Ingredients

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

For the pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

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Wow! This chicken pot pie recipe was so good. I thought I had screwed up because I added the flour in after I added the chicken stock. There were little clumps of flour in the mix. Just let it boil away and it should be fine. I even left out the boullion cubs, that is just way too much sodium in my opinion. It took a lot of time to prepare and I needed an adult beverage after I was done. It was all worth the effort in the end though, because this tasted delicious, as do most of Ina’s recipes. Notice I said most… because I do not care for when she adds coffee to her chocolate cakes.

On facebook for my status update I normally like to say what I’m making for dinner.  I had put that I was making a chicken pot pie, and one of my friends comments and says “Ben, has you making pot pies now, nice.” I just thought that was funny of him to say that and offered to him if he wanted to come over for dinner. And no, I do not grow my ow pot! My Ben was happy however, because you can’t really taste the peas in this recipe. Which is a good thing, and a good way of getting veggies in. Even though there’s a pie crust, butter, and heavy creamed involved.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges.

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As you can tell, I am Shrimp Scampi freak. I’ve tried a lot of recipes but I think this one is by far the best one I’ve tried. It is another Ina Garten recipe and it is in her Back to Basics cook book. It is so easy and super simple to make, and it was so good I ate the whole thing. Shrimp Scampi is normally served with noodles, but this recipe really doesn’t need the noodles. I think one of the reasons why it so good is because the shrimp are roasted in the oven. I’ve never roasted shrimp in the oven before and this was the first time trying it. If you haven’t roasted shrimp in the oven before please do try it and this recipe.

Somehow, a box of panko bread crumbs has mysteriously disappeared the last time we went to the grocery store. I looked all over for that box, because I remember taking it off the shelf and putting it in my cart. Can’t find it anywhere, and I was going to coat some fish with it tonight. Hopefully it reappears before tonight.

1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

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Tried another new recipe tonight, Butternut Squash Risotto. I’ve had a box of Arborio rice sitting in my pantry forever. This weekend I saw Aida on Food Network’s show Ask Aida, make risotto. All she did was poor all the ingredients in a 9 X 11 dish and bake the rice and squash for 40 minutes. This intrigued me, but tonight I decided to make risotto the long way by cooking it over the stove and gradually adding chicken stock to the rice mixture. I used Ina Garten’s recipe for Butternut squash risotto, yep gotta love Ina! To make the rice an orange color I added in a 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. I used proscioutto instead of pancetta because we’ve also had that sitting in the fridge since our Pork Wellington experience. Didn’t have any saffron, can’t really afford it, but sometimes I’ll splurge on cheeses.

Ben liked this, he ate two bowls. I decided that I like Arborio rice instead of instance rice. Sure, it is time consuming but oh my god it tastes SO much better than the instance rice. This was my first experience making risotto, and I didn’t mind slaving over the hot stove and stirring the rice and adding the chicken broth in. I even grated my own parmesan cheese. Tomorrow, I’m excited for supper to, because I’m making a Potato Bacon Torte, from Melissa D’ Arrabian. Can you tell that I really like trying Food Network recipes???? I think I’d give this recipe 3 out of 5 stars. I don’t think I’d make this one again, but make a different risotto recipe instead.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup very good cocoa powder (recommended: Pernigotti)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups water
1/4 cup brewed espresso (1 shot)
11/2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (recommended: Tia Maria)

Directions

In a large saucepan, mix the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in 2 cups water and the espresso. Cook over low heat until the ingredients are dissolved. Off the heat, stir in the coffee liqueur. Transfer to plastic containers and refrigerate until very cold.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s directions. The sorbet will still be soft; place it in a plastic container and freeze for 1 hour or overnight, until firm enough to scoop.
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This sorbet was a little too chocolaty for my taste. Instead of coffee liquor (I can’t stand coffee) I used Irish Bailey’s instead. I know Ina also says that if you add coffee to chocolate it enhances the flavor, but if you don’t like the taste of coffee you can really tell the difference.

2 Large Beefsteak tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) ball fresh mozarella
12 slices of bakery white bread
1 cup prepared Pesto
Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

Preheat a panini grill machine
Core the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 1/4-inch thick. Place the bread slices on a work surface. Place a layer of mozzarella on half of the bread and cover with a layer of tomato. Sprinkle the tomato with salt. Place the remaining slices of bread, pesto side down, on top. Spread the top and bottom of each sandwich with softened butter. Grill the sandwiches in bathces on the panini grill for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze. Cut each sandwich in half, and serve warm.

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For this sandwich I used all ingredients from Trader Joe’s minus the bread. The pesto, tomatoes, and part skim mozzarella cheese. It was really delicious and you know what Ina always says “Use the best ingredients.” I did, and the bread was from the Honey White Bread that I made yesterday. Reminds me of eating at Panera.

Honey White Bread

1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk (110 degrees)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 extra-large egg yolks
5-6 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Place warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add yeast and sugar; stir and allow them to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, and honey. Mix on medium speed until blended. Add the egg yolks, 3 cups of flour and the salt. Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low speed, add 2 more cups of flour. Raise the speed to medium and slowly add just enough of the remaining flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl. Knead on medium speed for about 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a minute, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Grease a bowl with butter, put the dough in the bowl, then turn it over so the top is lightly buttered. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in volume.

Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans with butter. Divide the dough in half, roll each half into a loaf shape and place each in a prepared pan. Cover again with the damp towel and allow to rise again for an hour, until doubled in volume.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the dough is ready, brush the tops with egg white and bake for 40-45 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped. Turn them out of the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten
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Today I made Ina Garten’s Honey White Bread. I plan on using this bread to make her Pesto, Tomato and Mozerella Cheese Panini for lunch tomorrow. That sandwich is going to be so good with this fresh bread. Today I learned that if I try and take a picture of something next to our big patio window at around 2:30 the image comes out very dark looking. So, tomorrow I will try and re-shoot the bread picture during the noon hour sometime. I am also going to make some Chocolate Sorbet. Can’t wait to try it. Got the ice cream machine ready to go in the freezer.