Chicken Pot Pie

One of our favorite meals for a good winter day (and yes, it's still winter here in Newfoundland!) is Chicken Pot Pie. Now, we call it pot pie, but it's more like a chicken stew. I used to bake it in the oven with pastry over the top, but now I just make it in the crock pot and I make biscuits on the side. We all LOVE it!

CHICKEN POT PIE

3 chicken breasts (I use boneless, skinless)
1 onion
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 small turnip, cubed
3-4 medium-sized potatoes, cubed
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1/4 cup chopped red or yellow pepper
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 can kernel corn
2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Broth


Boil the chicken breasts in large pot. Save the liquid. Remove and cut into cubes. Put back into pot and add chopped onion. Bring to boil again. Next, add in carrots, turnip and potatoes. Boil for about 10 minutes.

Put the Cream of Chicken soup and the Chicken Broth in large crock pot. Add celery, red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower and corn. Add in chicken, vegetable and the liquid. Stir and set on high for 3 hours.

In last half hour you'll need to thicken it. I use about 4 Tbsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of cold water. Mix well, then stir into soup.

Serve with hot biscuits.

**NOTE: This makes enough for a large crock pot and is enough for 2 meals for our family of 6. Like most soups/stews, it always tastes better the next day :-)

You can add other vegetables or increase/decrease the amounts to your liking. I just try to put the "harder" veggies in the pot to boil a bit before adding to the crock pot.

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Here's a biscuit recipe. I got this one from my mother-in-law.

Lonna's Biscuits

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter or shortening
3/4 cup milk

Mix first 3 ingredients, then cut in butter with pastry blender. Add milk and mix. Knead on lightly floured board. Handle it gently and knead about 15 times. The more you handle it, the tougher the biscuits will be, but don't worry, we haven't had one we couldn't eat :-) Pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and bake at 450 deg. for 8-10 minutes.

If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Pea Soup and Doughboys

I'm making a pot of Pea Soup and thought I might as well pot it on my blog -- since it's been QUITE a while since I posted a recipe, I think :-)

PEA SOUP

1 cup salt beef (diced) OR ham
2 cups yellow, split peas
1 onion
turnip
carrot
celery
2-3 potatoes
salt/pepper

Soak the peas overnight in cold water. Drain and rinse peas. Add to large pot with diced meat, onion and 8 cups cold water.

Bring to a boil and then simmer about 2 hours. You can add more water if needed.

Add about 2 cups diced turnip, 2 cups diced carrots and 1 cup chopped celery. Chop 2-3 potatoes and add those as well. Cook until veggies are tender.

I always add a couple of bay leaves to my pot of soup. Adds a nice tastes, I think :-)

DOUGH BOYS

I will add the recipe for dough boys, though I have to say -- I have never been able to cook these as well as my grandmothers have ever done! They make the best!

1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water or milk

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add enough water (or milk) to form a soft dough.

Drop by tablespoons into hot soup. Cover pot tightly and simmer, without removing the lid, for 15 minutes.

I think my problem is I open the lid to check :-)

ENJOY!

Trying some new soups

I'm kinda getting bored of the same old soups. I usually make Turkey Vegetable or Chicken Vegetable. I am determined to try some new ones. Hopefully my family will survive my attempts! LOL!

I made up a recipe yesterday for potato soup. It actually turned out quite well! Everyone loved it. I had some leftover today for lunch and it tastes even better today. Strange how that always seems to be the case.

Anyway, I'll post the recipe, but be aware that most of my measurements are approximate.

POTATO SOUP

6-7 medium potatoes
water to cover potatoes
1/2 can evaporated milk
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
bacon pieces (I used real bacon bits)
green onion
salt/pepper to taste

Peel, wash and cut potatoes. In large pot, add enough water to cover potatoes. Boil until soft. Remove potatoes (reserve water) and mash well. Put back in the pot with the water. If you think it will be too watery, you can take out some of the water. Also, I used my mini hand blender and just blended the potatoes right in the pot.

Add the milk, cheese, bacon bits, green onion and salt/pepper.

Simmer, but be careful it doesn't burn on.

We served it with garlic bread and a salad. Delicious!

Next time I will try it with cheddar cheese.