Chicken Pot Pie-2

Recipe number two for chicken pot pie. I liked it better than the first recipe. I roasted the chicken with the Roast Chicken with Herbs recipe and saved the drippings. The topping for the pie was gluten-free. I got that recipe from Silvanas Kitchen. Here is my best guess as to how I made the filling.

1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
Other veggies
2 C cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

Saute onions, celery, and carrots till the onion is slightly transparent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute just a bit. Then add frozen peas and any other vegies you want. I added some left over roasted potatoes cut into cubes. Then add your cooked chicken. Pour this into a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1/4 C chicken drippings (from your roasted chicken) or butter or oil
1/4 C GF flour mix
3 T corn starch
3 C vegetable stock

Mix the flours and fat together over medium heat till smooth. Then add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer till thickened. Add to the vege mixture.

GF Crust for topping

1¾ cups (245g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (117g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg (58g), lightly beaten, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

In a food processor, combine the flour blend, salt and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the beaten egg; pulse until the dough almost forms a ball. Remove the dough and gather it into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a clean surface. Lightly dust with flour blend and place the dough on top, sprinkle with more flour and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape that will cover your baking dish. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Flip the dough on top of the pie filling and remove the plastic wrap. Trim any excess dough, crimp crust edges together. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make 3 slits on top. Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake until golden, about 1 hour.

**I forgot to take a photo before we dove in. This is my favorite chicken pot pie so far.

Chicken pot pie-1

I ended up bagging the stock from the chicken soup earlier this week and freezing it for later. I cut the chicken up into bits for this dish. I found this recipe on food.com. I have amended the recipe below.

• 1 package pie crust, thawed and rolled for top
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spelt)
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 3/4 cups cooked chicken (cut up)
• 2 cups mixed vegetables-I used cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, and frozen peas.

Directions:

1. Thaw crust according to package directions-or make your own.
2. Heat butter in large saucepan. Cook onion in butter until tender-crisp.
3. Add flour and seasonings, mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and is smoothly thickened.
5. Stir in chicken and vegetables.
6. Cool slightly. Spoon into baking dish.
7. Place rolled out puff pastry on top and make slits for steam to escape.
8. Bake on lower rack in oven @ 375*F. until filling is bubbling and crust is puffed and golden brown. 30-35 minutes.

**this is a super easy dish to make. However, I didn't think it was flavorful enough. Next time, I'll up the spices and make sure to include a bit of sage and rosemary.

Spring Fettuccine

The basis of this recipe comes from Fettucini alla Primavera. I will be using more vegies than it calls for. Since I've never made this recipe- we'll see what changes as it gets made. The recipe below is what I intend to make- not the recipe on the link.

6+ oz frozen baby peas
1 C zucchini, sliced and cut in half
1 cup frozen edamame
1 C baby carrots, peeled
1 1/2 oz butter
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 lb brown rice fettuccine
4 oz ham, diced
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C cream
1/2 C low-fat milk
fresh mint
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) for serving

Take peas out of the freezer. Drop the edemame into a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water. Bring the water to the boil, then cook the beans for 3-4 minutes. Drain. Plunge the carrots into lightly salted boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Steam the zucchini until al dente. Put the butter into a medium-sized frying pan and add the chopped onion. Cook gently until very tender. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of gently boiling well-salted water until al dente. Add the edamame, carrots, and zucchini to the onion in the pan and cook for a few minutes more, until hot. Add the ham and season the sauce with a few pinches of salt and plenty of black pepper. Pour in the cream and let it bubble up for a few minutes (don't over-reduce it). Turn off the heat.As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain it over the peas and turn it all into a heated serving bowl. Add the mint to the sauce, then pour all the contents of the pan on top of the pasta. Toss well and serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6

 **Delicious! I used 2 large carrots, 2 small zucchini, half a larger bag of baby peas, and a whole small  bag of frozen edamame. Because of the extra veges, I put in 3/4 C whole cream and 3/4 C of 2%. I didn't cut the mint up, but put in some leaves whole. Keeper for sure!

Pasta with Salmon and Peas in an alfredo sauce

This dish works with either fresh, frozen and cooked, or smoked salmon. It works with fresh or frozen peas. It works with packaged or freshly made alfredo sauce. This is another staple dish at our house.

2 pkgs pasta (we use gluten free)
2 pkgs alfredo sauce (or make your own)
1/2 bag frozen peas (or fresh)
salmon to taste

Cook the pasta. While it is cooking, make the alfredo sauce. When the pasta is finished, drain it on top of the frozen peas. Put it back in the pot, stir in the salmon and pour the alfredo sauce on top.

 **Delicious as always. The kids made it this time.

Lamb Pasties/Meat Pies

Tonight we're having the leftover lamb, transformed into little meat pies. Here is the recipe for Lamb Pasties.

Makes 4

8 oz (225)g rich shortcrust pastry
6-8 oz (175-225g) lean cooked lamb, diced or coarsely minced
2 t chopped fresh mint
1 T grated onion
salt and pepper
2 oz (50g) peas, cooked
2-3 T cream
beaten egg to glaze

Preheat the oven to 425.
Roll out the dough and cut into four 7 inch rounds.
Mix together all the remaining ingredients except the beaten egg and divide between the dough rounds.
Dampen the edges, bring them together and press firmly to seal. Crimp.
Place on a greased baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

**I made my own pastry with spelt flour. I used defrosted frozen peas.
This was tasty enough- still a bit lamby for my kids. It was easy to make and an OK way to use up the lamb. I put chutney on mine-  mint would have been nice. Ketchup got added to another one. I think it could have used more mint and onion.