Category: Food

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Chicken Pot Pie for Dummies

Some months of the year just seem to require more hugs.  December is one of those.  There is the stress of the holidays, the brutal awareness that our holidays will never just be stressful, they will be sad to boot, and the obligatory cheer that we are surrounded by and fully expected to participate in.  Sigh.

Hugs are most welcome this time of year.  And sometimes?  Sometimes you need a hug from the inside.  This chicken pot pie recipe is just what the doctor ordered.  Well, probably not, as it contains butter, frozen vegetables, and refrigerator biscuits.  So, yeah, probably not the healthiest meal one could provide their family, but you’d be hard pressed to find one more comforting.  And sometimes the hug just needs to win out over the health.

Oh!  And lest the idea of cooking something as potentially intimidating or time consuming as a pot pie make you just pin this sucker with no intention of ever actually making it, think again.  As I have detailed, I am not great in the kitchen.  I am capable, I am adequate.  This recipe meets my criteria for minimum effort with maximum return.  It is a little time consuming, so don’t do it on a weekday if you work outside the home, but for weekend dinner it is perfection and the leftovers are just as good.  Serve it with a simple green salad and you are good to go.

Warm hugs from my kitchen to yours.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie (Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book, 1989)

1 twelve ounce package frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt (I use 1/4 teaspoon with no ill effect)

1/2 teaspoon dried sage, marjoram, or thyme (I prefer the sage)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)

3/4 cup milk (whole or 2% as skim will not get you what you need here)

3 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey (a pound will do it)

1/4 cup snipped parsley

1/4 cup chopped pimiento

1 package refrigerator biscuits (cut each biscuit into quarters)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook vegetables according to package directions; drain and set aside.  In a saucepan cook onion and mushrooms in butter until tender.  Stir in flour, salt, sage (or marjoram or thyme), and pepper.  Add chicken broth and milk all at once.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in drained vegetables, chicken, parsley, and pimiento.  Heat until bubbly.  Pour chicken mixture into 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Cut one package of refrigerator biscuits (I prefer the Pillsbury Grands biscuits) into quarters and place on top of bubbly chicken mixture in dish.  Pop in oven for approximately 12-15 minutes until biscuits are golden.  Serves 6.

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Mom’s Spaghetti Recipe

My Mom didn’t really like to cook much.  I grew up on a diet of canned vegetables, meat, and potatoes.  It’s what my Dad wanted and didn’t require a lot of thought or energy.  I totally get that.  So much of the time I feel uninspired by food.  I try, and with effort can put a dinner on the table that both tastes good (if a little bland at times) and is nutritious.  The truth is, though, that food does not move me.  Well, brownies move me, but dinner, not so much.

I married into a foodie family, which has been a bit tough at times.  I always worry that my in-laws feel disappointed in my lack of food curiosity and I sometimes feel pressured to know more, try more, eat differently.  And seriously, if any of you gals want to take Mary Tyler Dad on a sushi date, I will not stand in your way.  Poor guy.

That said, there are a few recipes that my Mom made that I cherish.  Oh!  And they are delicious.  My Mom could bring it when she wanted to — just like me.  When I miss her or need an extra shot of comfort in my life, I bring them out to help me feel close to her.  Their smells are evocative of her, just like Oil of Olay and White Linen perfume.  Most of them I have; some have disappeared into the ether.  Sloppy joes, lemon pork chops, peach meat loaf, lasagne with cottage cheese, pot roast with prunes.  My folks married in 1958, so there is a Mad Men quality to these dishes that I simply adore and romanticize.

Her chop suey was one of my favorites as a kid.  What I ate of it consisted of the meat broth over rice and cooked celery, but the flavor was strong and delicious.  Once, in the grocery store, I asked my Mom what kind of meat was in the chop suey.  “Snake meat,” she replied.  I recoiled in horror, but also loved the wicked nature of my Mom’s humor, knowing from the twinkle in her eye that she was kidding.  She was lovely that way.  Wicked humor in a Mom is a good quality.

Yesterday I made a triple batch of my Mom’s spaghetti sauce.  The babysitters were coming over during the dinner hour and a friend just had a baby — both perfect fits for a warm dish of spaghetti.  I posted a photo on Facebook and a few folks asked for the recipe.  Here it is.  Oh, and this is approved by all three in Mary Tyler Family — a foodie, a meat and potatoes gal, and a three year old.  That is the trifecta of hard to please.  Mangia!

spaghetti sauce

Mrs. Q’s Spaghetti Sauce

yellow onion, chopped

1-11/2# ground beef, browned and drained

28 oz. diced tomatoes

12 oz. tomato paste

6 oz. water

6 oz. red wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 bay leaf

add garlic to taste

Saute onion in olive oil until tender, translucent.  Brown and drain meat (FAT CAN!).  Add onions, tomatoes, tomato paste and stir.  Add liquids and stir.  Add dry ingredients and stir.  Simmer on very low heat for two hours, though tastes best when flavors have had time to wed in fridge or freezer.  Can be doubled or tripled.  Serve with spaghetti noodles, garlic toast, and green salad.

Hey, I’ve never written about food before.  Should I do it again?  Per my usual, it would be about the emotional impact of food in our day-to-day.  Let me know if that might float your boat.