Classic Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Sometimes you have to face the fact that you were deprived of joy as a child. I recently discovered that I was deprived of chicken pot pie, which I now understand to be a tangible synonym for joy. If you only try one new recipe this season, make it this one.

Cooking is absolutely not my thing! Baking is my safe zone, but I needed to at least try something slightly more dinner-ish than mac 'n cheese. So after deciding that I should attempt to cook a real dinner, I stumbled into the world of savory pies. I can....bake pie....for dinner?! Sign this girl up! Chicken pot pie has always come to mind when I think of comfort food, but I honestly can't remember ever eating it as a kid. We were more of a chicken noodle soup family, and I didn't realize what I was missing out on until I moved to San Francisco and tried a pie from The Cravery. Love at first bite! This recipe holds up pretty well to theirs, I must say.

This chicken pot pie is perfect for fall and winter dinners in cold weather. The recipe is easy to adjust to your own taste, and you can make it family style or in individual servings. It's the best chicken pot pie recipe for non-cooks because it's SO easy!

Ingredients:

2            pre-made rolled pie crusts (I used Pillsbury) 
1/3         cup butter or margarine
1/3         cup chopped onion
2            cloves of garlic, chopped
1/3         cup all-purpose flour
1/2         teaspoon salt
1/4         teaspoon pepper
1 1/2      cups chicken broth
3            tablespoons cream of celery
1/2         cup milk
2 1/2      cups shredded cooked chicken (either bake it or buy a rotisserie chicken)
2            cups frozen mixed vegetables (I used frozen peas & carrots)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Take pie crust out of fridge to thaw. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Add garlic, stir for about 30 seconds or until it becomes fragrant. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened. Stir in cream of celery. Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat.

3. Unroll one pie crust and place it into an ungreased glass pie dish. Add your filling. Unroll the second crust and place dough over filling. Seal and crimp or flute edges. With a fork, poke holes in the top crust for ventilation. Make a fun design!

5. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Classic Chicken Pot Pie.

Monster Mix - Halloween Snack Mix Recipe

Sometimes the excitement of holidays and all of their baking/crafting potential is just too much for my brain to handle. How many pumpkin spice donut recipes should I pin before actually deciding which ones to make? And what about the hundreds of apples I should be coring for pies, breads, and ciders? Where is the photographer who is supposed to take wonderful pictures of me wearing a flannel shirt and Hunter boots at the orchard? Where do I fit in the time to hand-craft 50 feet of bunting for my portico?! (I don't have a portico.)

No, not this time. Halloween can't run us down before the Christmas euphoria sets in. So drop the jack 'o lantern cookie cutter and do something so ridiculously easy that Geico would use it to advertise a caveman's ability.

This recipe is adapted from one that my favorite blogger, LittleBabyGarvin, shared in her October Love List. It's a sweet & salty Halloween snack mix straight out of a dream. Now I could tell you that this would make a great party recipe to share with others, but no. This is for you, brave holiday soldier.

These are pretty rough measurements because it's really up to your personal taste. If you hate candy corn with a passion, don't put it in there! Although you'd really be missing out because candy corn goes great with rosé... not that I'm hinting at anything here. 


Ingredients:
About 1 pound of white chocolate chips or candy melts
1 microwave bag of salted popcorn
1/2 cup of pretzel sticks
14 crushed Oreos
1/2 cup Halloween M&Ms
1/2 cup Reese's Pieces
1 cup candy corn

Instructions:
1. Line a shallow pan with foil. I used a cookie sheet, but recommend a jelly roll pan or 9x13.
2. Pop one bag of salted popcorn - not buttered! Spread it over the bottom of the pan.
3. Add pretzel sticks and crushed oreos. Try to distribute them evenly.
4. Melt about a pound of white chocolate in the microwave. I used 1.5 bags of Ghirardelli chips, but the original recipe calls for a pound of Wilton candy melts.
5. Pour a layer of melted chocolate over your popcorn, pretzels, and oreos. You should use most of the chocolate in this step, but not all of it. Mix it around with a spatula to make sure everything gets slightly coated.
6. Add M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, and candy corn. Drizzle the rest of the chocolate over this layer - not too much or you won't see the colors of the candy!
7. Put it in the fridge to set. Once the chocolate has hardened, break it all up into bite-sized pieces.

Congrats, you have Monster Mix! Eat it in large quantities by the handful. Enjoy!

Apple Hand Pies

If anyone tells you fall is their favorite time of year because of the pretty colors or the crisp leaves, they are lying to you. People love fall because of the heaping mounds of butter, sugar, and spices that go into recipes this time of year. I'm not saying it's a problem- this is like my Olympics. Michael Phelps, you've done your part for our medal count, but move over and watch me take gold in a serious event: dessert.

I had never made a fruit pie before this, so I wanted to make it a bit different. Cue Pinterest and its wonderful world of hand pie ideas.

Do NOT be intimidated by the pie crust process. It may be lengthy, but it's easy as...well...guess.

And look how cute the final product is!

 

The recipe I used was a combo of a crust recipe from Brown Eyed Baker and a tart apple filling recipe from Food Network.

For the pastry:

2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup sour cream
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup ice water

one egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash

coarse/turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Tart Apple Filling:

3lbs Granny Smith apples, sliced, cored, and diced small

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt 
½ teaspoon nutmeg

1. To make the pastry, in a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. If preparing ahead of time, the dough can be stored at this point for up to one month in the freezer.

2. Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch-round biscuit cutter, cut circles out of the rolled dough. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting, and chilling process with the remaining half of dough. (I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I used the rim of a small bowl and managed to get 14 total.)

3. While the dough continues to chill, make your filling. Peel and core all the apples; dice small. Toss with the granulated sugar and cider. Add the apples and cook, stirring, until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg; cook until thickened, 1 more minute. Let cool.

4. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature until just pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons filling (use the smaller amount for a 4-inch circle) onto one half of each circle of dough. Quickly brush a little cold water around the circumference of the dough, and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a semicircle. Seal the hand pie, and make a decorative edge by pressing the edges of the dough together with the back of a fork. Repeat process with remaining dough. Place the hand pies back on the parchment-lined baking sheet, and return to the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes.

5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the chilled hand pies from the refrigerator, cut a small slit in each and lightly brush with the egg yolk wash. Sprinkle sanding sugar generously over the pies, and place pies in the oven to bake. Bake until the hand pies are golden brown and just slightly cracked, anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how thick you rolled the dough. Remove the pies from the oven, and let stand to cool slightly before serving.

 Enjoy your delicious, warm little pies! I had fun making cute little brown paper packages so they could be packed in lunches or given as gifts. Have fun with these!