Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Chicken Stew with Biscuits



I was craving a chicken dish topped with biscuits the other day. We were getting some of the rain and wind from hurricane Irene and it just felt like a great day for some comfort food. I started searching for a recipe and came across this one on Food Network by Ina Garten.

I changed a few things based on what I had on hand. I certainly wasn't going out in the nasty weather, that was for sure! This recipe hit the spot - kind of like chicken pot pie but with biscuits on top. :) I would make again but with a few changes. Using a rotisserie chicken from the store would have made this recipe a bit easier. The biscuits didn't spread out very much so I might play around with the biscuit recipe as well. The original recipe called for fresh parsley, which I didn't have. Will definitely try it with fresh next time.

Below are the changes I made to the recipe. You can click on the link above to see the original recipe.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 stick butter
1 cup yellow onion
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes
1 10-ounce package frozen peas (2 cups)
1/2 tsp dried parsley

For the biscuits:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash


Directions:

I parboiled my chicken breasts for about 10-15 minutes until they were no longer pink inside. The last 5 minutes or so of the cooking time I tossed in the chopped carrots to cook along with the chicken. Toss in a vegetable bouillon cube, salt and pepper into the water the chicken is cooking in.

Remove chicken breasts from water and shred. I saved the water the chicken was cooking in and used as my chicken stock since I didn't have any. Reheat the water and toss in another bouillon cube. Set aside once dissolved.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the shredded chicken, carrots, peas, and parsley. Mix well.



Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter.



Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.



I served this dish with a simple salad. Enjoy!










Monday, August 29, 2011

Menu Planning

I have done this once before, but it was short lived. Buying land, selling our house, packing, moving, building a new house....who has time to cook let alone plan ahead for meals?!

Things have settled down, as much as they are going to anyways, so I have decided to start meal planning again.

Here is our meal plan for the next 8 days:

Homemade tilapia fish sticks, carrots, rice & a salad
Tex Mex Lasagna with tomato avocado salad
Cilantro Lime Chicken - gonna wing the sides with this one :)
Shrimp & Grits with salad
Tuna Melt with avocado on french bread
Mandarin Chicken from Trader Joe's, broccoli, rice & egg rolls
Spaghetti with garlic bread & salad
And we'll probably go out to dinner one night :)

These are all new recipes except for the Mandarin chicken of course. If they turn out well I will post them soon.

Do you meal plan? One week out or a month? Right now I am working on just a week. Hopefully this will cut down on multiple trips to the grocery store during the week!

Monday, August 22, 2011

PW's Pico de Gallo



I love Pioneer Woman, although I don't have time to read her blog as much as I'd like anymore. I do occasionally still check out her recipes though. I've made her pico de gallo several times and it is definitely a keeper. Quick, easy, and fresh ingredients. Yum, yum!

Ingredients:
5 whole plum roma tomatoes (I usually just use whatever tomatoes I have on hand)
1/2 large onion
3 whole Jalapeno Peppers (I used one jalepeno with seeds and it was perfect. Almost on the verge of too spicey for me. You'll need to judge how much heat you like)
Cilantro
1 Lime
Salt To Taste

Directions:

Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.

Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again. Serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!







Friday, August 19, 2011

Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter-Bacon Bars



If anyone knows our family personally, they know we love bacon. Or I should say that my husband and 3 year old LOVE bacon. It's really a bit of an obsession. :)

A friend of mine posted this recipe on facebook the other day. I love peanut butter and with them loving bacon I knew it was a recipe I had to make. Sweet and salty - you can't go wrong!

This recipe calls for a package of Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix. The store was out so I bought the sugar cookie package instead. All I did was add peanut butter to the batter (and a little more oil to get the right consistency) until I had a nice peanut butter flavor. I followed the recipe otherwise exactly.

These are super yummy but I would make a few changes. I couldn't really taste the bacon that was mixed in the brownie. I think next time I would sprinkle about 1/2 a cup crumbled bacon on top of the chocolate and leave it at that. If you make these let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
1 pouch Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons maple-flavored syrup
1 egg
10 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 9- or 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, oil, syrup and egg until soft dough forms. Reserve 1/4 cup bacon for garnish. Stir remaining bacon and peanuts into dough. Press evenly in pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips. Return to oven; bake 1 minute. Immediately spread chocolate over bars. Sprinkle reserved 1/4 cup bacon over chocolate. Cool completely, about 1 hour or until chocolate is set.

For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered in refrigerator.