Chicken Pot Pie

For any day of the following week, if you come across with a problem about not knowing what to make for dinner, I highly recommend you this chicken pot pie.

My very first improvised chicken pot pie is not about the pie itself. Weird, huh?! Yes, cause it’s all about the filling which was completely-beyond-my-expectation easy to make, delicious and versatile. I made extra to go with pasta and white rice.

If the crust sounds too intimating for you, use store brought puff pastry instead or just forget it. Again, it’s the filling which you can have it plain.

Yet, don’t make it if you don’t have white wine and cream. Extremely important!

The portion I had was way bigger that the one in the photo. That was Ethan’s bowl. He loved it too!

(serves 4 – 6)

Ingredients:

6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup white wine
6 cups shredded chicken thigh meat
3/4 cup green peas, frozen or fresh

3/4 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten

short crust pastry (double portion)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions and carrots, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 mins.

Add the flour and cook, stirring for another minute. Slowly whisk in chicken stock to blend completely with the flour. 

Add milk and cream. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 mins, stirring often. Add the chicken meat, wine, peas, corns, salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Divide the filling among  4 to 6 ramekins.

Roll out the crust dough on a lightly flour surface to around 1/4″ thick. Cut into rounds with around 1/2″ larger than the circumference of the ramekins. Lay a dough round on each pot pie filling. Fold the excess dough under itself and use a fork to press the dough against the edge of the ramekins. Cut a 1-inch vent into each individual pie. 

Lightly brush the beaten egg on each pie. Line a baking sheet with foil, place the pies on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 mins, until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Let cool for 5 mins and serve.

Thai Noodle Salad

Now, KitchenAid, you are wonderful. I love you, I can’t live without your stand mixer. And I want to have your everything! But YOU ARE NOT PERFECT.

I’m such a dumb who can’t even manage to use your can-opener for one single time. Always stuck in the middle of the can top circle, I can never have a smooth cut. And the dumbest of the dumb was I used my bare hand to finish the thing off. I got cut. So deeply that I was not able to cook for days.

YOU ARE NOT PERFECT. But I love you.

I’m now just posting what I have in my archive.

(Serve 4-6)

Ingredients:

For Dressing:

1 cup honey

1 whole red pepper, seed removed

3 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp hot pepper paste

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp oyster sauce

For Noodle:

1/2 lb capellin noodle or spaghettini, cooked and cooled under cold water, drained

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 red pepper, finely sliced

4 green onion, cut thinly on the diagonal

1/2 cup Italian Parsley, coarsely chopped

Directions:

To prepare dressing, combine honey, red pepper, garlic, hot pepper paste and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until the red peppers are pureed. Add lemon juice, vinegar and oyster sauce, stir well and set aside.

Heat oil over medium heat in a small skillet, and cook garlic just until it is fragrant and begins to brown, about 1 min. Remove from the heat and cool completely. 

In a large bowl, toss cooled pasta with garlic and oil. Add red pepper, green onion and parsley. Toss with enough dressing to coat and chill before serving.

Lebanese Styled Stuffed Eggplant

When I thought this dish from Smitten Kitchen would definitely be the hit for the dinner gathering I planned the other night, it turned out one of the ladies was allergic to eggplant. And I didn’t know that until she told me at the table before we started eating. I was all “how stupid I am, I should’ve let them see the menu before!”

But thank God who did help me a bit. Since there was too much stuffing for the eggplants I had, and so happened a couple of red peppers just appeared in my refrigerator without telling me, I made some stuffed red peppers as well. Gosh, I was so glad that I made extra peppers or…..I don’t know what “or” would happen.

Honestly, the stuffed red peppers did taste better than the eggplants. One thing was the natural sweetness of peppers, another reason was I did not season the inside of eggplants (which I think is hugely necessary) according to the original recipe, and so the eggplants tasted a little bit plain.

(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:

6-8 baby eggplants

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock
5 roma tomatoes, diced
3/4 lb ground chicken, lamb or beef
1 teaspoon thyme or oregano, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Hollow out each eggplant with a melon-ball cutter or a pairing knife, leaving about 1/3 inch eggplant flesh along interior walls.

Rinse rice in a sieve under cold water until water runs clear. Drain well.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 mins. Transfer 1/2 cup onion mixture to bowl with pine nuts.

Add stock and tomatoes to the covered skillet and simmer, season with salt and pepper, while stuffing eggplant.

Add rice, meat, herb, salt and pepper to bowl with onion mixture and mix well.

Sprinkle a little salt along the inside walls of eggplants. Stuff eggplant with meat mixture, being careful not to pack tightly (rice will expand during cooking).

Transfer stuffed eggplants to skillet with tomato sauce and simmer, covered, carefully turning once, until rice is cooked through, 50 mins to one hour.

If sauce is watery, transfer eggplants to a plate and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, 3 to 5 mins, then adjust seasoning if necessary. Return stuffed eggplants to sauce. Squeeze lemon over dish and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Simple Nachos and Easy Guacamole

Not every time, but the ritual is there for hockey nights – nachos dipped into guacamole, plus a bottle of cool beer.

You might wonder if that’s guacamole. And I assure you, YES, I LOVE IT CHUNKY!

(serves 2 – 4)
Ingredients:
For Nachos:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag of tortilla chips
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 red onion, sliced

For Guacamole:
3 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
4 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
hot pepper sauce

Directions:
Brown the ground beef with olive oil in a medium skillet. Drain. Add the chili power, cumin, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Grease a heat-proof platter with oil. Preheat over to 400F.

Spread a layer of chips over the platter bottom, top with half the ground beef, 1 cup of cheese and half the sliced onion. Repeat with another layers of chips, beef, cheese and onion.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins.

To prepare guacamole, mash avocado and tomato coarsely in a bowl with a fork.

Add reminding ingredients and blend gently.

Serve with warm nachos.

Tomato Risotto

One thing about Facebook is you would have someone you could barely remember by looking at his/her name wishing you “happy birthday” on your birthday. That made me realize one cruel truth – without Facebook, your barely remembered friends wouldn’t care less about your birthday! It just takes too much for them to send you a greeting through other ways, like email or phone. Don’t mention a party! Over Facebook, you are reminded of all your friends’ personal events. What you have to do is just type and send a greeting message. No strings attached!

And how ironic it is, when I’ve been trying to forget my birthday, I am actually being reminded by some really not close friends.

Except being away from my really close friends (which sucks!), my birthday was actually pretty much what I’ve been asking for – a very first one with my lovely son, Ethan!

This risotto was not part of the birthday dinner. This is actually Ethan’s daily meal. Yes, who said baby can’t eat gourmet food!

(serves 4)
Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 1/4 cup Arborio rice

1 cup white wine (replace with 1 cup chicken broth for Ethan)

5 medium sized tomato, chopped (peeled for Ethan)

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, warmed

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Heat oil and butter in a skillet on high heat, cook for 1 minute.

Add onion and garlic. Cook for 2 mins. Add rice and stir to coat. Cook for another 2 mins, or until a white dot is visible in the center of each grain.

Stir in wine and cook for 1 min or until almost absorbed, stirring constantly.

Add chopped tomato and 1/2 cup chicken broth and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Add 1/2 cup broth at a time, cooking until the broth is absorbed before adding more. Stir constantly.

When all chicken broth has been added, rice should be tender but still firm when done. The total cooking time should be about 30 mins. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat, stir in Parmersan cheese. Top each serving with chopped fresh basil.

Miso Soup with Clams and Tofu

My husband, Matt, does have his signature dishes. I’ve never heard of this soup until he brought this up when we were shopping for dinner the other night.

And, oh boy, this soup was tasty, filling, satisfying, invigorating, simple-to-made and beautiful. As I can’t seem to find anyone who doesn’t like miso soup, this deluxe version is definitely a superb comfort food.

(serves 2, generously)
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh clams, scrubbed and washed
4 cups water
2 tbsp miso paste or to taste
1/2 block soft tofu, cut into small cubes
1 tbsp chopped green onion
a handful of thinly sliced dried seaweed

Directions:
Bring water to boil. Add miso paste and stir until it completely dissolved.

Add clams and soft tofu cubes, boil until all clams are open.

Top with chopped green onion and dried seaweed.

Serve hot plain or with steamed rice.

Broiled Buffalo Wings

I don’t have a deep fryer at home. The thought of buying one have come across my mind occasionally for the past few years, especially the moment when I saw it’s being used on Food Network. It doesn’t take up much space, it has a sleek design, the non-stick parts make cleanup a breeze. And most importantly, the fried food tastes so much better than pan-fried food.

However, I still can’t figure out what to do with the large amount of used oil. I find it really a waste to consume so much oil to just make a plate of fries, maybe half dozen of donuts, maybe some calamari…..The delicious taste of fried food just can’t overcome my guilt of not being able to fully use a full can of oil.

So, over these years, I’ve been using my oven to create the “artificial” fried food to satisfy my cravings.

(makes around 20 chicken winglets)
Ingredients:
20 chicken winglets
3 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp tobasco
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Make the marinade by mixing together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Reserve 2 tbsp for coating after the wings come out of the oven.

Marinade the wings with the remaining marinade at room temperature for half an hour.

Drain the marinade off the wings. Place wings on the rack of a broiler pan. Broil on the top shelf in the oven for 15 mins, until wings are no longer pink. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.

Serve hot with blue cheese dip.

Ham, Cheese and Caramelized Onion Quiche

I’ve never stressed enough how much I wanted spring/summer to come. However, to my frustration, it came another snow and cold wind instead.

It’s April, man!!!!!!! Please give me warm weather!!!!!

Finally I made a summer dish to comfort myself.

(makes one 9″ quiche)
Ingredients:
1 short crust pastry
2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 large onions, sliced

Pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup ham, chopped or sliced
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cup old-aged cheddar cheese

Directions:
Roll out pastry dough. Fit into a 9″ round tart pan. Transfer to freezer to chill for at least an hour (It helps dough from shrinking when being baked).

Heat olive oil in a sautee pan on medium heat. Add the onions with salt and pepper. Cook until onions are softened, about 10 mins. Stir occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 20 mins, until the onions are browned, but not burned. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for 10 mins more, until onions are completely caramelized. Remove from heat.

In the same pan, raise the heat. Add ham and sautee for about 10 mins. Remove from heat and mix with onions. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place tart pan onto baking sheet to catch any spilling.

Sprinkle half of the cheese on the bottom of the tart shell. Evenly spread out ham and onion mixture over the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Mix eggs, milk and green onions. Season with salt and pepper, and pour mixture over the cheese.

Transfer to oven, and bake for about 30 mins until the center is set.

Serve warm with greens.

Thai Vermicelli Salad

All about cravings!!! When you are pregnant with specific carving coming on your way, you know you will have to get it done right away.

So, I made Thai salad as I really want something fresh, minty, limey and spicy…….plus I truly crave for the special taste of glass noodle (or vermicelli noodle) in this flavorful salad.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
a handful of glass noodle or vermicelli noodle
2 tbsp canola oil
200g minced beef
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp chili powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp brown sugar
6-8 large prawns, chopped
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or skinned peanuts
salt and pepper to taste

a handful of chopped coriander, mint, thai basil, green onion

2 tsp minced ginger 1 jalapeno, finely chopped 2 lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce

Directions:
Soak the noodle in boiling water for 5 mins for glass noodle or 15 mins for vermicelli noodle. Drain.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan, cook minced beef with cumin and chili powder for 5-8 mins until fragrant. Add garlic, sugar, prawns and pumpkin seeds or peanuts. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix ginger, jalapeno, lime juice and fish sauce for the dressing.

When the meat mixture is still warm, mix in the greens, noodle and dressing.

Serve when cooled.

Pork Shoulder Chops with Caramelized Onions & Baked Potato

Among all parts of pork, I love pork shoulder. Pork shoulder is always tender and easy to cook. You can either spend little time on chops like this recipe. Or slow-cooking a shoulder roast in an oven, then shred the meat for pasta, tortilla or bruschette. Plus, pork is always the most inexpensive meat that you can feed a crowd without sweating.

(serves 2)
Ingredients:

For Pork Chop:

4 small to medium sized pork shoulder chops

1 tbsp canola oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

6 sage leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to season

For Baked Potato:
2 baker potatoes

2 slices of bacon, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to season

Directions:
Prick potatoes all over with a fork.

Bake potatoes at 400F for 45 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 mins, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool.

Pull over half the bacon fat, add canola oil. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Sear both sides over medium high heat until nicely brown. Remove the chops to another dish.

In the same pan, saute onions until caramelized, around 10 mins.

Deglaze the pan with wine. Reduce heat to simmer. Return the pork chops to the pan, add stock and chopped sage. Cover the pan and simmer until pork is tender, about 30 mins.

For the potatoes, after 45 mins. Remove them from the oven. Slice the top lengthwise, and scoop out the flesh. Add cheese, crumbled bacon, green onion. salt and pepper. Mash well and then stuff back into the potato shells.

Return to oven and bake for another 20 mins, or until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through.

To serve, place baked potato next to the pork chops, pull over onion sauce on top, and sprinkle chopped sage.