Chef On Call

Chicken Pot Pie

I was craving chicken pot pie the other day.  Recently, I started getting into the habit of making an extra roast chicken any time I make one for dinner.  I can then use the leftover chicken for all sorts of applications from pizza to tacos to soup.  This week I searched for a recipe for a very traditional pot pie and found one that sounded very appealing in a new cookbook from the Culinary Instutute of America,  One Dish Meals They give you the option of using store bought pie crusts or puff pastry;  I went with the latter to excellent results.  I made the filling in the morning and stored it in the fridge in the casserole dish I was going to use to bake it.  I let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing the puff pastry on top.  Cut a couple of slits to vent and popped it into a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes until the pastry was golden, brown and delicious.  Dinner was delicious, the puff pastry was flaky while the filling was flavorful and comforting.  I found the prep to be about 40 minutes and the rest of the time my little pie could just bake in the oven unattended.  The recipe calls for 2 pie crusts or pastry sheets so you could make individual crocks but I used one large dish and I only needed one sheet of pastry.

Chicken Pot Pie

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
2 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp flour
3 cups chicken broth (I used a bit more to keep it moist)
salt & pepper
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced red or yukon gold potatoes
4 cups diced cooked chicken meat
1 cup green peas thawed if frozen
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
2 9-inch prepared pie crusts or puff pastry sheets

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it shimmers.  Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until pasty and thick, about 2 minutes.  Add the broth, whisking well.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until thick, about 15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Add the carrot, celery, and potato and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the chicken and peas and remove from the heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir in the chopped parsley.
• Spoon the filling into individual crocks or a baking dish.  Cut pie crust or puff pastry dough to the appropriate size (I rolled mine out to fit my dish and crimped the edges) and cover the filling.  Cut vents in the crust and press the edges to seal.
• Bake the pot pie until the crust is golden and flaky, about 45 minutes for a large pot pie and 25 minutes for individual crocks.  Serve immediately.

Sunday Dinner

I love Sunday dinner.

It is my favorite meal of the week.  I thoroughly enjoy having a leisurely (although with two children it isn't that leisurely) afternoon to make a meal that requires more preparation than time allows during the week.  Growing up, my mother who is British, used to make our Sunday dinner at 2:00pm and then we were on our own for a light supper.  So, I am used to roast beef with Yorkshire pudding as a typical Sunday meal.
Around Thursday or Friday, my thoughts turn to what to make for Sunday dinner.  I have to take into account what activities are planned for the day but nothing makes me happier than to realize we don't have anything planned and the weather is suited to a nice heavy dinner.  Yesterday was this day.  My kids were going to the movies with their Grandmother and I really didn't have anything to do except make dinner.  How perfect.  I started dreaming about roast chicken and settled on a recipe from the new The Bon Appetit Cookbook (purchase includes subscription to Bon Appetit magazine) .  I made this recipe once before and really liked it.  It seems like an easier version of the infamous The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant Roast Chicken so I could cook and watch football (Go Cowboys!).  I was all set to go and then....our cesspool backed up!  With our cesspool company unavailable yesterday, the instructions were to use as little water as possible until today.  No cooking because we couldn't clean up.  We were reduced to pizza and salad take out.  I was so disappointed. 

But today is another day and the cesspool has been pumped and we are back in business.  Roast Chicken with Arugula and Bread Salad are on the menu tonight.  I will try and remember to take some photos for you.

Roast Chicken with Arugula and Bread Salad

8 cups 1 inch cubes country style white bread

1 7lb whole roasting chicken (I'm using 2 4lb birds)

1/2 cup low salt chicken broth

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

3/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 cup dried currants

3 bunches fresh arugula leaves (about 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place bread on large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until bread is lightly toasted, about 6 minutes.  Set aside; maintain oven temperature.

Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.  Place breast side up on rack in heavy roasting pan.  Roast chicken 1 hour.  Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.  Roast chicken until juices run clear about 45 minutes longer (with smaller birds, mine usually takes about one hour in total).  Tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Pour pan juices into 4-cup measuring cup (do not clean pan).  Spoon off fat from top of pan juices, returning 2 tablespoons fat to pan.  Add pan juices, broth, and vinegar to pan.  Set pan over 2 burners and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.  Add green onions and currants.  Simmer 3 minutes to reduce liquid slightly.  Remove from heat.  Add bread to pan and tosswith juices.  Mix in arugula.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with chicken.

Roasts

I don't hear of many people preparing roasts anymore.  Sure they come out around the holidays or special occasions, but not on a regular basis and certainly not during the week.  But I find them to be immensely satisfying and delicious and also easy to prepare.  Once you prep the roast which usually only takes 10-15 minutes, you are free to tend to other things (like blogging).  Right now, I am enjoying the smells of a 4 pound pork roast (did I mention that I dream about pork but I digress) that is happily cooking away in my oven.  I placed it in a small roasting pan along with a bag of sauerkraut (that would be the contents of the bag, not the bag).  I seasoned the roast by cutting slits into it and filling them with slivers of garlic along with salt, pepper, ground caraway seeds, and ground coriander.  I popped it into the oven (400 degrees) and in 1 - 1 1/2 hours, we will be feasting.  To round the dinner out, we are having buttermilk mashed potatoes and sauteed chard.
I especially like making roasts on Sundays and I like to have different types of meat.  Roast beef, pork and lamb cooked to medium rare are my favorites.  So next time you are looking for something delicious to eat, think about a roast; you won't be disappointed.

Here's The Story

I haven't been posting very much lately but I have been cooking.  My schedule has lightened up a bit so I have had more time to cook and more time to come up with ideas for cooking.  My only problem has been that I am craving fall foods (soups, stews and hearty comfort fare) but the weather keeps switching back and forth.  As a result, I have subjected my recipe testers, i.e. my family, to hot dishes on equally hot days.  A few weeks back after serving my chicken and dumplings, I started thinking about stuffed pork chops.  A family favorite, I usually make them with a bread stuffing seasoned with herbs and cheese.  So this time, I came up with an idea to make them lighter but very intensely flavored.  I figured sauteed wild mushrooms, pancetta, garlic, arugula and romano cheese would create a great filling for these beautiful pork chops.  I was going to make roasted acorn squash and potatoes on the side with a light mustard cream sauce.  But then I got a cold and I couldn't be bothered to cook.   A couple of days went by before I finally made the pork chops.  The filling smelled fantastic and everything was going well until I cut up one of the chops for my daughter and took a taste.  YUCK!  The pork chops had gone bad!  Very gross.  I was so disappointed because everything looked so good.  The smell was still in the air from the stuffing (I guess my cold covered up the bad smell of the pork!).  Now what do I feed everyone for dinner?  It was 4:45pm and my son had football practice.  I resorted to chicken nuggets for the kids but what should the hubby and I eat?

I sent him on his way to football practice while I came up with plan B.  I quickly defrosted some frozen shrimp and tossed them with some Cajun seasoning.  A quick saute over high heat and they looked good.  I tossed in the roasted acorn squash and potatoes with some of the mustard sauce and dinner was served.  I served the extra mustard sauce on the side.  My husband pronounced it to be delicious and even my son enjoyed the shrimp.  Success out of disaster!

I remade the chops a week later and they were great.  Juicy, moist and very flavorful.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Wild Mushrooms, Pancetta and Arugula

• 8 oz. pancetta, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 4 oz. wild mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups arugula
• 2 tbs white wine or vermouth
• 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
• 4 bone in pork chops large enough to stuff
• salt and pepper to taste
• Mustard Cream Sauce (recipes follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.  Add olive oil and butter to pan until butter melts.  Add mushrooms and cook until reduced and slightly brown.  add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add white wine and cook until almost evaporated.  Toss in the arugula.  Add back the pancetta.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine and wilt.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Add romano.
Cut a slit into each pork chop and loosely stuff.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place in a small roasting pan on a rack.  Add a small amount of water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cook for about 30-40 minutes.  Check the temperature of the chops, it should be 145- 150 degrees.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Serve with Mustard Cream sauce underneath the chop.

Mustard Cream Sauce

• 1 cup light cream
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth or stock
• 1/4 cup coarse grain mustard
• 2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a gentle simmer.  Cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.  Serve.