Cajun Chicken Pot Pie

I made this pie a while back when it was probably still snowing out but I would eat it again today or tomorrow. Yesterday was our first day of springish like weather that really had me convinced that spring is actually coming this year (hooray!). The weather is still cool enough to crank your oven & make something hot for dinner (soon to be replaced by deliciously charred-right-from-the-grill meals). I’ve made chicken pot pies before (like I did here & here) in different shapes & sizes but what makes this one different is that I put a cajun twist on it & made it with the flavors that you would find in gumbo.

What are you cooking during this in between weather?

Peach-Rhubarb-Blackberry Pie

If I had the choice between cake & pie I’d pick pie 99% of the time. I’m a pie girl. My mom always made pies & I just love fruity sweet desserts so pies satiate my sweet tooth for the majority of the time.

My mom & dad were up to visit at my sister’s apartment this past weekend. I wanted to bring something so I automatically chose to make a pie. Chris & I made a trip to  DePiero’s Farm to see what was fresh & came across sweet peaches & rhubarb. With a a nod to strawberry rhubarb pie - one of my faves I concocted a peach version of it. I had some blackberries at home so I added those too.

Overall it was a pretty tasty pie. My peaches were pretty juicy so the filling had a bit more liquid than I would have loved but we still enjoyed it all the same.

Pear Pie

We've been buying a ton of fruits & veggies, even more so than normal. We've been juicing! But that's not what this post is about. We had a ton of pears (because they make for a very delicious juice) so I decided to use some of them for dessert number two for Easter Sunday dinner (this was the first).  I know you don't normal hear pear pie as a dessert, apple pie, cherry pie sure but not pear. Pear tart yes, but not pear pie. Well you're hearing it now. I made pear pie.  I didn't know how it was going to turn out but my overly stuffed family & I managed to get it down just fine. Now only if I had taken the leftovers home with me. #kickingmyself

Broccoli Rabe & Cheese Quiche

The first quiche I made was for my french class in 7th grade. I’m shocked I even knew what quiche was at that moment in time. I remember my mom not being too keen about my choice - one because it was time consumptive & two because the ingredients I chose were on the expensive side. I don’ remember exactly what I put in it but I think there was bacon & lots of butter & eggs. I don’t even remember what it tasted like but I remember making it.

The second time I made a quiche was this past September when I made it for my sister-in-law & brother-in-law who just had their second sweet baby. Knowing they wouldn’t have a lot of time to prepare meals let alone heat them up I made them a quiche since it can be eaten at any temperature - warm, cold or room temp. Plus it has protein & veggies in it. And we can’t forget about the crust - the rich buttery delicious crust. It’s equal parts crispy, creamy & delicious.

This past Sunday I made one for dinner with broccoli rabe & peccorino romano cheese & I will make it again. The crust is the most time consumptive part since you have to cook it twice but it’s worth it. If you’re hosting a brunch or dinner or want to bring new parents something hearty to each this is it. You can make it ahead of time & let’s face it - it’s pretty impressive being that it’s of French origin & all. I served ours with a like mixed green salad with chopped cherry tomatoes.

PS: Mom this one is much easier to make & less expensive but tastes every bit expensive - you should make it for Dad!

The Perfect Pie Crust

When I was a little girl I helped my mom make lots of pie crusts. She was no fool, she'd put me to work. Before I knew it I was making several batches of piecrust that my mom would freeze & use later (no doubt when I wasn't available to make them!). I can't blame her & actually I thank her for showing me that it really isn't that difficult & makes a world of difference when you're actually eating the pie.  In a pinch I've definitely used the store bought dough but if I have the time I make this pie crust.

I found Giada's recipe for pie crust in her crostata with dried apricots & taleggio that I've made a couple of times but what I really love is the crust!!! So I use this recipe for most pies that I make since first finding the recipe. What I really liked about this recipe is that it doesn't call for crisco. Exactly, what is crisco? That white goopy stuff that you can keep in your pantry probably forever without it going bad. Yeah not exactly what I want hanging around in my body.  This recipe calls for marscapone cheese - hello cheese! can't go wrong with that!  Marscapone cheese is kind of like a buttery Italian cream cheese. It's a delicious fatty spread & is leaps & bounds more yummy than crisco in my book. 




PS: Happy Birthday to one of my favorite ladies ever, SUZIE! Love & miss you ;) Cheers to a fabulous day & year! xx

Chicken Pot Pie

Just when we thought it was spring we got hit with a cold front!  The best way to warm up is with some comfort food.  Typically I think of chicken pot pie as "winter food" but if you throw in some spring veggies (like asparagus) you've instantly made it season-less!

The forecast for the North East is chilly for the rest of the week so you might want to make a pot pie yourself!

Better Home Cooking Basics: #37 Use Plastic Wrap for a Stick-Free Way to Roll out Pie Crust

I learned this trick for a stick-free way to roll out pie crust from my mom.  Start by tearing off two big pieces of plastic wrap. Lay one down on the cutting board or flat surface that you'll be working on. Place your ball of dough on the center of the plastic. Lay another piece of the plastic wrap on top. If you plastic isn't large enough use more pieces & overlap them. Then using a rolling pin, roll the dough out between the plastic wrap. You won't need to worry about extra flour making your dough too tough or your dough sticking to your rolling pin.  Plus, it makes it easier to get the dough off the cutting board & into your pie pan. Win. Win.

 Get more of my better home cooking basics here.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Salad with Mint, Walnuts & Arugula

Last week we were in Charleston, SC (ahhhh I love that place & I will share some pictures soon). Truth be told the majority of the food we ate was either fried or seafood - leaving little room left for anything green (unless you count fried green tomatoes).  Now that we’re back into the swing of a full week I’m doing my best to eat fresh - plus it’s spring (finally) so I always find myself wanting to eat more green things & just lighter in general.

I was flipping through the pages of Bon Appetite magazine & came across a recipe for strawberry-rhubarb salad. Being a forever fan of the pie version (my mom still makes the best strawberry rhubarb pie!). Coincidentally, my sister-in-law, Dulcie, asked me how else she could prepare rhubarb.  Clearly the universe was telling me that I needed to try out the salad.  It did not disappoint. It was every bit tangy & sweet that the pie is but in a healthy salady-bite. I did change it up a bit from the original recipe swapping out hazelnuts for walnuts & adding some arugla because it’s what I had on hand - & I just love arugula. (Check out this unexpected way to use arugula in your Cinco de Mayo cocktail that I stumbled upon at work & had to try out.)

PS: This recipe calls for mint. I could only find a small potted plant of the mint - wish me luck keeping her alive & green because my thumb is not.

PPS: Bon Appetit suggests not making this salad the night before in fear that the rhubarb will breakdown too much & become too soft. Make it as close to serving time as possible.

UPDATE: I ate all of the arugula out of the salad for dinner & had a lot of the strawberry-rhubarb mixture left so I refrigerated it overnight. I packed some arugula on top & some avocado & am currently enjoying it for lunch - maybe I didn't cut my rhubarb super thin but I have to say it's just as delicious on day 2.

Two Cheese Toast

This toast or open faced grilled cheese has two cheeses. Yes, two. What can I say I'm doing tummy stretches for the food intake the holidays bring. It's only normal to "stretch" before a long race right?

So I'm stretching with this yummy two cheese toast that is bastardized version of the three cheese sandwich at Immaculate Consumption in S.C.  I didn't have three cheeses, I had two. I was pretty much lacking everything else on the original (sprouts & tomatoes) but I had made my favorite honey mustard & I had some spinach.  The result was tasty so I suggest you "stretch" you tummy accordingly!

Click through for the easier than pie recipe. No really it's easier than pie. Pie isn't easy to make, who ever made up that saying any way?  It's as easy as toast. There. That sounds better.

Fave Recipes for Fall

clockwise from upper left corner: chicken pot pie; the baker chick's cinnamon rolls; turkey & white bean chili; easy homemade soft pretzels

It feels like summer out there but (if you follow me on Instagram you already know) fall has kicked into high gear in my kitchen. Here are some of the usual suspects that will be on the rotation this fall. What are you cooking?

Apple Dutch Baby

I love pancakes, I do. They do take some time to make as you have to make one individually. If you don't have that time to make a dozen pancakes when you're serving guests or more than two people I suggest a dutch baby pancake. It's basically a giant pancake you bake in the oven & then cut up like a pie to serve. So with the time you save flipping your cakes you can get your kitchen clean (because you really don't need to dirty that many dishes to make a dutch baby) & you can actually relax after brunch.

Have you made a dutch baby? What do you put in yours?

Soft Serve Vegan Pumpkin Ice Cream

I had some extra pumpkin in my fridge (after making these pancakes) & was craving something sweet so I made a cross between pumpkin pie filling & ice cream for dessert. Soft serve pumpkin ice cream.

It’s vegan. It’s dairy-free. It's gluten-free. (Read: guilt-free) It’s delish!

It’s a take on my usual go-to frozen banana ice cream trick that I’ve made here & here.

Fresh Pumpkin Pasta

As soon as it turned October I bought not one but two pumpkins. I had high hopes of making something edible with them. Truth be told only one remains because I lost one to mold.  I'm not really sure what I thought I was going to make with them. Growing up we didn't carve pumpkins - we painted them. In hindsight this was probably a very strategic move for my mother, the mother of some very accident prone children, specifically twins - my sister & I.  Maybe that's why I feel bad about cutting up pumpkins & would rather them rot than be destroyed. It's silly I know but that's why they have canned pumpkin. I have no problem peeling open a can & making recipes with pumpkin that's been neatly stored in a  little can just for me.

That being said, the day I bought the pumpkins, I also bought a can of pumpkin home with me too.  Rather than making the traditional sweet pumpkin pie, I opted to add my canned pumpkin to my go-to pasta recipe. I basically just swapped out half the eggs for the pumpkin.  The result was a vibrant tender pasta with a subtle hint of pumpkin.

Apple Crisp

Apple season is upon us. We embraced it in our house by eating an early September Apple Crisp.  I basically adapted this recipe that I made at the beach with blueberries this summer to make it with apples instead.  Find the complete recipe after the jump!

Strawberry-Blueberry-Banana Pudding Tart

When given the option of a dessert I usually choose a fruity or some spicy cinnamon option. Chris will always choose chocolate. It’s not that I don’t like chocolate - I do - but I like it when it’s mixed with other things like hot molten chocolate cake with ice cream.  Whenever I say I’m going to make a dessert, Chris cheerfully asks, “chocolate chip cookies?” to which my usual response is “no I want to try this fruit thing.” Like the amazing husband that Chris is, he’ll eat it anyway, even if it wasn’t his first (or second) pick for a dessert.

During the summer months I try to eat as many of the ripe fruit that the season has to offer & in turn cook or bake with them too. My sister made a version of Magnolia’s Bakery Banana Pudding last year & I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Naturally, I needed to make it. After reading a bunch of different recipes & putting my own twist on things (the original calls for instant pudding mix & I opted to make my own) I came up with this strawberry, blueberry banana pudding tarte & as Chris put it “it’s pretty good for a non-chocolate dessert.”

If you’re making this for the fourth of July (because of all the pretty colors) I would definitely try freezing it over night so that it doesn’t melt in warmer temps while it’s out for display on the dessert table or traveling with you where ever you may be headed.

Chicken & Veggie Turnover

I really love when I can revamp the leftovers in my fridge & this recipe was a winner in both the tasty department & in the finishing-up-the-leftovers-department.

Essentially you should be able to chop the cooked chicken & vegetables that you so neatly stored in your fridge the night before to concoct this recipe. All you'll really need to do to them is to cut them into equal sized pieces, make a simple cheese sauce & make one giant hot pocket for it all.

Click through for the recipe on how to make your own at home.

Apple Galette with Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, & Almond Topping

In my early twenties I waitressed at a small cafe in Little Italy that served lunch but mostly coffee & desserts. One of the desserts on the menu was apple galette. By process of elimination I figured out that this mean the apple pie-like dessert in the glass case besides the fact that I didn't know what a galette was & I never really asked.  Flash forward & I'm watching the Food Network (shocking I know) & Giada was making this apple galette. I still didn't really know what a galette was but I knew I wanted to make it. So I did with a slight variation of the ingredients using what I had on hand.  I honestly am not sure how it made it to the table at my girl friend's wine club since I nearly killed it twice - once before I even baked it (there are photos so click through to see how I nearly lost it!)

Nearly 24 hours after I made this tasty apple-goat-cheese-cherry-almond concoction I was explaining the trials and tribulation of how it almost didn't make it to my coworker and another woman in the elevator. At one point I said "I don't even know what a galette is" to which the stranger/friend in the elevator responded, "It means the apples are arranged in a circle."  My elevator stranger/friend was kind of right. So after years of not finding out the true meaning of a galette I found the answer here. 

In a nutshell, it's a flaky free-formed pastry filled with either a savory or sweet filling. Regardless it's delish. As Giada explained this galette - it's like a dessert and cheese plate all in one - making it a great app or dessert or both!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We'll be celebrating the marriage of two great people - Congrats Adrian & Aileen!




Apple Galette with Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, and Almond Topping adapted from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe.

Tart

• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
• 3 Braeburn apples (1 ½ pounds), peeled, halved, cored, halves cut into 6 ½-inch wedges
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  ½ teaspoon cornstargch
  1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 frozen puff pastry sheet (try Trader Joe's!), thawed
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend in small bowl + 1 tablespoon water
• sugar for sprinkling

Topping

• 1 4-ounce package chilled soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled into ⅓- to ½-inch chunks
• ⅓ cup tart dried cherries (such as Montmorency from Trader Joe’s)
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Make it!

Tart

1. Position rack in center and preheat oven to 375°F. 
2. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. 
3. Add apples; sprinkle with salt. 
4. Sauté until almost tender, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes. 
5. Remove skillet from the heat. 
6. Whisk sugar, spices, and cornstarch in a small bowl until no cornstarch lumps remain. 
7. Sprinkle spiced sugar and lemon juice over apples in skillet; toss to blend. Cool to lukewarm.
8. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on work surface. Unfold pastry sheet on parchment; sprinkle both sides lightly with flour. 
9. Roll out pastry to 12-inch square, lifting, turning, and sprinkling with more flour to keep from sticking. 
10. Using a fork prick the dough so that it releases some of the air pockets that may form.
11. Make egg wash by beating the egg together with water.
12. Brush pastry all over with some beaten egg. 
13. TRANSFER YOUR PARCHMENT PAPER & PASTRY TO THE BAKING SHEET NOW. (see what happens in the photo below if you don't).
14. Starting 2-inches in from edge (to leave wide border), arrange apple wedges close together in a circle on the pastry. Arrange remaining apples in a smaller circle in center (ends may overlap first ring of apples).
15. Fold pastry border partially over filling, pleating pastry in loose folds. Brush folded up pastry border with some beaten egg. 
16. Sprinkle the crust with some sugar.
17. Scrape juices from skillet over apples. 
18. Bake galette until pastry edge is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

Topping

1. In a dry (no oil or butter) skillet toast almond slices for about 3 minutes or until golden brown over low-medium heat. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Toss goat cheese, cherries and almonds in a medium bowl until evenly distributed (cheese should remain in distinct pieces). Chill until ready to use.
3. Remove tart from oven. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. 
4. Return galette to oven. Bake 10 minutes until the topping begins to brown. 
5. Cool 20 minutes to serve warm or up to 2 hours to serve at room temperature.

Don't forget to use your garbage bowl!

This is why I strongly advise to build your galette on your sheet pan. I did not and when I went to transfer it I nearly lost the whole thing. Luckily it landed pretty gracefully on the floor and I only lost a few apples. I can laugh about it now but I was closer to some sad tears when it happened. Don't do this mistake at home folks!

Rhubarb-Almond Cake

If you’re looking for a summer dessert this is it. I love rhubarb & have traditionally enjoyed it most in a strawberry rhubarb pie (mmmm). My aunt is allergic to strawberries so when deciding on what to bring for (Easter) dessert at my Grandma’s house I opted for this Rhubarb-Almond Cake. It’s light but moist. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. The rhubarb offers the right amount of tartness to make you want seconds.

Perfectly Fluffy Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

This weekend the idea was to carb load so Chris could prepare for the Grete’s Great Gallop Sloan Kettering Half Marathon.  Even though I wasn’t running in the half marathon (I was a great cheerleader instead) I’ve never been one to say no to carbs. So we started our rainy Saturday with pumpkin pancakes. I’m not a huge fan of drinking sweet coffees (sorry for the buzzkill pumpkin spiced latte lovers) but I do love to chew things that taste like pumpkin like pumpkin pie, pumpkin loaf & now these pumpkin pancakes & drink regular flavored coffee with them. I jazzed up this recipe I found with some variations on the ingredients & the great tips I talked about here for making the fluffiest pancakes & the result was carb & flavor-tastic!

How are you celebrating with pumpkin this fall?