Chicken Pot Pie

Well, here you have it. The end result of making multiple chicken pot pies. Of course I'm not complaining that I have eaten chicken pot pie ten days out of the last month. It's such a forgiving recipe. You can switch it up, add, subtract, multiply and divide, gather your chicken from various sources, use up your leftovers, add some milk or cream, pile biscuits on top instead of a pastry crust, make individual pot pies in ramekins or accidentally drop half a bag of frozen peas in the pot. Incidentally, you might want to line the bottom of your oven with foil. (My oven is getting well acquainted with Easy Off at this very moment.) This recipe makes two pies - because you can never have too many chicken pot pies.

Olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek (white and light green part), chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced or quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp dried savoury
Cracked pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, diced and cooked
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

Pastry
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt 
1 cup cold butter
Cold water
1 beaten egg

1. Sauté onion, leek and carrot in oil for 10 minutes.
2. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté another 5 minutes.
3. Stir in flour and seasonings.
4. Add chicken stock and simmer until thickened.
5. Add potatoes, chicken, peas and corn.
6. Divide into two greased deep dish pie plates.
7. Put flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds.
8. Transfer to a bowl; add cold water a spoonful at a time until dough forms.
9. Divide in half and roll each piece slightly larger than the top of the pies. Arrange on the pies and brush with egg.
10. Bake at 400 F (200º C) for 15 minutes and then at 350 F (180º C) for 45 minutes.

Notes

• Cremini mushrooms are the brown mushrooms that sit next to the bulk white mushrooms at Superstore. They are the same price, but I think they have more flavour.
• I could write for hours on how to make a successful pie crust without swearing, but just google it if you don't know. Or invite me to lunch at your place and I'll show you. I used a butter crust because I don't like the taste of a lard or shortening crust. I'll warn you, it's a little harder to work with. If you're intimidated by pie crust, just buy a couple of frozen pie crusts. I won't judge you.
• The filling is quite runny when the pie is fresh out of the oven but it firms up if you let it sit. It stays warm for hours!
• This could easily turn into a beef pot pie, using leftover roast beef, beef stock instead of chicken stock and omitting the thyme and savoury.

Chocolate Almond Cake

Now I know why Betty Crocker became famous for her cake mixes. 'Just add water' sounds like a great alternative to 'I think I'll hide in the the kitchen for half the day so I can have this cake for supper'...until of course you sit down and take that first bite...

Cake
2 1/2 cups ground almonds
1/2 cup butter
180g chocolate
1 cup sugar
5 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

250g chocolate
1/2 cup butter
5 tbsp water

Fresh berries
Shaved chocolate

1. Line the base of a round 9” (24cm) springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Toast almonds at 350 F (180°C) until pale golden, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring about halfway through baking time.
3. Melt butter, chocolate and sugar in a double boiler. Cool to lukewarm.
4. Whisk egg yolks and add to chocolate.
5. Add almonds.
6. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
7. Add to chocolate 1/3 at a time.  Don’t over mix.
8. Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 35 minutes. Keep the cake in the pan as it cools.
9. For the glaze, melt chocolate, butter and water in a double boiler. Let it cool to lukewarm
10. Remove the cake from the pan and put it on whatever you plan on serving the cake in. Pour the glaze over the cake, letting it run over the sides.
11. Decorate with fresh berries and shaved chocolate - or get creative and do something different. Recipes are made to be altered!

Notes

• The darker the chocolate, the richer the end result. Go dark! 
• Don't have a double boiler? Me neither. Just put water in a large pot and put a smaller pot on top. Whatever you do, don't attempt to melt chocolate in the microwave. Disaster awaits those who do...
• I read somewhere you should never mix water with chocolate because the chocolate will clump and never melt. To the person who made that statement, you don't know everything.

Maple Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

It's been 9 weeks and 2 days since November 20th. I've written pages and pages since then. I haven't posted any of them. Maybe one day I will share this journey with the world but for now it's just me. I no longer burst into tears without warning, the nightmares have ceased - mostly - and I've been cooking up a storm. It's a great January day for comfort food and so I created this. (I made some notes at the end if you're interested in the finer details.)

























4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1” cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
Salt
Cracked pepper

1/2 cup flour 
1 tsp cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 to 1 tsp chipotle chilli powder
Chicken pieces, bone in, skin removed

1/3 cup maple syrup
Cracked pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried thyme leaves (or a handful of fresh)
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1. Arrange sweet potatoes, onion and garlic in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. 
2. Sprinkle brown sugar, cumin, salt and pepper.
3. Mix together flour, cumin, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and chipotle chilli powder.
4. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour and arrange over potatoes.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 F (180º C) for 2 hours, or until chicken and sweet potatoes are cooked.
6. In the last 30 minutes of baking time, baste chicken with maple syrup 3 times (every 10 minutes). In the last 10 minutes of cooking time, sprinkle cracked pepper, Parmesan cheese, thyme leaves and pecans.

Notes:

• I measured absolutely nothing. All the measurements above are an estimate of what I think I might have used. (I know I say this every time!)
• Chipotle chilli powder tastes nothing like your regular chilli powder so don't think about substituting because the flavours are not similar. This one's my new favourite discovery. It's got some heat, because as you all know, I like to live on the fiery side of things. Surprisingly enough, I didn't find the end result spicy. Next time, I'll probably increase this spice and add some cayenne pepper.
• Cumin - crazy expensive in the spice aisle; super cheap in the ethnic food aisle at Superstore. $7-8 dollars for a tiny spice bottle (40 grams); less than $4 for 350 grams. 
• Don't use boneless chicken because it will cook long before the potatoes and dry out. If you must use boneless chicken, boil the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes before putting them in the pan.
• Coating the chicken with flour gives it a crispier finish, since the skin is removed. If you have declared war on all things flour-based, just sprinkle the chicken with the spices (the amounts used might be less??).
• Parmesan cheese. I buy a wedge of real Parmesan cheese at the deli, grate it up in a food processor or Magic Bullet and keep it in the freezer. I don't like the taste of the stuff that sits on the shelf. This is much nicer.
• I didn't use pecans when I made this recipe but I will try it next time.
• Aunt Jemima never laid eyes on a maple tree. Enough said.