Chicken Pot Pie

From Williams-Sonoma
Serves 4-6

1 C sliced peeled carrots
1 C shelled fresh peas or thawed frozen peas
1 C corn kernels
2 T unsalted butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, about 1 1/2 lbs, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 T chopped shallot
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C chicken stock
1/2 C dry white wine
1/2 C half-n-half
1 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 t water
Basic Pie Dough rolled into a 9-inch round

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bring a saucepan three-fourth full of lightly salted water to a boil. Using a pasta insert or large sieve, immerse the carrots and peas in the water and boil until crisp tender, 3-5 minutes. Lift out, drain, and transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the corn, boiling for 1 minute. Set aside.

In a large frying pan with a lid over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the chicken and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add the shallot and cook, stirring until softened, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir well. Stir in the stock, wine, half-n-n half, and parsley and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce eh heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the carrots, peas, and corn. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish. Brush some of the egg yolk mixture in a 1-inch border around the edge of the pie dough round. Place the round, egg side down, over the filling and press the dough to the rim of the dish. Trim off any overhanging dough and brush the surface lightly with the remaining egg yolk mixture. Cut a few slits in the center of the top with the tip of a knife.

Place the dish on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

**Notes from Em**

I substitute the vegetables around also using peas and green beans. So long as you have a total of 3 cups, and it's a veg that won't mush (like zucchini) you should be fine to use just about
anything.

When adding the liquids into your chicken/butter/flour mixture, do it really slowly like when you're making a roux. This will help to make sure the sauce gets nice and thick.

Basic Pie Dough

This is a slightly more savory dough than the recipe I use for actual pies. Use this one for pot pies etc.

From Williams-Sonoma
Makes one 9-inch round

1 1/4 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 T sugar
Salt
1/2 C cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 T ice water

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and 1/4 t salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water 1 T at a time, and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball, and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for best results). Lightly flour a work surface, then flatten the disk with 6-8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll, lifting and turning the dough and dusting the surface as needed, into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

From Williams-Sonoma
Makes 4 Main-Course or 6 First-Course servings

2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 C freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1/4 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and coarsely ground pepper
1 lb dried spaghetti
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
1/4-lb piece pancetta cut into small cubes
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
1/2 C dry white wine
Generous handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, break the eggs into a warmed large, shallow bowl, add the cheese, and whisk to blend well.

Generously salt the boiling water, add the spaghetti, and cook until al dente, 7-9 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, in a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the pancetta and saute until just starting to become crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half.

Drain the pasta, leaving a bit of water clinging to it, and add it to the bowl with the egg cheese mixture. Toss quickly (this will heat the eggs and leave a creamy coating on each strand of pasta). Add the pancetta with all of the pan juices.

Season to taste with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Add the parsley and toss again. Serve at once.

**Notes from Em**
It was impossible to find pancetta, so I substituted bacon, and it was still really good. Next time I make it I will leave out the parsley (my husband I don't like it), and maybe add some halved cherry tomatoes just for fun.

Carne Asada

This is a 3 piece meal that I put together a couple of weeks ago, and with the warming up weather, it was INREDIBLY satisfying. It was also really nice to be able to cook outside instead of heating up the house.

2 pounds carne asada
2 avocado
8-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 limes
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 C white rice
1/2 packet Sazon seasoning
4 tortillas

Cook rice according to package directions, adding the Sazon seasoning to the boiling water.

Preheat the grill to 350F.

Slice open the avocado's and remove the pit. Spoon out the fruit, roughly dice it, and place it in a serving bowl. Add cherry tomatoes, juice of 1 lime, some cilantro, and then season to taste with salt and garlic powder.

If the carne asada comes unseasoned, then season as you desire. Cook the meat on the hot grill for approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Once everything is done, serve the rice, guacamole, and steak. If you want, you can also put this in a tortilla.

Super Easy Roast Chicken

The more pregnant I get (I'm 38 weeks right now) the less motivation I have to make spectacular dinners. It's just too much effort to stand up for that long. My desire for really tasty dinners however, has no decreased. So I decided to try my hand at a roast chicken. It's one of those meals that has always been intimidating to me for some reason, but this was really simple, super tasty, pretty healthy, and involved about 10 minutes total prep time for the entire meal.

1 whole chicken
2 T butter
Salt
Pepper
Marjoram
Savory
Stuffing mix - chicken flavored
Canned green beans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using several paper towels, pat the chicken until it is dry. With your hands rub the chicken with butter, then sprinkle generously with all of the seasonings. Put in a roasting pan (or 9x13) and place in oven. Cook 20-25 minutes per pound of chicken until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180F.

Once the chicken is done, cook the stuffing according to its package direction, and heat the green beans.

**The 'official' pattern for carving a chicken is as follows: First remove the back legs and thighs. Next remove the wings. Finally remove the breast, and slice as desired. Once you've done that, you'll have to essentially 'clean' the rest of the chicken by hand. These small pieces are really good in soups etc.

They're Still Amazing

I made these amazing muffins again this morning, and was reminded at how INCREDIBLE they are. I doubt that I'll bother ever buying a muffin mix again. If you want a different flavor of muffin, these would be incredibly easy to adapt to just about anything. Apple cinnamon, lemon poppy seed, chocolate chip, cherry, you name it, it'll go well in these amazing muffins. Though I still think the blueberry will always be my favorite. There's just something nostalgic about blueberry muffins with crumb topping.

Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

From Cooking Light

Serves 4

Mayo:
1/4 C reduced-fat mayo
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 t fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced

Chicken:
1/4 C egg substitute (or 1 large egg)
3 T hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t salt
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 1/2 ounces baked tortilla chips (about 6 cups)
2 T olive oil

Remaining Ingredients:
4 Kaiser rolls, split
12 red onion slices
4 lettuce leaves

To prepare mayo, combine the first 4 ingredients

To prepare chicken, combine egg substitute, hot sauce, oregano, and salt in a large zip-top plastic bag. Cut chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 cutlets. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Place tortilla chips in a food processor; process 1 minute or until ground. Place ground chips in a shallow dish.

Working with one cutlet at a time, remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken completely in chips. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and chips.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned and done. Spread mayo evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer bottom half of each roll with 3 onion slices, 1 lettuce leaf, and 1 chicken cutlet, top with top halves of rolls.

**Notes from Em**
We barely had enough of the mayo to do 3 sandwiches, so I would definitely at least double it next time. There was also a comment on the original website saying that Swiss Cheese was a good addition to this tasty sandwich.

I used the left over chicken to make a mock Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Just stick it on a hamburger bun with mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle.

10/24 I made this again today and didn't do enough of the corn chips, so I used some Panko. I think that's what I'll use from now on. It was a lot easier, and it stuck to the chicken better.