Murh's Chicken Pot Pie

My husband's late grandmother, Vernez (more affectionately known by her loved ones as Murh), made the best chicken pot pie in the world.  I just happen to be one of the lucky people who this recipe has been handed down to.  And now I'm sharing it with you!  It has a secret ingredient that differentiates this recipe from all the others:  celery seed.

I forgot to get a picture of the ingredients this time : / but here they are:

For the filling:  butter, flour, chopped onion, salt, pepper, chicken broth, milk, cooked chicken, frozen peas and carrots.  For the crust:  Crisco, flour, egg, water, vinegar and celery seed.

Now, this step is optional.  The recipe calls for cooked chicken and chicken broth.  You can use store-bought broth and roast the chicken, or even buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store.  But if I have time, I like to make my own chicken stock because I can freeze the rest and use it later and I know it doesn't have any preservatives in it.

To make the stock, just add chicken - I used two bone-in skin-on chicken breasts - water and a generous amount of salt to a stock pot.  This is all you really need, but if you have any leftover vegetables (such as carrots, parsnips, celery or onions) and fresh herbs (such as rosemary, thyme and parsley), throw them in the pot along with the chicken.

Bring it to a boil and reduce it to a simmer.  Let it simmer for about an hour or so.  Strain the stock into a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.  You can freeze any excess for later use.

Remove the skin and bones from the chicken breast meat and chop it into bite-size chunks.

To make the filling, add the chicken stock and milk to a small sauce pan and heat over medium.  Don't let it boil.

Chop the onion.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the flour, onion, salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring constantly, until golden and bubbly.

Stir in the milk/chicken stock mixture.

And bring it to a boil, stirring constantly.  Let it bubble for a minute or so until it's nice and thick.

Off the heat, add in the frozen peas and carrots and chicken.

Mix it all together and set aside.

To make the crust, add the flour and shortening to a large mixing bowl.

Cut the shortening into the flour with a fork or pastry cutter for a few minutes until it resembles a coarse meal.

Then add a beaten egg, water, vinegar, salt and celery seed.

Gently mix until it comes together like dough.

Turn half of the dough out on a floured surface roughly in the shape of your baking dish (rectangular for me).

And roll it out with a rolling pin.

Carefully move it to your baking pan and press it into the bottom.  I divide mine into two loaf pans (one to bake, one to freeze).  See my Poppy Seed Chicken Bake for a quick tutorial on cooking for two and how I freeze my baked recipes.

Turn out the filling into the pan over the first layer of crust.

Roll out the other half of the dough like you did the first half.  Now, if you want to get fancy, you can slice the dough into strips to create a lattice over the top.

Like so.  Or, you can just lay a solid piece of dough over the top, but if you do this, make sure you cut a few slits in the dough to allow the steam to escape while it's baking.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes until the top is golden and flaky.

This is creamy, comforting deliciousness!  You can really taste the celery seed in the crust and it is GOOD.

Copy and paste the recipe below into Word for printable version:

Murh's Chicken Pot Pie

For the filling:

1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. flour

1/3 c. chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 c. milk

2 c. cooked chicken, chopped

1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen peas and carrots

For the crust:

1 1/2 c. Crisco

3 c. flour

1 egg, beaten

5 tbsp. cold water

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. celery seed

Melt butter over medium heat.  Blend in flour, onion, salt and pepper stirring until mixture is bubbly.  Stir in chicken broth and milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 min.  Gently stir in chicken and frozen vegetables.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter or fork, gradually cut the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles coarse meal.  Add the beaten egg, water, vinegar, salt and celery seed.  Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into the shape of your baking dish and ease into the pan, pressing to the edges.  Pour in the filling.  Roll out the remaining dough and place over filling.  Cut slits in center to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 425 degrees.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

If you have never tasted sopapilla cheesecake, you need to drop what you are doing, run to the grocery store to get the ingredients and head home to make it IMMEDIATELY.  Everyone should get to eat this at some point in their lives.  It ranks as one of my all-time-favorite desserts...and that's pretty special considering the deep devotion I have to all things sweet and delicious.

And the best part:  it's made from cheap, common ingredients and it is super, SUPER easy to make.

Ingredients:  cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, crescent rolls, cinnamon, butter and honey.

Add the softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl.

Beat in on medium speed until smooth.

Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Spread a package of crescent rolls along the bottom of the baking dish.  Use your fingers to press the seams together and the dough to the edges of the pan.

Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the dough.

Spread another package of crescent roll dough on top of the cream cheese.  Once again, use your fingers to press the dough to the edges of the pan and pinch together the seams.  Alternatively you can roll the dough out with a rolling pin, but I'm just too lazy for that :P

Add the softened butter, sugar and cinnamon to a mixing bowl.

Cut the butter into the sugar and cinnamon with a fork or pastry cutter.

And dot the top of the cheesecake evenly with the butter mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees until the top is golden and bubbly.  Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with a generous amount of honey.

This is like cheesecake sandwiched between two sopapillas.  When you bite into this you get 3 layers:  crunchy caramelized sugar, flaky pastry and creamy cheesecake.  So complex, yet so simple.  I am serious, if you have never tasted this before, please, PLEASE, for the love of God...make this TODAY!!

Link to the printable recipe:

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Source:  All Recipes

Olive Garden Salad

I love the salad at Olive Garden.  This recipe is just as good.  In fact, maybe even better.

For the dressing:  garlic, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, dried basil, olive oil and pepper.

For the salad:  an assortment of lettuce, tomatoes, olives, red onion, peperoncini peppers, Parmesean cheese and croutons.

Mince the garlic and add it to a bowl with a pinch of kosher salt.  Using a fork, mash it to a paste.

Then add the mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, dried oregano and dried basil.

And whisk it together.

Then slowly whisk in the olive oil.

Season with pepper and set aside.

To assemble the salad, chop up the tomatoes and slice the onion.

Add the lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions and peperoncini to a serving bowl.

Grate some Parmesan cheese.

When you're ready to serve, add the croutons, cheese and dressing and toss well.

Yummy!!  Simple and delicious, just like OG.

Copy and print the recipe below into Word for a printable version:

Olive Garden Salad

Serves 4-6

1 garlic clove, smashed
salt
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. olive oil
pepper
lettuce, chopped
red onion, sliced
cherry tomatoes, halved
black olives
peperoncini peppers
1 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large bowl, mash the garlic to a paste with a generous pinch of salt.  Whisk in the mayonnaise, vinegar and oregano, then whisk in the olive oil.  Season with pepper.  Add all of the remaining ingredients and toss well.  Serve right away.

Source:  Food and Wine Magazine