Category Archives: Poultry

EASY CHICKEN POT PIE

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IMG_5289I found these figural linen cocktail napkins on ebay.

IMG_5290 IMG_5291This one has a wonky eye 

I think they were made in the 1950s.  I had these birds of a feather framed together, and they brighten up my laundry room.  (It’s not like I was going to buy original art to hang next to the washer.)

My family has always had a thing for hens and roosters, because my maiden name or some variation of it means “chicken” or “hen” in German.  I collected roosters for a while, starting in college, but there’s no real challenge to finding them — they’re everywhere — and I kept just a few when I got married.

When I was around 8 years old, I came across a book of riddles in one of my parents’ friend’s bathrooms.  They had those kinds of friends.  Anyway, one of the riddles involved a rooster, and I had no idea what was so funny about it, but when I told it to my parents (because they liked roosters) they about bust a gut laughing. From that point on, they would encourage me to tell it to their friends (“oh, go on, tell them your joke!”), who would also cackle with laughter.  Like I said, they had those kinds of friends.  Here’s the riddle, in case you’d like to teach your young ones to tell it for cheap laughs:

Q:  What’s the difference between a rooster, Uncle Sam, and an old maid?

A:  The rooster says “cock-a-doodle-do,” Uncle Sam says “Yankee doodle do,” and the old maid says “any cockle do.”

Again, they had those kinds of friends. [Note:  “cockle” is intentionally misspelled :)]

Well, just as some times you want cheap and easy wall art, or a cheap and easy laugh, some times you want a cheap and easy chicken dinner, and that’s what has inspired this Easy Chicken Pot Pie.  It’s tasty and satisfying factory-to-table fare that you can put together in about five minutes.  I was introduced to it when my friend Laura, herself a new mom, brought it over for my family after my daughter was born, and it was as appreciated then as it is now on busy school and work nights.  Cock-a-doodle-do!

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EASY CHICKEN POT PIE
Author: 
Recipe type: Poultry, Main Courses
 
Ingredients
  • 2 9-inch pie crusts (I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts)
  • 2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (I usually use rotisserie chicken)
  • 8 ounces frozen peas and carrots*
  • 8-ounces frozen corn
  • 1 can Campbell's Cream of Potato Soup
  • 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
  • ⅓ cup water
  • ½ teaspoon dried dill
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • *Note: can substitute 1 pound of frozen mixed vegetables for corn and peas and carrots
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one pie crust in a deep dish pie plate. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Transfer filling to pie plate, and cover with remaining crust. Press edges of top and bottom crusts together, crimping decoratively. Cut 3 or 4 vents in top of crust. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until crust is golden. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

002 (4)

Spoon the filling into the crust  003 (7)

 Cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape

005 (3)

Cheap and easy — like my parents’ friends

SALSA VERDE

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It’s Hatch chile time!  The Hatch chile grows in the Hatch Valley, an area that stretches north and south along the Rio Grande in New Mexico.  It’s a “designer” chile, developed at New Mexico State University over the past 130 years specifically for conditions in the Hatch Valley.  The peppers come in mild, medium, hot, and extra hot, although you can’t tell how hot they are just by looking at them.  Extra hot chiles reportedly have the strongest chile fragrance.

When buying fresh Hatch chiles, look for bright green, symmetrical peppers.  The peppers should be firm, with smooth skin, and feel heavy for their size.

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The smell wafting from the giant iron roasters in front of the grocery stores entices me to purchase bags of roasted chiles every year.  Usually I go home and stick them in the freezer, where they remain until they are destroyed by freezer burn months later.  But not this year!  Recently, I purchased a package of Frontera Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, and made green chile chicken and cheese enchiladas, which were quite a hit here.

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Using my bag of freshly-roasted Hatch chiles, I made my own salsa verde, based on a recipe adapted from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen.  It was surprisingly easy and tasty, and I’m already planning to make another batch or two to freeze.

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SALSA VERDE
Author: 
Recipe type: Sauces
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound tomatillos (10-12 medium), husked and rinsed
  • 3 fresh Hatch or serrano chiles, stemmed
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Salt, to taste
Instructions
  1. Roast tomatillos and chiles, either by placing on grill or on a baking sheet under a broiler. Roast until blackened and blistered on one side, approximately 5 minutes, then turn over using tongs and roast the other side. Transfer tomatillos and chiles to a food processor or blender.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Transfer onions and garlic to food processor or blender. Pulse to a rough-looking puree -- avoid overprocessing.
  3. Heat remaining ½ tablespoon of oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add puree and stir constantly for 4-5 minutes, until puree thickens and darkens slightly. Stir in the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro, and season to taste with salt.

002 (2)

Stir the puree constantly

011 (3)

Salsa verde

004

 Place shredded chicken and cheese on a corn tortilla

005 (2)

 Roll ’em up, spread a little sauce on the bottom of a baking dish,

and place seam side down 

006 (4)

 Cover with sauce and sprinkle with additional cheese

009 (2)

 Bake at 350 degrees approximately 20 minutes,

until heated through and cheese is melted