Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

So, I know chicken pot pie isn't the type of recipe I usually post on my blog, but I haven't been baking a whole lot lately. I don't know if it's been my hectic work schedule or my new obsession with the TV show Gossip Girl haha, but the only thing that I've baked recently was a batch of red velvet cupcakes, which I've already posted about.

However, I did make a scrumptious chicken pot pie last night for dinner, and since you do bake the pot pie, I thought it would be appropriate to share! (Plus, after trying a bite of this dish, you'll be happy I shared it!)

I am honestly not a big fan of CPP, but after trying this homemade recipe, I am changing my colors and I definitely will be making this again--and soon too! This recipe is from the March 2012 issue of Everyday Food.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
-1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for workspace
-1 tsp. sugar
-1/4 tsp. fine salt
-1/2 c. cold, unsalted butter
-3-5 Tbsp. ice water

For the filling:
-5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
-1 med. yellow onion, diced small
-4 med. carrots, diced small
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
-4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
-1 c. frozen peas
-coarse salt and black pepper
-3 c. shredded cooked chicken
-a little dried parsley

1. Make crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 3 Tbsp. ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 2 Tbsp. ice water); do not overmix. Form dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or overnight (or freeze, up to 1 month.)

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Make filling: In a large pot, melt butter over med-high heat. Add onion and carrots and cook until softened, 5-8 mins. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add flour and stir to coat vegetables.


Slowly add broth, whisking constantly until sauce is smooth. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, 5-7 mins.
Stir in peas. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in chicken and parsley.


Pour filling into 2-qt. baking dish.

3. On a floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 in. thickness. Place dough over dish and fold overhang inward while pinching to crimp edge. Cut vents in dough.

Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling around edge, 40-50 mins. Let cool 15 mins. before serving.

White Chocolate Chip cookies

Made a tasty little treat the other night! These are from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book and I just was flipping through the pages for ideas and came across this!

White chocolate, oatmeal and coconut--yum yum! The recipe does call for walnuts and raisins, which I particularly thought would have been good, but most people that I shared the cookies with would not have thought the same.

It was a quick recipe (and most of Martha's do take quite a bit of time), so hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
-1/2 c. granulated sugar
-1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
-2 c. all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
-2 c. white chocolate chips/chunks
-1 c. sweetened coconut
-1 c. raisins (golden or regular)
-1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 mins.


Mix in eggs one at a time until combined. Stir in vanilla.

2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.


Gradually stir into butter mixture until combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, coconut, raisins, and walnuts.


3. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 in. apart.


Flatten slightly. Bake cookies until golden, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 mins. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

This is the same recipe I used for the best brownie that I shared on my blog in February of last year.

They truly are the best--they are even called that! Go check out my blog entry from Feb. 2011 for the recipe! You will LOVE them! They only thing that's different is that I added a mixture of dark and mint chips! Mmmm mmm good :)

They were scrumptious!

Apple Turnovers

Ever just feel like a flaky pastry dessert? :)

This was a simple recipe that turned out amazing (with the exception of one of the sheets of puff pastry!) But, I still was impressed.

I chose apple turnovers but any type of filling would be tasty!

Ingredients:
-4-5 apples--peeled, cored & sliced
-2 Tbsp. butter
-1 c. brown sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 Tbsp. cornstarch
-1 Tbsp. water
-1 pack puff pastry, thawed

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat and place sliced apples in skillet.

Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook, stirring for 2 more minutes.


2. Stir together the cornstarch and water and pour into the skillet and mix well. Cook almost another minute or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unfold the puff pastry and repair any cracks by pressing back together. Trim each sheet into a square and then cut each larger square into 4 smaller squares.


Spoon apples onto the center of each square. Fold over from corner to corner into a triangular shape, and press edges together to seal.


Place turnovers on a baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned. Eat warm or leave to cool :)

Double Birthday Cakes!

My sister just celebrated her birthday and I wanted to make her a special cake :) She chose the Tomboy cake out of the darling Miette cookbook. The cakes in this cookbook are so adorable--they are six inch cakes, slightly smaller, rich and delicious! The recipes make 2 cakes, so you can always freeze one, but I decided to go with 2 since they were small.

The cake is double chocolate, which was nice and moist and rich. I did a raspberry buttercream frosting and an orange buttercream (and even topped it with my own homemade orange zest!). They were quite a bit of work, so if you are interested in the recipe, please leave me a comment and I'd be happy to send it your way.


Double Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting


Double Chocolate Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting

FINALLY!: A chocolate chip cookie worth blogging about!

Let me just say, as I give my self a nice, quick pat on the back (haha), that I HAVE DONE IT! You are now looking at....well, reading about, a new chocolate chip cookie master. I can only laugh as I write this because, if any of you out there read my blog, know that I have had nothing but struggles when it comes to baking this cookie--the most common cookie in the world! I know, hard to believe it myself, but the one thing I could seriously never make "correctly" was the chocolate chip cookie.

And now, I can say, that day has gladly passed :) I found, and tweaked a bit, a recipe for an amazing chocolate chip cookie! A friend once shared with me that it might help to find a recipe that incorporated shortening with the butter, so that is where I began my journey. It was something I never tried before but am sure glad I did. I also chilled my cookie dough in the refrigerator for about a half hour before I baked them. I think this helped form the amazing texture that this cookies had--(meaning, they actually held together beautifully!)

I am happy to share this recipe in case there just might be the chance that someone else out there has struggled with the chocolate chip cookie before. Well, fear not, my friends...for this recipe is sure to delight!

Ingredients:
-1/2 c. shortening
-1/2 c. butter
-3/4 c. granulated sugar
-3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
-2 eggs
-2 tsp. vanilla
-2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1 tsp. salt
-1 (12 oz.) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets (or line with parchment paper)

2. Cream butter, shortening and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir flour mixture into creamed mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop round spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

3. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Apple & Blackberry Crisp

What better way to kick off the new year with a warm piece of apple & blackberry crisp topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?

Mmmm...good!

I got this recipe online. I was looking to use up the blackberries I had left from Christmas and wanted to make a tasty dessert! This crisp is delish--similar to the regular apple crisp I've made before, but with a little bit of a new twist! It's fast and easy and you'll love it!

Ingredients:
Filling:
-3 Fuji apples--peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 in. thick
-1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
-1/4 c. granulated sugar
-1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Topping:
-1/3 c. rolled oats
-1/3 c. almonds, coarsely chopped
-3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
-3 Tbsp. butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil an 8x8-inch glass baking dish. In a bowl, toss the apples with the blackberries, sugar and 2 Tbsp. of the flour.


Scrape the filling into the baking dish.

2. In a bowl, toss the oats with the remaining flour and the nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub it thoroughly.


Sprinkle the topping over the filling and bake for 35 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the topping is browned. Let the crisp cool for 10 minutes before serving.


**You can serve it just the way it is but it tastes great with a bit o' vanilla ice cream**