Casserole Queens' Chicken Pot Pie

Did anyone else catch the Chicken Pot Pie Throwdown on Food Network last night? If you live in Austin, Texas you MUST call the Casserole Queens'. Now, I am not a casserole kinda gal but you cannot resist these two bubbly friends that bake and deliver goodies dressed up in 50's duds. They were adorable and you could tell that they love their job, their communities and their friendship. Watching this episode made me crave this comfort food so I'm going to whip it up for my sister and boyfriend tomorrow night. They use puff pastry for the crust which gives it a nice buttery, flaky texture.

P.S. I made this and it was great BUT you need to add way more flour. I would add 1/4 cup of flour and go from there. Sauce was way too thin.

Casserole Queens Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 roasted chicken, shredded
• 1/4 cup chopped red sweet pepper
• 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups peas, blanched
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, blanched
• 2 potatoes, peeled, diced, and boiled
• 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet melt butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, sweet pepper, and shallots and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in flour, salt, tarragon, and black pepper. Add milk and cream all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in wine, peas, carrots and potatoes; heat thoroughly. Transfer the hot chicken mixture to a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Place pastry over the hot chicken mixture in casserole dish. Brush puff pastry with egg wash then cut slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

Casserole Queens' Chicken Pot Pie

Shepherd's Pie

Cities around the U.S. have been experiencing some unexpected winter temperatures...snow in Vegas? While I can't complain too much because I'm used to the winters in the Midwest and East Coast, San Francisco has been in the 40s. Locals tell me that they don't remember such cold temps since the 70s. Regardless, the chill in the air motivated me to make some serious comfort food and the first recipe that came to mind was the British classic Shepherd's Pie.

Donna Hay is Australia's best selling cookbook author and food editor. She began her career at 19 and never looked back. Her book, Modern Classics Part 1, was a recent birthday present from my friend Jen. She swears by her recipes so I thought I would give her Shepherd's Pie recipe a shot. The hearty dish really hit the spot.

I made a tweak or two because I love stews and mashers so I have some staple items that I like to add. For the mashers, always add more cheese and butter than the recipe calls for and I even like to add about 1/4 cup of cream cheese, too. For the pie, I like my spice so I hit it with a teaspoon of red chili flakes and a teaspoon of sriracha. Be careful when adding sriracha to your dishes because a little really goes a long way.

Shepherd's Pie
1 tablespoons of olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
20 oz or minced (ground) lamb or beef
14 oz can of peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup beef stock
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper

Potato Mash
2 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook oil, carrots and onion over medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft and golden. Add the meat and stir until browned. Stir through the tomato paste, tomatoes, stock, thyme and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add frozen peas and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Boil potatoes in water until soft. Drain and mash with butter and milk and then add Parmesan.

Spoon meat mixture into a 4 cup capacity over proof dish. Top with mash and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 4-6.

Shepherd's Pie

Beer Can Chicken and Jalapeno & Green Chile Cheese Grits

I must pat myself on the back. Last night's dinner was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Now, I've blogged about beer can chicken before but it's been an evolving recipe. I've played around with the rub, the types of beers and even the seasoning technique but I think I have finally perfected it. And you know what? I'm pretty excited about it!

I love crispy chicken skin. I could totally skip the meat and just eat the skin. I wish you could buy cracklings at the store (not the scary pork kind). I'd eat them by the handful. In the past, the skin was never crispy enough. So I tried a variety of things some of which didn't help. However, last night, I decided to dredge the entire chicken in flour, paint it with an egg wash and then apply the rub. Boom! We have crispy chicken skin. I also added about 2 teaspoons of panko crumbs to the rub. That gave an extra crunch, too.

Of all the beers I have tried (Sierra Nevada, Tacate, Lagunitas IPA, Budweiser and more) nothing has worked better than the Midwest classic Pabst Blue Ribbon. PBR is also refreshing to drink with the dinner because I like to make my rub super spicy!

I make grits all the time. Shrimp and grits, breakfast grits, sausage grits...but who can resist cheese grits? So, I dug around and got a recipe and made a couple tweaks. Delicious. However, I think I am going to add an extra cup of cheese to the top at the end and broil it until it browns and then serve it next time. When in doubt add more cheese.

Jalapeno & Green Chile Cheese Grits

• 2 cups quick-cooking grits
• 2 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Tapatio)
  
• 3 large eggs, well beaten
• 2 jalapenos, finely diced
• 1/4 cup canned chopped green chiles
• Garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook the grits according to the directions on the back of the package. Remove from the heat and add next 6 ingredients (Cheddar through chilies). Stir well and season with garlic salt, to taste. Pour into a buttered 9-inch baking dish and bake for 1 hour. Let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Beer Can Chicken and Jalapeno & Green Chile Cheese Grits

L'Arbre Croche Beach Grilled Three Cheese Sandwich

L'Arbre Croche, a private community on Little Traverse Bay between Petoskey and Harbor Springs, Michigan, is a special place that was inspired by Sea Ranch in Mendocino County, California. The beach at L'Arbre Croche is a great base for all ages in our family for planning activities, relaxing with a summer read, or checking out the magic cold springs. It is also a great place to have lunch at the beach house managed by Jane who delights in serving several comfort food items including my favorite, the Grilled Three Cheese Sandwich accompanied by a Half and Half.

I order mine with bacon which should make this a good post on "Everything is Better with Bacon".

The sandwich is made with tomatoes, grilled onions, bacon, and three cheeses, cheddar, American and Swiss, on French Bread thickly spread with mayonnaise and buttered on both the top and the bottom. This Midwest classic is grilled in a omelet pan with the weight of a small dish on the top slice on a gas burner adjusted to medium high heat.

This is a good order for all ages after an active morning of outdoor activities although I notice the younger members of our family still go for the mac and cheese or a hot dog.

I seem to always dip my sandwich in a pool of ketchup on my plate. The Half and Half is really an Arnold Palmer, a mixture of equal parts iced tea and lemonade.

When I was a cadet at West Point, special Sunday lunches sometimes featured the open faced version of this grilled three cheese sandwich, and I think this version at the L'Arbre Croche beach house is a pleasant reminder of those Sunday lunches after Cadet Chapel. The only casual meal of the week.

L'Arbre Croche Beach Grilled Three Cheese Sandwich