Sunday, December 5, 2010

Chicken Pot Pie

  There are so many recipes that use celery.  Celery is fine - a little salty, a little stringy, but it adds a nice crunch.  Does anyone grow celery, though?  I don't.  I've never seen it at the farmer's market, or at the local section of the grocery store.  However, chard stems also have a nice crunch, they are not stringy, and they have a really nice flavor.  And of course, it's easy to grow chard in the cool weather garden, or find a beautiful variety at the farmer's market.

  Chicken Pot Pie

Preheat oven to 400.

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup milk

Mix the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Measure 1/2 of oil into a measuring cup, and add 1/4 cup milk.  Pour all at once into the flour mixture.  Stir with a fork until blended.  Roll out about 2/3 of the crust very thin and line a 2 quart casserole dish. Roll out the rest for the top crust.  Reserve for later.

Filling:
1 quart chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced potatoes
1 small summer squash (any variety) diced
4 large chard leaves with stems
2-4 cups diced cooked chicken
1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the stems from the chard leaves and slice the stems like celery.  Cut the chard leaves into 1" pieces. Put 4 cups chicken stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Add onion, carrots, potatoes, squash, and chard stems into the stock. Lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are almost tender. Bring the stock mixture back to a boil.  Mix 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup flour until smooth.  Pour the flour mixture into the stock mixture, and stir until thickened.  Add the chicken, chard leaves, parsley, salt and pepper.  Pour the stock mixture into the prepared crust.  Put the top crust over the stock mixture.  Crimp the edges of the crust.  Poke holes into the crust so that the steam will escape.

Bake for 35 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Roasted Vegetable Salad

I was looking for something interesting to do with lettuce.  I mean, you can't cook it.  You can't freeze it.  You are pretty much limited to salad.  I wanted to make something different.  Here's what I did:

Salad Ingredients:
16 baby carrots
16 thumb sized potatoes, poked with a knife or fork
1 green or red bell pepper, cut into 1" squares
2 pattypan squash cut into wedges (remove any hard seeds)
one bunch red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces

Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley, or 1/2 tsp dried
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried

Preheat the oven to 425.  Arrange the carrots, potatoes, pepper pieces and squash wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are lightly brown and tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Toss the cooled vegetables in the dressing.

Arrange the lettuce in a serving bowl.  Arrange the vegetables on the lettuce.  Drizzle any remaining dressing over the salad.