Kim in the Kitchen

I made my first Chicken Pot Pie with a recipe from The Pioneer Woman . Ree's blog, cookbooks and tweets have made me want to try some of her recipes. Below is the recipe that I used.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pie box pie crust (Ree made her own, I use store bought)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 cups cooked chicken
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken
splash of white wine (optional)
1 cup heavy cream (I used non fat milk)
Frozen peas (optional) - I used 1/2 can of peas
Fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add chicken and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in chicken broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)
Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. (I used a top and bottom pie crust. I followed the box instructions baking the bottom for 10 minutes before adding the mixture in and covering the pie crust with the top)
Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving


This was a great and surprisingly easy meal to make!!

Kim in the Kitchen

I made The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Cacciatore for dinner this week. I can't say that my pictures are nearly as good as what she has posted Here. The recipe is also on that included link. The dinner was a nice change and something new to have under my apron ;)

Kim in the Kitchen - Crock Pot Chili

Oh Paula, how I love thee so! I modified Paula Deen's Spicy Chili recipe for my Crock Pot and it was delicious! You can find her exact recipe HERE. But below is what I did to make it crock pot ready.

Spicy Chili:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package chipolte chili seasoning 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chillies

Brown your ground beef, drain and add in Chipotle seasoning. Place in crock pot. Add in all other ingredients and stir. Set Crock Pot for 7 hours on LOW. I served the chili with some corn chips sour cream and shredded cheese on top. I didn't take a picture but the flavor was amazing and my husband was raving about this dish.

By the way, I browned the meat the previous night, cooled it down and left it in the fridge. I also cut onion and green pepper placed them in a bag (also left in the fridge). I measured the seasoning and used a tupperware smidget container and left my can goods out and ready with a can opener for the morning. This way I didn't have to rush before work this morning. GREAT way to save time in the morning. 

It's All Greek To Me

Back in August I mentioned that I wanted to make Lamb Burgers. This week, my husband executed that idea and it was a sucess! We used a recipie from FoodNetwork.com called "It's all Greek to me". I apologize that I do not have a picture, but it was unbelievably good. Here is the recepie from their site.

Ingredients

For Feta Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
4 ounces good quality feta cheese
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 small clove garlic, grated
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For Burger Patties:
1 1/2 pounds good quality ground lamb
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
Directions
3/4 teaspoon smoked sea salt (large crystals - if using fine salt cut this amount in 1/2)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For Assembly:
4 slices mozzarella cheese
4 good quality kaiser rolls or hamburger buns, split
Romaine lettuce
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
Mild banana pepper rings
English cucumber slices
Add all ingredients for dressing to the bowl of a small food processor and pulse to combine. Remove to bowl and set aside to allow the flavors to blend.

Mix all the ingredients for burger patties (do not overwork). Divide the meat into 4 equal patties that are a little larger in diameter than the size of your bun, so that when they shrink after cooking they will fit the buns perfectly.

Heat a grill pan, cast iron skillet, or outdoor grill to medium heat. Once the grill is hot, cook burgers about 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until desired doneness is reached. Do not overcook or the burgers will be dry.

Top each burger with mozzarella cheese during the last 2 to 3 minutes of cooking.

Lightly toast the cut sides of your buns either on the grill or under the oven broiler.

Spread some of the feta dressing on the bottom half of each bun, top with a burger patty, romaine lettuce, sliced tomato, red onion, banana pepper rings, and sliced cucumber. Spread some feta dressing on the top halves of the buns and cover the burgers.


We did not use bananna peppers or sliced cucumbers but the rest we did and it was fantastic. If you want to try something savory and different, give this a shot. KUDOS to my husband Greg for making such a delicious dish and finding this recipie!

Great Buys!

I love a great deal at the supermarket! Who doesn't? I managed to get a few great deals today from in store coupons from the meat department. At my local Stop & Shop they put stickers on the meats that are close to the "sell by" dates. Today I found 4 different meats with $2.00 off each package! what a bargain!

I picked up Meatloaf Mix. The picture is Paula Deen's recipe from Food Network. I haven't tried her recipe only my mom's boring one- (Sshhhhh don't tell her I said that).

Also after being inspired by an article in Food Network Magazine, I purchased Ground Lamb. I really would like to make a Greek burger like the one below.

Also purchased today was Chicken Wings (which I have never made at home before) and Ground Turkey.

Spinach & Artichoke Braid

1 can (14oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1 pkg (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 cup (4oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pkg (4oz) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 T (1/2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 8 oz cans refrigerated crescent rolls

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In classic batter bowl combine
all but Parmesan cheese. Mix well.
2. Scoop filling evenly over desired shape; finish shape as directed below.
Sprinkle w/grated Parmesan cheese Bake 25-30
minutes or until golden brown. Serves 8

To make the braid:
Unroll 2 8 oz pkgs refrigerated crescent rolls - separate into 16
triangles. Arrange triangles, slightly overlapping, in a Christmas tree shape on large bar pan. (Points will extend off the edge of the baking stone). Press the seams together using your hand or roller. Using large scoop, scoop the filling evenly over dough in continuous circle. Bring points of triangles up over filling cross over to make a braid design. If you have an extra piece of crescent roll left over (or two) that’s okay.

Quiche

Who would have thought, that one of the easiest dishes, would be received so well by my husband. I tried something new and he loved it! It is great to have some one who appreciates what I do and loves trying new things. It really is making me want to expand my knowledge of recipes.

Dinner for 2

I made dinner for Greg and I tonight. I know that he is planning on being on his diet again starting this week, so I made a few not so healthy things that he would enjoy. While Greg took a nap I got started. Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Black Forest Brussels Sprouts and a London Broil. It took a while for me to get it all prepared and ready to cook, but it was all done on time and ready together. I also made a special Bunt cake that Greg's Aunt Edyie makes for special occasions. When he woke up he took out the camera and snapped a few shots of me in action.