I love chicken pot pie. And my husband LOVES chicken pot pie.

So I rolled up my sleeves and got busy.

It is soooo good.

And not nearly so hard to do. From scratch that is. And don’t even think of taking short cuts, cuz if you do, it will turn out average. And average is not what we want.

We want a happy tummy.

So as I said, just plunge in and reap the wards of your labors.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 c chicken broth
• 1 c beef broth
• 1/2 of a medium onion, chunked up
• 1 rib of celery, tops if you have them too
• 1 carrot
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 10 peppercorns crushed
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 cubs of assorted veggies such as corn, peas, lima beans, green beans
• 1 medium potato, diced
• 6 mushrooms, diced
• 1 tsp sage
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• additional chicken stock
• 1 recipe of basic buttermilk biscuits. (I added 3 tbsp of fresh parsley to the dough)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the chicken thighs and up through the peppercorns into a large saucepan and cook for about 45 minutes, until chicken is done. Keep the lid on most of the time, but allow it to reduce some toward the end. Keep at a good simmer. Remove the chicken to cool, strain the contents out and measure the remaining broth. Add additional chicken stock to measure three cups.
2. Meanwhile, dice up your onions, carrots, celery, potato, and mushrooms. Place in a steamer and steam until fork tender. Set aside.
3. Make a roux from the butter and flour. Add the 3 cubs of stock and heat until bubbly and thickened. Place all the veggies into the gravy. Take the skin off the chicken, remove from the bones and shred. Add to the gravy.
4. Add the sage, and taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
5. Pour the contents into a large baking dish.
6. Make the biscuit dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead three or four times until it holds together. Shape into a rectangle, and then lightly roll it to the approximate size of your pan. Slice into squares, and using a spatula, place them onto the hot chicken stew, covering the top. (I tried to lift the entire pie and it is just too delicate to hold so it’s best to cut it up into pieces. It will grow together as it bakes and cover the top nicely)
7. Place in a 450° pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes until top has browned.
8. EAT IT!

Serves: 6-8

NOTE: You can also make a regular pie crust which is great too. But we prefer the fluffy biscuits frankly.

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You have lots of options, so pick what sounds good! But do try other variations to discover what you like best.

Although the recipe calls for Vidalia onions, you can use any kind at all.

INGREDIENTS:

• A crust (1 sleeve of crackers or equivalent of any type cracker you like, plus 5 tbsp of butter or enough to bring the crumbs together and press them into a pie plate.  Or use a pie crust dough such as a pre-baked pie crust.
• 2-3 lg onions, sliced fairly thinly
• oil for sauteing the onions
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c milk
• 1 c or so of any cheese you like
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the crust: place the crackers (if using) into a plastic bag, squish out most of the air, and then roll with pin until they are nicely crumbed up.
2. Melt the butter and pour into the crumbs and mix. It need not be wet, but needs to be damp enough to press into a pie plate. Cook for 8 minutes at 350.
3. If using dough, prepare as directed and cook as directed.
4. Place 2-3 tbsp of oil in a saute pan.
5. Place the sliced onions in the pan and cook slowly until caramelized, 20 minutes or so. A medium temperature should be about right.
6. Place the onions in the cooked pie shell.
7. Whisk the eggs and milk together and add a dash of salt and maybe 1/2 tsp of pepper.
8. Pour over the onions.
9. Scatter the cheese on top.
10. Bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 45 minutes.

Serves: 6-8

Note: You can use any cracker of course, or the pastry crust. Any cheese you like is fine. A cup is only a suggestion. Also, you could it seems to me use other vegetables such as leeks or broccoli. You could fry up a few strips of bacon and crumble that either on top or among the onions before pouring on the custard.

This is a great light meal for lunch or dinner, and of course it is a wonderful vegetable side.

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I grew up thinking pancakes came out of a box labeled Aunt Jemima. Or Bisquick.

And I never liked pancakes very much.

I don’t know what prompted me to try a cookbook recipe.

But I did, and ever since, I’m been high on pancakes.

And you know what?

They barely take a minute more to put together than the boxed junk.

And don’t even mention that stuff in boxes in the freezer.

This recipe is my standard from Joy of Cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c buttermilk
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 lg eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. In another, whisk together the wet ingredients.
3. Pour the wet into the dry and mix gently, not beating, and allowing for a few lumps.
4. Spoon batter unto a buttered griddle and cook until the top is full of bubbles, turn and finish.

Serves: about a dozen 5″ pancakes

Note: now the fun stuff. You can add just about anything to the batter, from fresh fruit, to nuts, to bacon, cheese, chocolate chips, coconut. You can substitute some of the buttermilk for pureed bananas (maybe 1/2 c). Serve with butter and maple syrup or fruited jams. Also great with sifted powdered sugar or honey. Makes a great late Sunday “breakfast”.

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Myself, I don’t like the cakey, chewy varieties. I like my cookies crisp.

This has been my standard-bearer for years now, and I have never seen reason to go looking for others. It is a bit different.

It comes from Joy of Cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 2/3 c AP flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 sticks butter
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2/3 c light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk
• 2 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/3 c old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1  3 oz chocolate bar, grated or finely chopped
• 3/4 c chopped walnuts or pecans or other nut of your choice

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Whisk together the first 4 ingredients
2. Beat the butter on medium speed in a mixer until creamy and lightened in color.
3. Add everything up to the rolled oats and beat until well blended
4. Add the flour mixture and blend well.
5. Finely grind the oats in a food processor.
6. Stir them into the batter along with the chips, chocolate bar and nuts.
7. Use either a greased cookie sheet or one covered in parchment.
8. Use a 1″ scoop,  and place cookies about 2″ apart, pressing down each cookie slightly.
9. Bake in a 375° pre-heated oven for 8-12 minutes. Let stand upon removing until cookies have hardened up.

Serves: about 2 1/2 dozen

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It’s a bit of a job to make, but not that bad.

I got this from a wonderful cook at JustAPinch, Diane Smith.

I’ve altered the recipe just slightly, and I did rather liberally change the cooking order up a bit, mostly because of trying to wrangle with cream cheese.

I think you will like it.

The picture here is Diane’s and I would say it’s pretty close, but I thought my sauce was a little pinker. I must have had more paprika and cayenne in mine.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 chicken breast, deboned and cut up into bite-size pieces.
• Either 1 lb of andouille sausage or 1 lb of shrimp, cleaned and deveined (or both!)
• About 2/3 of a stick of butter (total)
• 1 small bell pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 ribs of celery, diced (expect that the trinity of pepper, onion and celery should be about 2 cups uncooked)
• 4 cloves garlic, micro-planed
• 1 1/2 TBSP Cajun seasoning, or your favorite commercial variety
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 c chicken stock
• 2/3 c cream
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 3-4 scallions, chopped with green parts
• 2/3 c parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1  12oz box of fettuccine, cooked (or any other pasta you would like)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt about 4 tbsp of butter in a large skillet. Add the chicken and brown, turning often, until done. Remove with slotted spoon to a large bowl.
2. Add the onion, green pepper, garlic and celery, cook until softened and nearly done. Remove this also and add to the chicken.
3. Add the remainder of the butter, melt, and add the flour, stir until mixed and cook for a minute or so.
4. Remove and add to the chicken and vegetable bowl.
5. Add the chicken stock, and add the cream cheese, cubed into small bits. Heat until boiling and boil for about 3 minutes or so, breaking up the cream cheese as best you can. It will not look great, since the cheese resists melting, but don’t worry. The stock will continue to cloud up and thicken as it melts about half way out.
6. Add the Cajun spices and return the bowl of chicken and veggies to the pan. Stir, and it will thicken quickly. The cream cheese bits will disappear and all will be smooth and creamy.
7. You can shut it off at this point, and let it sit until you are nearly ready to eat. (I did this in the morning and then started it back to warm about 15 minutes before dinner time)
8. If using shrimp, add now, and bring the mixture to a low boil, until cooked–about 3 minutes.
9. Add the  andouille sausage cream, scallions, parmesan and parsley, stirring until just heated through.
10. Serve over the pasta.

Serves: 4

Note: I did not use the shrimp, but I would not recommend that you eliminate the sausage as it is integral to the dish I think. Also you could probably skip the cream cheese. It did seem to disappear fine once I returned the chicken and veggies to the mix and the roux. I don’t add the sausage until the last minute for this reason: it is already cooked, and I find that th flavor bleeds out if you put  it in too early in the process.

You will pay anywhere from $3-5 bucks, and if you look at the list of ingredients, you will discover that salt leads the list, and that means that it is by volume the largest ingredient.

If you are lucky enough to have a store when you can buy spices and herbs in bulk, then you can save a ton by making your own spice and herb mixes.

Surely, most of the time fresh herbs are preferable to dried, but when it comes to mixes, that is not usually worthwhile.

This is pretty much a standard Cajun/Creole (there is a difference but I haven’t a clue exactly what that is) mix and it is just great to have handy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tsp paprika (preferably smoky, but do get fresh and the best you can afford)
• 2 tsp garlic (I prefer granulated, but NEVER garlic salt, rather than powder)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion (again, granulated, NEVER onion salt)
• 1 tsp cayenne (adjust to your taste for heat)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix it all together and store in an air tight opaque container, out of sunlight.

Notes: See tips and Tricks for more ideas about spices and herbs. Also, the amounts are suggestions, if you dislike a particular thing, use less or none. Or substitute such as chipotle for cayenne.

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While I like Southern and do make it occasionally, I tend to favor Northern. Northern is, more cake-like, lighter in texture, and a bit sweet. I find it more versatile, and I love, as you know, versatile recipes.

This is my standard go-to recipe from Joy of Cooking.

By the way, it freezes beautifully, so do make a full recipe. I use it for my regular dressing every holiday time, and find it really nice that I don’t have to bake up a new batch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 c stone-ground (if you can) cornmeal
• 3/4 c AP flour
• 1-4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 salt
• 2 lg eggs
• 2/3 c milk
• 2/3 c buttermilk
• 2-3 tbsp melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Whisk together all the dry ingredients
2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and milks.
3. Add the wet to the dry.
4. Add the melted butter and just stir in.
5. Pour into a greased 9 x 9 pan or in a muffin pan (12)
6. Place in a 425° pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes in the square pan or 10-12 minutes in the muffin tin.

Serves: at least 9 large pieces

Notes: There are lots of additions you can make. Add a cup of corn, or a chopped up jalapeño. Or add a few fried and crumbled bacon slices. Or add a cup of cheddar cheese or Pepper Jack. Add sweet roasted red peppers chopped. Actually, you can add spices like cinnamon and nutmeg coupled with raisins and chopped nuts, and make a desert cake out of it. Substitute the sugar for syrup or honey, or add other herbs for a savory bent, such as sage or thyme.

Goes really well with chili and other tomato based soups, and is a component of some dressings.  

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My mother made. I’m pretty sure her’s was just bologna, mayo and sweet relish.

This recipe is a tweaking of a great update by Cathy Nunn at JustAPinch.

I’ve only changed and added a bit.

I simply love this stuff. But then I grew up loving bologna since we had the best bologna in the world.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb bologna (Get it in one big chunk at the deli if you can, otherwise get the BEST BEEF bologna you can find
• 1/3 c minced celery
• 1/3 c minced onion
• 1/4 c pickle relish
• 1/4 c roasted red peppers
• 1 heaping tsp pickled jalapeños
• pepper to taste
• 1/3 c mayonnaise

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the celery and the onion to a food processor, mince further a bit.
2. Add the relish, peppers, jalapeños, and pulse a couple of times, just to mix.
3. Cut up your bologna roughly into like 1 inch pieces. Add and pulse until fairly small.
4. Add the mayo and pulse a few times to mix.
5. You don’t want the mix to be mush, you should still be able to pick out pieces of the ingredients.

Serves: 1 lb. It should keep a week, if you can leave it alone.

What I love about it, is that once you break it down, you realize that you can make this in an infinite number of ways, swapping out the squash for other vegetables, changing the sausage to ham or even seafood, and even altering the cheese.

Nothing is better to me than a recipe that can be changed and made anew in such a variety of ways.

I hope you like it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 med to small butternut squash (or other winter squash), peeled, seeded and diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried
• a pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 cups of Béchamel sauce
• 1 lb sausage, Italian or regular, mild or spicy
• 1/2 lb of pasta, rigatoni, farfalle, or any you like
• 1 lg onion, diced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper flakes
• 1 c Parmesan cheese, plus extra for the table
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the cubed squash, oil, rosemary and salt and pepper into a plastic bag and massage, until well coated.
2. Pour out on a parchment lined jelly roll pan and place in a 425° oven, until done–20-25 minutes. Stir half way through to help it get nicely browned all over. Set aside. (This can be done in the morning and then just reheated in a dish in the microwave)
3. Make the Béchamel sauce and when finished, add the 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.
4. Place the sausage in a saute pan and brown. Add the onion and garlic and pepper flakes. Cook until done.
5. Heat water and cook the pasta al dente. Drain.
6. Add the pasta to the béchamel sauce and stir until mixed.
7. Place the sausage/onion mixture in a dish, the squash in a dish, and the pasta in a dish.
8. Plate by placing the cheesy pasta on the plate, adding some of the squash and then the sausage. Add fresh parsley and more freshly grated Parmesan.

Serves: 4

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But that is not this one. A Béchamel sauce is simple. It is a milk sauce. It is a mathematical construct.

Once you understand the math, you never need another recipe. Not even this one. But do visit it from time to time anyway, because it will get lonely otherwise.

So just remember to count, and you will be fine.

And did I say versatile? It is the queen of versatile sauces. From the basic recipe you can concoct all manner of delightful “new” sauces, and that makes it worth its weight in budda.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 TBSP butter
• 2 TBSP flour
• 2 c of warmed milk
• a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper (white if you are pretentious)
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and whisk until combined, cook for a minute, letting it bubble.
2. Add the warmed milk, and stir.
3. Continue heating the mixture until it starts to lightly boil, whisking from time to time. Watch it thicken up nicely.
4. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5. Done.

Serves: 2 cups

Now as to uses:

• The ratio is 1:1:1 so it’s 1 tbsp to 1 tbsp to one cup. You can make more or less, just stay with the ratio.
• Cheese sauces can be made by adding the same ration of grated cheese. If making one cup of sauce, add one cup of cheese. You can use any you like, a cheddar sauce for mac and cheese, a parmesan for parmesan sauce, etc.
• Used by itself, the béchamel is often used as the “cream” for creamed peas or pearl onions, or frankly any veggie you might want to do this way.
• Some folks use it in place of a red sauce in lasagna.
• Add other herbs if you wish.
• Omit the nutmeg if you wish.
• It can be used in place of a canned soup in casseroles, just season it to please the dish.
• Experiment. It is versatile, easy to make and can’t be screwed up unless you work  at it.