I'll post full recipes for some things and pictures too.

Tonight, Easter (even though I'm home alone) Pork Roast, Smashed Potatoes and Kale. For dessert, a Reeces Pie.