Tag: dinner

Posted on

Thanksgiving recap

A few years ago, Mr. Man and I started a “Thanksgiving for Two” tradition.  I was so busy working so much that it was a special treat to spend some time at home cooking.  I would make all the traditional sides: green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, yams with marshmallows on top, dressing, either pumpkin or apple pie (or both) and then we would get just the turkey breast to roast.  We would have Pillsbury crescent rolls and that delicious cranberry relish from Trader Joes and a nice bottle of wine.  I would set the table with our wedding china and crystal…it was a whole thing.

Now that I’ve been home a lot more and cooking more regularly, spending two days doing all those things lost some of its appeal.

This year, we spent Thanksgiving with our very dear family friends.  They are my second family and it is always fun to get to hang out with them.  Between the cooking and the eating, the catching up and the “remember when”s it was a full evening.

These friends have a lovely hillside house with fantastic views of Los Angeles and Orange County.  It was a beautiful sunset and I spent some time on the deck watching the almost-full moon rising through the trees.

Once the moon was out, the coyotes got to work.  There were a few different packs down the hill a ways braying and howling.  Hopefully all of the neighbors had brought their kitties and little dogs inside.  At one point during the evening, Buddy, their big dog got out.  It certainly wouldn’t be a family get-together without some sort of drama now, would it?  I don’t know if he went out there to run the coyotes off, but it quieted down outside, and he came home before too long.

 

pretty table setting

Dinner was lovely.  The turkey was tender, there were yummy potatoes, two kinds of dressing, brussels sprouts, King’s Hawaiian rolls and of course plenty of good wine.  I made my “famous” spaghetti squash salad. It turned out yummy again which was a relief!

In addition to the usual suspects, a new friend joined us, and it was a treat to get to meet her.  She loves to bake (a good quality to look for in new friends) and brought the pie.  Not just pumpkin pie, it was pumpkin/sweet potato pie.  And it was divine.  She mentioned that in addition to all the meticulous effort she puts into preparing the pumpkin/sweet potato puree, she uses coconut cream instead of dairy cream for the custard.  Ah ha!  Remember when I told you that I thought that my coconut cream came out silkier than regular pastry cream?  It wasn’t just a fluke; other people do the same thing on purpose.  I love spontaneous positive reinforcement!

Almost looks too good to eat

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you host?  What was your favorite dish?  Was there anything that you didn’t make that you wish you had?

Posted on

Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie

Who doesn’t like chicken pot pie?  I like it enough that I don’t mind making it from scratch.  But, I am not great at winding up with something with the perfect filling-to-crust ratio and at some point, there are just a few too many steps for my liking.  So, I decided to make a “deconstructed” chicken pot pie.  I would make the filling and then make biscuits separately.

I thought about looking for a recipe, but decided to wing it.  Two recipes that I have made before and like are Wolfgang Puck’s Chicken Pot Pie (https://wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/) and Ina Garten’s Seafood Gratin (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/seafood-gratin-recipe-1953985).  I decided to riff off of both of them for the filling.  For the biscuits, it was mom’s classic biscuit recipe of course.

Here is what I came up with:

Chicken Pot Pie Filling:

  • 2 cups of leeks chopped (about one leek – I got the cleaned, packaged leeks at Trader Joes)
  • 2 cups chopped celery (since the leek was 2 cups, I based the rest of the veggies off of that)
  • 2 cups of chopped carrots
  • 2 chicken breasts, cubed
  • Oil (I used canola, olive oil would work too)
  • White wine (few splashes, maybe ¼ cup?)
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 cups milk (I used whole milk this time, you can also use part milk, part chicken broth)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Herbs de Provence

In a skillet (I used cast iron) heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan over medium-ish heat.  Add the leeks, celery, and carrots.  Sauté vegetables until they reduce by approximately half (5 minutes-ish).  Add dash of salt.  Add splash of white wine, continue to cook for a few more minutes.  Once everything looks nicely softened, remove from pan (I just had a mixing bowl on the side to put things in to hang out).

Then throw the cubed chicken in the pan.  Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of herbs de Provence (if you want, I have a thing for thyme these days and like to use it whenever I think I can get away with it).  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from pan (I just stashed it in the same bowl with the veggies).

I had found a zucchini in the refrigerator, so I sliced it up and threw it in the pan to sauté for a few minutes too.  Mushrooms would be good too.  So, if you add any extra veggies, once they’re cooked, remove them to your storage bowl.

Then throw the butter in the pan.  Once it starts to melt, sprinkle in the flour and get your roux going.  This should pick up all the good bits that the sautéed veggies and chicken left in the pan.  Let the flour cook for a few minutes, then add the milk a bit at a time (I did not warm my milk first, which does make the roux seize up, but it will smooth out after it warms up, just keep stirring).  Add some salt and pepper to the sauce (it might have been fun to add some paprika or cayenne here…maybe next time).  Once the sauce is warm and starting to thicken, throw the chicken and veggies back in the pan.  Add fresh peas (1 cup?), stir to combine and let it sit there on low/medium low heat.

Now you can throw the biscuits together.

Mom’s Classic Biscuit Recipe

Preheat oven to 450.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp shortening (I used unsalted butter this time)
  • 2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together.  Blend in butter or shortening.  Add milk.

Once the dough comes together, turn it out on a floured surface.  Roll it out (I just mashed it out with my hand).  Use a biscuit cutter (or a glass) to cut the biscuits.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes (they will be pale, but should be slightly golden on top).

 

 

I served the filling in a bowl with the biscuits on a plate on the side.  I had 2 tablespoons of butter from the stick that I used to make the biscuits with, so I whipped up a little batch of honey butter (yum!).

Overall, I think it came out really yummy.  I could have cooked the vegetables more, they were a little crisp, but I liked the fresh crunch with the creamy sauce.  It certainly is a lot more steps than sheet pan dinner, I don’t think that I would like to go through this much bother every week.

Posted on

Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner

Here we go again!  Cooking without a net.

I keep seeing “sheet pan dinners” on the internet.  I’m not even sure where – Facebook? Pinterest? All of the above? But often enough that I decided that it might be worth trying out.  And it was cool enough last week to consider using the oven, so why not!

Instead of starting by looking up some recipes, I started by going to Trader Joes and grabbing a few things that caught my eye.  So I come home with chicken breasts, brussels sprouts and butternut squash – should be ok, right?

Now that its time to start cooking, I decide to see if I can find a recipe or at least some help with regard to temperature and cooking time.  Also, do you have to do it on a sheet pan? Why not a baking dish?

I find a recipe on Pinterest for chicken with brussels sprouts and butternut squash.  Seriously?  That’s a good sign!  Ok, now I’ve read it once and gotten some direction on time and temperature and a good enough explanation as to why a sheet pan.  There are a bunch of other instructions, but I ignore those and get to work.

Trim the brussels, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, dump them on the pan.  Check.

Squash gets tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, then on the pan.

For the chicken how about some Herbs de Provence, mustard and honey?  Sure, why not!

Alright, this looks respectable.  Into a 425 degree oven.  How long did it say?  Um….how about 20 minutes then check?  Sounds good.  Ok, maybe another 20 minutes, that chicken doesn’t seem quite cooked enough.

 

Tada!

It turned out pretty good!  Mr. Man said that he would eat it again (that is always a victory when it comes to kitchen adventures).  It was easy to clean up. We got a good serving of veggies in.  The leftovers weren’t too massive.  I will try this again for sure.

Do you make sheet pan dinners?  What do you like to use?