BBQ Chicken Pie

I am a Google fanatic. I use Google email, the documents feature and whenever I need to search the web I go right to the Google search engine-- are there any other options? But of all the Google tools that I use I think my most favorite, by far, is Google Reader. I have fifty plus subscriptions in my reader that I faithfully go through every day-- sometimes more than that since it all gets automatically updated when there's something new to read. Of those fifty plus subscriptions I subscribe to around thirty are food blogs and food sites. Probably a small number compared to other bloggers, but a lot compared to my non-blogging friends and family.

Along with the food blogs I read every day I also subscribe to brand name recipe sites like Crisco, Eagle Brand, Betty Crocker, etc. Usually the recipes are super simple and include ingredients that, go figure, promote the company's products. It's not really my style of cooking since I try to only use whole foods in my recipes, but I like to read through them to get ideas. More often than not I'm not inspired and end up glancing through the recipes and moving on to something else. In fact, I had yet to use one of those recipes until I came across this BBQ chicken recipe from Betty Crocker.

At first I wasn't too impressed, but after reading through it several times I became intrigued and decided to try making it without using the prepackaged products called for in the recipe. I find this funny because usually people are looking for the shortcuts, but in my case I wanted to take a little more time and make the whole thing from scratch. I consulted several recipes to put this whole thing together, but all of them needed to be significantly adjusted in some way or another.

There are two main components in this recipe-- the BBQ sauce and the crust. First, the original recipe called for BBQ sauce in a bottle , which is certainly easier to use, but just doesn't stack up to homemade.

Basic BBQ Sauce with Chicken

I adapted this recipe from one I found at a website called Recipe Tips. This can easily be made a day ahead and stored in the refridgerator until ready to use

1/2 medium red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced very small

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion and cook 2-3 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more, stirring frequently, until soft. Add in the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, mustard and ginger and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, stir in the cooked chicken and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.

The second main component of this recipe is the crust, but I didn't want to use Bisquick, which was called for in the original recipe. I have long since abandoned my boxed Bisquick in favor of making things from scratch, which meant I needed to figure out what exactly is in Bisquick so I could recreate it. I don't ever bake without a specific recipe, so I didn't trust myself to guess what was in it and in what quantities. I had to turn to my friend Google for this one and, lo and behold, after typing in What is in Bisquik, I found what I was looking for at a website called Plain Jane Mom. That recipe, with a few adjustments and a few other ingredients, will produce what you need for the crust.

The Crust

2 cups flour, sifted

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, very cold and cut into small pieces

2 eggs

4 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon parsely, chopped

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9" pie pan with Pam.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter until there are pea-sized balls of butter through out.

Add in the eggs and water stirring until just combined. Stir in the parsley. The batter will be very wet, which is what you want. If it is too dry, add a little more water until it looks like the picture.

Scoop the batter into the pie pan and, using a spatula, spread it evenly on the bottom and part-way up the sides. Sprinkle a 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese over the batter.

Spoon the BBQ chicken over the batter leaving about a 1/2 inch or so around the edges. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 22 to 27 minutes or until the edges are golden. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before loosening the edges and serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsely to garnish.

Roasted Garlic Pesto

It is hot, hot, hot in our neck of the woods and the summer heat has caused me to turn my back on the kitchen and seek refuge in take-out and air-conditioned restaurants several times this past week. Even today the temperature was already eighty degrees by ten this morning which means by dinner time it will still be hovering around 100.

But with a big bag of basil in the fridge it's time to get back in the kitchen. I hate to think that it would go bad just because I don't want to turn on the stove, so I decided to start making dinner in the morning before the heat of the day sapped my energy.

With about four cups of fresh basil I decided to make a decent sized batch of pesto, which is super easy to make. It's also versatile and can be used in a variety of ways-- as a salad dressing, tossed with pasta, or as a sandwich spread are just a few ways to use it. If you make a big batch you can freeze some of it to have on hand for a quick dinner on those nights that cooking dinner seems out of reach.

I used to buy premade pesto at the store until I figured out how easy it is to make. Once you know which ingredients to use and in what amounts you don't even need a recipe. None of my pestos are ever the same because sometimes I add more garlic or maybe fewer pine nuts, it really depends on my mood.

This time I decided to roast the garlic instead of using it raw. Roasting garlic mellows out the flavor and adds smokiness, which is a nice addition to the pesto. Also, roasting it means you'll want to use more so, if you are using raw garlic I recommend using one clove for every cup of fresh basil.

Not wanting to use my oven I turned to the grill to roast it, which is the only cooking involved in the recipe. I preheated the grill to medium and, once heated, I turned off one side so the garlic could roast over indirect heat. I used one whole head of garlic, removed most of the paper, and cut the top off. I drizzled it with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Then I wrapped in tin foil and let it roast for about 40 minutes until the cloves were soft.

Once it cooled I squeezed out the cloves...

Once the garlic is done it's just a matter of pureeing all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Here are the amounts I used for this batch...

4 cups fresh basil leaves

1 head of roasted garlic

1/2 cup pine nuts, dry roasted in a pan

1/2 Parmesan cheese, grated

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

seasoned to taste with salt

So now we have a pesto sauce that we'll use for dinner tonight. At this point, I'm not quite sure what it will be, but I'm pretty sure it won't involve the oven.

If you liked this you might also like...

Grilled Chicken with Tomato Pesto

Saturday Morning Starter...

Gather some strawberries and cantaloupe and toss them together...

Invite some oranges and lemons to come along, too...

Blend them all together and enjoy.

Mixed Fruit Smoothie

Serves 1-2

1/2 cup strawberries, sliced

1 cup cantaloupe, cubed

Juice from 2 oranges

Juice from 1 lemon

Using a blender, puree until very smooth and serve chilled.

Homemade Refried Beans: What Not to Do...

Up until now, dried beans have served as mere decoration in my kitchen filling decorative clear glass jars that grace my counter tops. I like them because they give the illusion that I cook my beans from scratch, but in reality it's all a farce and, seriously, I think some of them are at least 5 years old. Well, after making my own refried beans using canned pinto beans I thought it was time to put my dried beans to good use and make some authentic homemade refried beans. I wanted to make a big batch and use them to make chicken burritos that we could freeze for later.

I googled homemade refried beans and the very first site listed was Simply Recipes, which is one of my very favorite food websites. With recipe in hand I grabbed my pinto beans (don't worry, I bought new ones!) and got down to business.

The recipe is very straight forward and I expected everything to go smoothly, which it did in the beginning. After rinsing the beans I put them in a large pot, covered them with water and allowed them to boil on the stove for 2 and 1/2 hours. Couldn't be easier.

Once the beans were cooked I removed the pot and drained them. Very easy.

At this point I moved them to my largest skillet, which was also easy, but my skillet was a little too small. At this point I should have switched to a larger pot, but I didn't, which, in hindsight, was a critical mistake.

With my beans almost overflowing the skillet I started mashing them with a potato masher, which resulted in lots of beans falling out and landing on the stove, counter and floor. Very frustrating.

The recipe called for 1/4 cup of water that I added as I was mashing the beans. The water helps it loosen up and make the whole mashing business easier. Not the case for me-- I think I had more than 1 pound of beans (the amount the recipe calls for) because the 1/4 cup of water didn't really make a difference in the consistency. I added some more, but the more I mashed the more cement-like my beans became. Not easy.

When the beans were finally mashed I attempted to season them. Without salt and pepper they were really bland. I started adding in seasoning, but the consistency was so thick I could hardly stir them. Plus, my too-small skillet made it difficult to keep it all in one place. This was not going the way I planned.

After a while I gave up on trying to season them and dumped the whole mess into a bowl. At this point, I was tired and sweaty and in no mood to make chicken burritos, so I covered them with saran wrap and put them in the fridge. I told myself we would eat them through the week.

We didn't eat them and I ended up throwing it all out after a week.

So, this first attempt at homemade refried beans was not successful. However, if you want to try making them I do recommend using the Simply Recipes recipe. In the case of my refried beans I was the only one to blame for the failure. But, keep the following in mind if you do decide to try this...

1. Unless you have a really big pot I recommend

making a half batch with 1/2 pound of beans or less.

2. Keep adding water until your beans look like the

picture in the original recipe.

If your beans look like mine, in the picture below, you will not be happy.

3. Be patient with the seasoning and get it right-- bland beans are not happy beans!

4. Or skip using dried beans and just used canned ones using this recipe-- really, it's OK, I promise no one will judge you.

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

Cherry Upside Down Cake

When Dan and I got married my mom gave me a cookbook that had belonged to my grandmother that I absolutely love. Printed in 1933 Balanced Recipes offers lots of simple and wholesome recipes and was, most likely, a must-have for any bride during that era. My grandmother, a new bride herself at the time, received the book as a gift from a family friend after a particularly disastrous dinner she had made, or so the story goes.

Now the book is my kitchen and is one that I get out often to peruse. In addition to the recipes, the book offers advice and opinions, which I think are still relevant for today. I laughed the first time I read the introduction to the dessert section-- it seems not much has changed in the seventy-six years since the book was published. Even back then people were debating the importance of desserts...

"In dieting for weight control, desserts sometimes disappear from the menu. This is poor judgement, physically and psychologically. Sugars and sweets such as candy, syrups, honey, pastries, etc., are as much needed and as much a part of good nutrition as milk, vegetables, fruits, meats and cereals. Good judgement lies in planning and eating sweets, provided in proper amounts, at the proper place in the menu." --from Balanced Recipes, 1933

Three cheers for dessert!

When I think of classic desserts I often think of upside down cake, which I found a recipe for in the book. Never a fan of pineapple I decided to use the fresh pie cherries I had on hand and adapted the recipe from the book to create my Cherry Upside Down Cake.

Cherry Upside Down Cake

adapted from Balanced Recipes

Serves 8

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray either a 8 or 9 inch cake pan or 8x8 square cake pan with Pam

For the batter:

1 and 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk the egg, milk and oil together. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and combine. Set aside.

For the fruit:

1 and 1/2 cups pie cherries, pitted

4 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

(toast the almonds in a dry skillet for about five minutes or until golden)

Melt the butter with the sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly until syrupy. Spread the mixture in the prepared cake pan.

Top the brown sugar mixture with the cherries.

Top the cherries with the toasted almonds.

Pour the cake batter over the top using a spatula to spread it out, if necessary.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool a bit in the pan before turning out onto a serving dish. Slice and serve with whipped cream or all by itself. A true classic, upside down cake is just as great as it was 76 years ago...

Breakfast Sandwich

I have a definite routine in the mornings and, unfortunately, it doesn't always include breakfast. Plenty of coffee, yes, but during the week I often forgo preparing breakfast in favor of other activities like reading the news and checking my Facebook account (a lot can happen over night!). I am well aware of how important it is to eat breakfast, but most mornings I'm lucky enough to get dressed and out the door on time. Even on the days I work from home breakfast just isn't a priority. I love making breakfast on the weekends, when time isn't an issue, but during the week? Forget it.

Skipping breakfast would be fine if I didn't get the shakes later in the morning and end up scavenging for anything to make them go away. The threat of the nasty blood sugar drop is what motivates me to make my weekday breakfasts ahead of time, like the breakfast enchiladas I wrote about or these-- my little breakfast sandwiches that resemble the ones that live under the golden arches.

Up until now I've always kept these pretty simple-- egg, cheese, and bacon on an toasted English muffin. This new version is a little more interesting and is so much better than the other version that can be acquired through a drive-through. I made six of these last night, wrapped them up and stuck them in the freezer. It didn't take a lot of time-- about 45 minutes from start to finish, including wrapping and clean up.

I dressed them up this time by sauteing chopped baby portabello mushrooms (about 1 cup) and fresh spinach (about a cup and a half, loosely packed). Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add the mushrooms and cook them for about 5 minutes or so. Add in the chopped spinach and allow it to wilt, stirring frequently. Once the spinach has wilted remove the it and the mushrooms to a cutting board and run your knife through it a few times.

Wisk 6 eggs together and then add in the spinach, mushrooms and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium. Pour in about a quarter cup of the egg mixture. I like to cook it like an omelet-- let it cook for a few minutes on one side and then flip it over, allow it to cook for a minute or so more, fold it twice and remove it from the pan.

Toast the English muffins and top them with the egg and a slice of cheddar cheese. You could also add some bacon or sausage. Wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and, if you plan to freeze them, wrap it again with tin foil. When the busy weekday morning is upon you just unwrap and reheat it in the microwave for about a minute and thirty seconds.

Saturday Morning Crepes

Have you ever made crepes? I had never made crepes until today and was surprised at how simple they are to make. Even though I hadn't planned to make crepes I didn't have to make a trip to the store because they require so few ingredients-- milk, eggs, flour and a pinch of salt. They're also really versatile and can be filled with whatever you like-- all sweet and savory ingredients are welcome.

I used a very basic crepe recipe from the Top Chef Cookbook. The recipe in the book includes an almond whipped cream with strawberries for a filling, but that didn't sound good to me so I just used the recipe for the crepes by themselves.

First combine 2 eggs, 1 and 1/2 cup of milk and a pinch of salt in a blender. The add in 1 and 1/2 cups of flour and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Turn on the blender and let it go until you have a smooth, thin batter.

To make it easy to pour into the pan I transferred the batter from the blender to a large measuring cup. The measurements on the side also make it easy to see how much batter you are pouring into the pan.

Heat a 9-inch pan over medium-high heat. This is the part where the operation starts to get tricky. You need to get the right amount of batter into the pan and move it around quickly so it cooks evenly.

As you can see, my first crepe did not have the right shape. The batter was too thick so it was hard to move around the pan. Also, my pan wasn't quite hot enough so it didn't really brown, either.

This is where that crepe ended up going...

I thinned out the batter by adding another quarter cup of milk and tried again...

Ah, much better.

Successful crepes depend a lot on the technique so I thought it might be helpful if I shared a video of the technique I used to cook my crepes. I realize the video is sideways, but you'll get the idea...

Here are all the crepes I made...

I decided to keep it simple and paired my crepes with some of my mom's homemade jam.

Spread some jam on the crepe...

Fold into a triangle...

And enjoy!

Bonus: Any leftover crepes can be frozen and reheated later.

Grilled Chicken with Tomato Pesto

I know what you're thinking-- another grilled chicken and pasta recipe? Yes, I know, it appears I may be falling into a rut, but this recipe met so many of my needs yesterday that there was no way I wasn't going to make it.

Need #1

I have a bunch of almonds on hand that I really wanted to use. I hate buying an ingredient that only a small amount is used and the rest ends up going to waste. I was planning make almond cookies, but then I came across an interesting recipe for tomato pesto in the most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated. Instead of the traditional basil and pine nut combo, this recipe calls for tomatoes and almonds.

Need #2

I had leftover grilled chicken from this recipe that I needed to use. I thought it would be a nice addition to the pesto, along with some fresh spinach, to make it a complete meal.

Need #3

I needed to make something for dinner that wouldn't heat the entire house. The temperature has been 100 degrees every day for a week and last night I was in no mood to really cook anything. Enter the already grilled chicken and a pesto sauce that didn't need to be cooked at all. The only thing I had to do was boil the spaghetti, which was quick.

Need #4

This goes without saying, but I had a need to eat something that tasted good. And, oh boy, this recipe fit the bill. I think my old standby basil and pine nut pesto recipe may go into retirement for a while after trying the tomato and almond version.

Grilled Chicken with Tomato Pesto

Cook's Illustrated August 2009

Serves 4-6

1/4 cup slivered almonds

12 ounces tomatoes*

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb spaghetti or linguine

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, plus extra for passing

1 cup grilled chicken, diced

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly golden and fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a blender, combine the almonds, tomatoes, garlic, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes until smooth. Scrape down the sides and, with the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil.

Cook pasta following package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining. Return drained pasta back to the pot. Add the chopped spinach, grilled chicken, pesto, 1/2 cup pasta water and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and toss together. Serve immediately.

*I recommend using in season farmer's market tomatoes for the best flavor. If not, use cherry or grape tomatoes from the grocery store

Grilled Summer Squash

I can't take credit for this one because it was Dan's idea to cut up the funny-shaped summer squash we got and eat it as an afternoon snack. My only contribution was recommending that he grill it rather than bake it to keep the house from heating up. The rest was all him.

The whole exercise was a reminder that keeping it simple can often be very, very rewarding. Some olive oil, salt and pepper and a few minutes on a hot grill produced a very tasty treat that we quickly devoured while standing at the kitchen counter. The summer squash was tender and sweet with some smoky flavor from the grill.

Definitely a simple summer pleasure.

What's your simple summer pleasure? Click on the comment link and let me know!

If you like this you might also like...

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Mismatched Dinner Recipes, Part 3

Do you know why so many restaurants have creme brulee on their menus? It's not just because it's really, really good. No, the reason creme brulee graces so many dessert menus is because it is so easy to make! Now, some may disagree with me, but, friends, I am here to tell you that you can wow your friends and family by making this at home. And, don't get me wrong,this is not some knock off 'generic' creme brulee -- This it's the real deal.

It was only recently that I even tried to make creme brulee at home. Like many people, I had convinced myself that it was a dessert best left to the confines of nice restaurants and in the hands of fancy chefs with a high degree of culinary skills. Despite the fact that Dan bought me a creme brulee set several years ago I had never really considered making it on my own... until I started writing this blog.

Since starting this blog I made the commitment to cast culinary fears aside and tackle the impossible. About a month ago I set my sites on creme brulee and decided to use a recipe listed on the back of a package of vanilla beans. I had all the ingredients on hand and soon after starting had my very own creme brulee. I took pictures of it which you can see here. I was so impressed with myself I decided to make it again for our friends at, what is now called, the Mismatched Dinner Part 1, 2 and now 3. This time I used Alton Brown's recipe, although I think he copied his from the same package of vanilla beans because the recipe is very similar.

Alton Brown's Creme Brulee

Serves 8

First you will need to get all the vanilla seeds out of the vanilla bean. I started taking pictures of this process and then remembered that my camera has a video feature on it. Now, I'm not a film maker, but I think the video will help if you have never done this before...

Next, mix the vanilla seeds and pod with a quart of heavy cream (I said it was easy, not healthy) and bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. Discard the vanilla pod.

While the cream is on the stove, whisk together 6 egg yolks (no whites) with 1/2 cup sugar. Alton recommends using vanilla sugar, but regular sugar works just fine. Whisk it until it the color lightens a bit.

Now you will want to whisk the egg and sugar mixture with the vanilla cream mixture. It's OK if the vanilla mixture isn't completely cool, just pour it into the egg mixture a little a time. This will help keep the eggs from scrambling because you definitely don't want scrambled egg brulee.

Once combined, I recommend ladling the mixture into a Pyrex measuring cup for easy pouring into the ramekins. You may have to do this in batches. I used eight 4 ounce ramekins, which I think is a pretty decent serving size. Place the filled ramekins in a baking dish. Fill the baking dish with hot water until the water is halfway up the ramekins. I forgot to take a picture before putting them in the oven, but you can kind of see what it should look like.

Bake them at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes. They should be set, but still be a bit wobbly in the center, when done.

Remove the ramekins from the baking dish and store them in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or for as long as 3 days. 30 minutes before serving them you'll want to complete the final step, which is creating the crunchy, caramelized sugar on top. For that you'll want one of these...

...a miniature butane torch. Some say you can caramelize the sugar using a broiler, but I have never heard of anyone who was successful using that technique. If creme brulee is not reason enough to buy this handy device (you can find them for as cheap as 20 bucks), just think about how cool you'll be with this in your kitchen. It's a very chef-y tool to have lying around waiting to impress your guests (I had mine for 3 years before I actually used it, but I always managed to bring it out to impress people).

The butane torch makes it so much easier since you can control how much the sugar is caramelized. All you need to do is divide a 1/2 a cup of sugar among the custards, fire the butane torch up and caramelize the sugar. You'll need to get in pretty close with the flame and, don't worry, it takes a lot of heat to burn the sugar. Just toast it until it starts to caramelize.

Put the ramekins back in the fridge until you are ready to serve them. Oh, and when you do, be ready for a lot of ooohs, aaahhs, mmmms, and other various sounds. Just don't let the adoration go to your head!

Mismatched Dinner Recipes, Part 2

There's not much to write about this salad except that I made it because it sounded good. I wasn't really thinking about the whole menu when I chose it and, in hindsight, it didn't really 'go' with anything else on the menu that night. Although, after the focaccia, Insalata Caprese Skewers, and stuffed mushrooms it was sort of nice to have a light and cool pasta salad to enjoy before dessert. Not only was it light and cool it was also very tasty, although next time I might omit the grilled chicken and serve it as a side dish for hamburgers or some kind of other grilled main dish. This is also a great pot luck salad since it doesn't contain mayo and it can easily be doubled to feed more people.

I found the original recipe at a website called My Recipes and, as usual, made some changes. First, I used a orecchiette pasta (a pasta shape that looks like little ears) instead of orzo (a teeny-tiny pasta that looks a little like rice). I planned to use the orzo, but after what is now called the 'Orzo Incident' I had to substitute the orecchiette. I also used spinach instead of arugula and regular tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes. Oh, and I grilled my own chicken instead of using precooked packaged chicken.

Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese

Serves 6-8

8 oz orecchiette pasta

3 cups of grilled chicken, cubed

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

1 red (or whatever color you like) pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz goat cheese crumbles

salt

pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside to cool. Toss the chicken, spinach, tomatoes, red pepper, onion, basil and oregano together in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the vinegar, and oil together. Season the dressing with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Add the dressing to the ingredients in the large bowl and toss to coat. Add in the goat cheese crumbles and toss it all again. Serve chilled.

If you like this you might also like...

Grilled Chicken with Pesto-Inspired Pasta