Chicken Pot Pie

Although this dish is traditionally unhealthy, 

I was able to make this comfort food with significantly less calories while still retaining the taste we all love.

Ingredients:

3 cups fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups frozen green peas, thawed
2 potatoes, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
5 large carrots, diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1 sheet pie crust

 Instructions: 

1. Preheat over to 400°.

2. Chop all of the vegetables 

(I used my Cuisinart to speed the process along).

3. Bring broth to a boil in a large pot. 

Add peas, potatoes, celery, carrots and onion to the pot; 

cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 6 minutes. 

4. Add chicken; cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is done. 

Remove chicken and vegetables from broth with a slotted spoon; 

place in a large bowl. 

5.  Increase heat to medium. 

Place the flour into a bowl and then gradually add milk to bowl, 

stirring with a whisk until well blended. 

6. Add milk mixture to broth; 

cook for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. 

Stir in chicken mixture, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. 

7. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

8. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface; roll dough into a 13 x 9-inch rectangle. 

Place dough over chicken mixture, pressing to seal at edges of dish. 

Cut small slits into dough to allow steam to escape 

and then coat dough lightly with cooking spray. 

9. Place dish on a foil-lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 400° for 16 minutes or until pastry is browned and filling is bubbly.

French Peach Pie

What do you do when you have some overly-ripe peaches? Make a pie! 

Especially when it is as effortlessly as this to do so!

Ingredients:

filling:

5 peaches, peeled and sliced

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

crust:

2 cup flour

2 tsp. salt

1 cup oil

4 Tbs. milk (whole or 2%)

french topping:

1/2 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Peel the peaches (I do it messily so there is still some skin left) then slice them. 

Place them in a large bowl.

3. Add the sugar and cinnamon to the peaches. 

Mix with a spoon and put to the side. 

The peaches will start to "sweat". :)

4. Mix together the ingredients for the crust. 

Press the flour mixture into a 9" pie pan like a crumb crust. 

The crust will be very moist.

5. Using a slotted spoon, layer the pan with the peach mixture.

6. Prepare the French Topping. 

With your hands, mix together the butter and sugar until it is a wet crumble. 

Then add the flour and mix until crumbly.

7. Cover the peaches with the French topping.

8. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Shhh.. don't tell anyone how easy it was!

Cooking with Dove

September 1st marked the beginning of Dove season. We invited a few friends over for a barbeque and decided to get creative with how we prepared the dove. This small game is unique in the fact that it cannot (to my knowledge) be purchased in a store and is therefore only available to those who are successful in their hunt (and let me tell you, they are fast!).

Two of the recipes we chose turned out incredible- Dove Lettuce Wraps and Portuguese-Style Grilled Dove. I would 100% recommend these recipes.

Dove Lettuce Wraps

This dish was so quick to prepare and a crowd-pleaser! 

We doubled the recipe, except for the rice!

Ingredients:

2-3 heads iceberg lettuce

2 Tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp sesame oil

6 green onions, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs ginger root, peeled and minced

1 1/2 cups skinless dove breast fillets, chopped

2 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs rice vinegar

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, chopped

1 jar hoisin sauce

Sriracha Sauce

Instructions:

1. Do all of your chopping, etc. ahead of time for all of the ingredients and set aside 

(including cooking the rice!)- it doesn't take long to cook so you want to be ready!

 

 2. Prepare the lettuce cups: carefully peel the individual lettuce leaves away from each other, starting at the stem end. 

This takes patience! You can trim the edges if desired.

3. Heat vegetable and sesame oils in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

 Add onions, bell pepper, garlic and ginger root. 

Stir-fry 2 minutes.

4. Add dove meat and stir-fry another 2 minutes more.

5. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, cooked rice and water chestnuts. 

Stir-fry until mixture is warmed throughout.

6. Transfer to your serving bowl. 

Guests can make their own lettuce wraps by scooping the dove mixture into the lettuce cup

 and adding hoisin sauce and the Sriracha to taste- 

and if you are me, the spicier the better!

Portuguese-Style Grilled Dove

The combination of spices in this recipe balanced the sweet-to-spicy ratio perfectly! 

We left the dove whole for this recipe and make sure to marinate overnight!

Ingredients: 

5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

5 bay leaves, crumbled fine

4 to 5 small hot chile peppers  

1 Tbs sweet paprika 

1 Tbs minced fresh rosemary 

1 tsp sea salt 

1 cup Madeira

1/2 cup olive oil 

1 Tbs honey

12 to 16 whole doves

Freshly ground black pepper for serving

Instructions:

1. Place all of the ingredients except the honey, doves, and black pepper in a food processor 

or blender and buzz until smooth, about 1 minute. 

2. Pour the marinade into 1 or 2 large resealable freezer bags and add the doves.

 Seal and mix the marinade around the doves so they’re well coated. 

Refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, after transfering the doves to a plate, pour the marinade into a small pot. 

Bring the marinade to a boil, stirring often. 

Add the honey until the optimal sweet-hot ratio is achieved!

4. Place the doves on the grill, breast side up. 

Cover the grill and cook the doves, undisturbed, for 4 to 6 minutes, depending on how done you like them. 

Around 4 minutes will result in medium-rare doves. 

5. Remove the birds from the grill and let them rest for at least a few minutes. 

Pour the warm sauce over the birds and grind some black pepper on top.

 

Couscous-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce

Saw this recipe being made on the Food Network and just had to try it! Giada really hit it out of the park with this one! Not only is it delicious and easy, but the presentation makes it look even better! Although I must admit that I am not a bell pepper fan so the next time I made this, I left the bell pepper out. :)

Ingredients:
 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 cup couscous
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup raisins
1 packed cup chopped baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium red bell pepper
 1 medium yellow bell pepper
1 medium orange bell pepper
 Hot water, as needed

Sauce:
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) creme fraiche
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic glove, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus extra, as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra, as needed

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Filling: In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth and cumin to a boil over medium-high heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover the pan until the couscous is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes. Put the couscous in a large bowl and add the beans, raisins, spinach, feta and 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until all the ingredients are combined.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all the ribs and seeds. If necessary, cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up. Stuff the peppers with the filling and drizzle the tops with olive oil. Put the peppers in an 8 by 8-inch square baking dish. Fill the baking dish with 3/4-inch hot water and bake until the filling is golden and the peppers are cooked through, about 55 to 60 minutes.

Sauce: In a blender, combine the basil, creme fraiche, olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Remove the peppers from the oven and arrange on serving plates. Spoon the sauce around the peppers and serve.

Enjoy!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Cherry-Tarragon Sauce

So I went to my parents' house on Sunday to have dinner and fill my fridge with whatever they will let me take (which seems to have become a weekly tradition- oh grad school), and came home will a bag of once-frozen pitted cherries. I decided to find a recipe to combine those and the frozen chicken breasts I had in my freezer and came across a recipe from Better Homes and Garden. Of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly due to being cheap and not wanting to buy the proper ingredients- but I had basically the right stuff so I gave it a go! I was very pleasantly surprised! Turned out to be a delicious dinner and the only thing I would change next time was the type of rice I served it with (I didn't notice I made "Santa Fe" rice until it was too late!)

Ingredients: (click the link above for the proper ingredients) :)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 tsp ground mustard
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup cherries, pitted
2 Tbs tarragon
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tbs butter
salt and pepper to taste
Serve with rice (or couscous, pasta, etc)

Instructions:
Combine flour, paprika, mustard, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl and coat chicken with the mixture.

In a skillet, heat the oil then cook the chicken for about 8 minutes until the center is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover to keep warm.

Add the cherries, tarragon and garlic to the skillet and saute for about a minute. Stir in the wine and chicken broth and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce. Stir in butter until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce and cherries over the chicken, serve with rice, garnish and ENJOY! 

Baked Egg Cups

I decided to try one of the many delicious-looking foods I had "pinned" on Pinterest. I found this recipe, courtesy of "The Simple Delights" (http://thesimpledelights.com/?p=246), for 100-calorie Baked Egg Cups. Not only is it a beautiful breakfast, but very easy to make!

Ingredients:

Thinly Sliced Ham (round)

I suggest having the deli specially slice it for you as packaged ham (like the type I used) is a little too thick.

Eggs

Green Onion

Salt

Pepper

Cheese (I used Parmesan)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Form the ham inside the pan to create a cup. Crack an egg inside the ham cup (careful not to break the yolk!), then top with salt and pepper.

Cook for about 12 minutes, or until the egg whites solidify but yolk is still runny. Remove from the oven and use a large spoon to easily remove each egg-ham cup from the pan.

Sprinkle with sliced green onions and cheese and Enjoy!

This recipe was very easy and can make any person look like a great cook! Perfect for a brunch. The best part is you can make a whole pan of them when cooking for others or just one or two for yourself!

Baked Pears with a Raspberry Compote and Walnut-Granola Crumble

This was the final course to our Christmas Eve dinner and the saying "We saved the best for last" couldn't have been more appropriate. This is Delicious!! A great dessert to serve for a dinner party because the prep work can be done ahead of time then about 35 minutes before serving, throw it in the oven!

We felt like iron chefs putting this dessert together! :)

Serves 6.

Baked Pear Ingredients:
1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbs. butter (unsalted)
3 pears (halved, cored, and peeled)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400.

Arrange pears cut side up in a 8-in square glass baking dish.

Whisk apple juice and sugar in small sauce pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Whisk in butter. Pour sauce over the pears.

Bake about 35 minutes until pears are crisp-tender and begin to brown; baste with juice.

Serve with Vanilla Bean ice cream, Raspberry Compote and Walnut-Granola Crumble.


DELICIOUS!