Darlene's Kitchen

It is cold and drizzly here today, and nothing sounds better to me than a homemade Chicken Pot Pie.

Ingredients

Chicken and stock ingredients:

Pie crust ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (best to chill cubes in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before using)
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Filling ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 3 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 3/4 cup green peas, frozen or fresh
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Egg wash:

• 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water

Special equipment needed:

• 6 10-ounce ramekins

Cook the chicken and make the chicken stock. Combine the chicken, carrot, celery, onion and salt into a large stock pot. Add cold water until just covered and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for 15 minutes. While the chicken is cooling, continue to boil the remaining water and vegetables in the pot. When the chicken has cooled enough to touch, strip away as much of the meat as you can. Place the meat on a dish, set aside. Return the chicken bones to the stockpot and continue to boil, on high heat, until the stock has reduced to a quart or quart and a half. Set aside 2 1/2 cups of the stock for this recipe. The remaining stock you can refrigerate and store for another purpose.

Prepare the pie crust dough. Combine the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the chilled butter cubes and pulse 5 times to combine. And the shortening and pulse a few more times, until the dough resembles a coarse cornmeal, with some pea-sized pieces of butter. Slowly stream in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough sticks together when you press some between your fingers. Empty the food processor, placing the dough on a clean surface. Use your hands to mold into a ball, then flatten the ball into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling. (If you make this and get it in the refrigerator, by the time you’ve chopped up the ingredients and cooked the filling, the dough will be ready)

Prepare the filling. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, one minute more. Whisk in 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Whisk in the milk. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the chicken meat, thyme, sherry, peas, parsley, salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Divide the warm filling among six 10-ounce ramekins.

Prepare the crust. Roll out dough on a lightly flour surface to a little less than a quarter-inch thick. Cut into 6 rounds, slightly larger than the circumference of the ramekins. Lay a dough round on each pot pie filling. Fold the excess dough under itself and use the tines of a fork to press the dough against the edge of the ramekins. Cut a 1-inch vent into each individual pie. Use a pastry brush to apply an egg wash to each pie. Line a baking sheet with foil, place the pies on the baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6. You can also freeze and pop in the oven at a later time for those busy nights!

Baked Ziti  (for 1 – 9×11 pan)

Old Italian recipe from Doug’s Aunt Brenda and his Grandmother Josephine of New York City (I had to guess at some of the amounts and sizes so you may want more mozzarella and parmesan).

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 lb. ground chuck

Olive oil for frying meatballs

1 ½ pints ricotta cheese (3 cups or 12 oz.)

1 lb. grated (or shredded) mozzarella cheese

12 oz. grated parmesan cheese

1 lb. Ziti pasta

2 slices white bread

2 eggs

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato puree

2 small or 1 large can tomato paste

1 small onion – peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves – peeled and chopped

3 bay leaves

Basil – as much as you like to taste

Parsley – as much as you like to taste

Italian seasoning – as much as you like to taste

Salt and pepper – as much as you like to taste

Meatballs

Mix well:

1 lb. of ground chuck

½ chopped onion

2-3 cloves garlic chopped

2 slices white bread (moisten with water and squish with hands)

1 egg

Grated parmesan cheese – to taste

Italian seasoning – to taste

Parsley – to taste

Salt and pepper – to taste

Brown meatballs in olive oil, remove and set aside.

Brown Italian sausage in same pan, remove and set aside.

 Spoon out and remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from pan.

 Sauce

Saute remaining onion and garlic in same pan as meatballs and sausage.

Add tomato paste + 1 small can water.

Stir well.

Remove and place in a large pan.

Add crushed tomatoes and puree.

Add bay leaves, basil, meatballs and Italian sausage.

Simmer for 3 hours.

Remove and discard bay leaves.

Ricotta cheese mix

Combine and mix well:

1 ½ pints ricotta cheese (3 cups or 12 oz.)

½ cup mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese – to taste

1 egg

Parsley – to taste

Salt and pepper – to taste

Baked Ziti

Cook Ziti until just tender, not soft.

 Place some sauce in bottom of 9×11 baking pan.

Layer:

Ziti

Ricotta cheese mix

Sprinkle grated parmesan.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese.

Cover each layer with sauce and repeat.

You can also add sliced or crumbled meatballs to the layers (very tasty).

Cover with foil.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes – until almost heated.

Uncover and add a layer of mozzarella cheese.

Continue baking until heated through and cheese melts.

 Serve additional sauce, meatballs, sausage and grated parmesan on the side.