Chicken Pot Pies

It took me about 3 tries to make these mini, deliciously comforting pot pies turn out presentable.  First, I over stuffed the little puffs of heavenly goodness a little too much.  Everything good in them came bursting out.  What a sad moment.  Then I spilled the peas…

Then I forgot the peas.  Clearly peas and I don’t get along too well.

But, I finally managed to get everything into the dish and voila! Tasty individual pot pies full of savory goodness.

Ingredients:

• 1 package refrigerated pie crust
• 2-3 medium red-skin potatoes cleaned and diced
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 2 carrots peeled and diced
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1 can chicken broth
• Olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 3 TBSP parsley finely chopped
• 2 chicken breasts or chicken thighs
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 3 TBSP butter
• 3  TBSP flour
• 4 ramekins or 2 large (depending on the size)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
• Drizzle olive oil over chicken and rub to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place in a metal roasting pan
• In a medium bowl combine diced potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic and onion.  Season with salt, pepper, parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Toss together. Add vegetables to roasting pan with chicken.
• Bake until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.
• When cooked, remove chicken and shred when it is cool enough to touch. Put vegetables and shredded chicken in a bowl off to the side.  Add the peas!
• Place the roasting pan on the stove and melt butter.
• Once the butter is melted and hot add the flour to make a roux.
• Add the chicken broth. Using a whisk or wooden spoon, scrape all the yummy brown drippings from roasting the chicken and vegetables. You don’t want to lose all that flavor! Plus it helps make cleaning up the pan easier later!
• Reduce it down, you want it to be fairly thick in consistency since these are mini pies.  You don’t want it to be too runny of a liquid. Stir well until the roux turns a golden color and is smooth.
• Turn oven temperature up to 425 degrees.
• Pour the roux into the chicken and vegetable mixture.
• Line the ramekins with the puff pastry.  If you don’t have ramekins you can cut the pastry dough into 4 equal rectangles and create mini pies that way. Just be careful when sealing them up so they don’t burst open.
• Scoop chicken mixture into each so they are full but not over flowing.
• Seal each ramekin with more puff pastry to close off the top. Pinch the edges to seal them closed.
• In a small bowl beat egg and water.  Brush the top of each ramekin with egg wash.
• Place on a baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown in color.

Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cups

Part two from this weekends Halloween treats sampling! These buffalo chicken wonton cups are sure to please anyone! I couldn’t stop eating them.  The crispy wonton cups and cheesy, creamy buffalo chicken are so great together. These are perfect to serve as an appetizer or better yet, a great football Sunday snack!

Ingredients:

• 3  boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt, pepper and paprika and chili powder for seasoning
• 4oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup of Monterey jack cheese plus extra for topping
• 1/2 cup of your favorite buffalo sauce
• 1 package of 48 wontons
• cupcake tin
• cooking spray
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing

Directions:

• Cook chicken in baking dish seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. I’m not a fan of boiling chicken so I baked mine in the oven.  Allow to cool so you can handle it and shred.
• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees for cupcakes.
• In a large bowl mix together shredded chicken and your favorite buffalo sauce.  You may need to add more or less sauce depending on how hot you like it.  You want to make sure you have enough so that the chicken is well coated. Mix in softened cream cheese until well blended.
• Stir in 1/4 cup cheese
• Spray cupcake tin with cooking spray.  Place 2 wonton wrappers in the cupcake tin, making sure the corners don’t align with each other.  This creates that double layered, staggering look to the wonton cup.
• Scoop a tablespoon on chicken mixture into cup and repeat until all cupcake holders are filled.
• Place a small dollop of ranch or blue cheese dressing on top of chicken mixture on each cupcake.  Sprinkle top with cheese.
• Bake in over for about 10 minutes or until edges of wontons look golden and crispy.
• Serve with additional ranch or blue cheese dressing on the side and dig in!

Walnut and Rosemary Crusted Chicken

This is a great alternative to  fried chicken.  It’s baked not fried and the walnuts give a really great crunch and texture.  I love the flavor, especially with a little mustard or honey mustard dipping sauce on the side! I originally saw this recipe on Cooking Light, you can find their version here: Cooking Light  I made a few revisions and changes though.  I found the walnut mixture didn’t really stick to the chicken that well so using yogurt helps and also keeps the chicken extra moist!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain or greek yogurt
• 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped in a food processor
• 3 TBSP grated parmesan cheese
• 2 stems of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper
• Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
• In a medium bowl whisk together yogurt and mustard.
• Coat chicken in yogurt mixture set aside.
• In a small skillet brown panko bread crumbs for about 3 minutes until golden.
• In a separate shallow bowl mix together remaining dry ingredients and add browned panko bread crumbs.
• Remove chicken from bowl with the yogurt mixture and coat in panko, walnut blend. You may need to press the breadcrumb mixture so it sticks to the chicken.
• Place chicken on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet and lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray.  Bake for about 25 min or until chicken is cooked through.  Time will vary depending on thickness of chicken.

Shrimp Newburg

There are so many things you can do with shrimp.  I’m not usually a big fan of cream sauces but this one just seems to really hit the spot with me.  Cooking the shrimp shells into the sauce separately from the shrimp, I think just really helps create an extra boost of flavor! The combination of sherry and cream work so well together.  This dish only takes a few minutes to make because shrimp cooks so fast but it tastes like it took hours to create the flavor!  I hope you all enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1 – 1.5 lbs. medium raw shrimp, cleaned with shells removed (reserve the shells)
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1/4 cup sherry wine
• salt and pepper for taste
• small pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 TBSP finely chopped chives

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp shells and cook for about 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl whisk together half and half and cornstarch. Pour mixture into pan with shrimp shells.  Bring to a simmer while stirring for about 1-2 minutes.  Strain shells from sauce, press to get as much liquid out of them and into pan and discard.
• In a separate large pan melt 1 TBSP butter over medium heat and add onions.  Cook them until softened and translucent.  Stir in flour and whisk together with the onions. Little by little, whisk in the milk mixture and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, lower heat and bring it down to a simmer for about 1 minute.
• Add shrimp and stir in sherry.  Cook until shrimp is firm and pink. This should only take a few minutes so watch carefully.  Season with salt, pepper and a small pinch of cayenne pepper.
• Serve over brown or white rice.  Top with finely chopped chives.

Coconut Chicken

Happy Thursday all, I know it’s been a little while since my last post, I’ve been a little sidetracked lately.  My brother’s getting married next weekend and I’m trying to start planning my own wedding.  Weddings have been consuming my brain all day! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! My future in-laws were in town so we definitely enjoyed lots of time drinking wine and eating good food! Two of my favorite things!

So, I love coconut. Coconut with chocolate, coconut shrimp, coconut chicken, you name it.  I make coconut chicken all the time for Brad and myself.  But every time I tried to make it, the coconut always seemed to burn so quickly before the chicken was ever cooked.  Most recipes call for you to fry the chicken, and this is where I’ve come to realize that coconut burns very easily. So I decided to try baking it instead.  Not only does it not burn but it’s healthier for you! How can you beat that? I made this recipe for a girls night at my apartment not too long ago and everyone loved it, so I figured it was time to post it here! I usually serve it with a sweet chili sauce, I haven’t figured out a homemade version of this yet, but for now you can purchase in the Asian section of most grocery stores. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken cut into thin strips
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk or coconut milk
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup flour
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

• Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.
• Set up dredging station with 3 different bowls or dishes.  Whisk together eggs and milk in 1st bowl.  Combine flour, salt and pepper in a second bowl, and in a 3rd bowl combine coconut and Panko bread crumbs.
• Dredge chicken in batches.  Coat chicken first in flour mixture, then in egg and milk and then coat in the bread crumbs and coconut.  Press coconut and bread crumbs onto chicken pieces to make sure they are coated well.  Place chicken pieces in a baking dish evenly spaced out. Continue with dredging steps until all pieces of chicken are coated and placed in baking dish.
• Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-30 min until chicken is cooked through.

Chicken Marsala

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes to make.  Marsala wine is so full of flavor and it smells delicious too! I’ve gotten my fiance hooked on it too! I changed my recipe up a little the last time I made it and diced up some prosciutto and sautéed it with the mushrooms.  It added a little extra flavor, and I mean come on, it’s a form of bacon.  Who could say no to that?!

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – pounded out thin
• 1 package of sliced white mushrooms
• 1 cup of Marsala wine
• 4 TBSP butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp of salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 4 oz prosciutto ( you can use pancetta or bacon too)

Directions:

• Heat olive oil and 2 TBSP of butter on medium/high heat in a large sauté pan
• Mix salt, pepper and flour together in a flat baking dish
• While oil is heating, dredge chicken in flour mixture and shake off any extra flour.  Sauté chicken on one side until lightly browned and flip, about 5 minutes per side, depending on how thin your chicken is.
• Remove chicken from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
• Add the mushrooms and prosciutto to the pan and remaining butter, saute until they soften and brown.  Add Marsala wine, chicken broth and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes until sauce is reduced.  Add the chicken back into the pan with the sauce to heat through.
• Sprinkle chopped parsley over top and serve.