Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust

My sweet girl Tori LOVES chicken pot pie...it is one of her top dinner requests! This pie not only tastes amazing, feeds a HUGE crew, but could not be any simpler to put together. The "Super Mom" shortcuts get dinner on the table fast(with out sacrificing taste or nutrition)! If you aren't feeding a crowd, divide the filling mixture into two 8x8" pans, top each with a crust and stick the extra one in the freezer for later.

For The Crust

2 Pilsbury Ready Made Pie Crusts (one box)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 tbsp half & half

For The Filling

1 Rotisserie Chicken, deboned and shredded*
3 cups chicken stock (homemade or store bought is fine)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion diced
6 stalks celery, chopped
5 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup diced carrots
8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
small can sweet peas, drained
7 tbsp flour (white or wheat)
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup half & half
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter with olive oil. Add onions, celery, thyme, carrots, mushrooms and 1 tsp kosher salt & 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir and cook until veg is softened, about 6 minutes. Add flour, stir to coat veg and cook 2 minutes more. Add wine and cook until wine is almost evaporated, 1-2 minutes. Add chicken stock, half & half, poultry seasoning and garlic powder, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and peas. Stir, taste and correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour filling into a 13x9" baking pan. Set aside.

Roll both crusts out onto large cutting board (or clean countertop), overlapping in center. Using a rolling pin, roll crusts into a rectangle (roughly 15x11" in size). Fold in half and carefully lay crust over baking dish, unfold to cover filling. Press crust down to seal in filling and fold excess crust into baking dish. Pinch between thumb and finger to create edge. Brush crust with 1 tbsp half & half. Sprinkle with cheese and create 3-4 slits in crust with sharp knife. Bake pie 35 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

*You can use a rotisserie chicken, leftover roasted chicken or even that leftover holiday turkey.

Slow Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apricots & Thyme

Anyone who knows me personally knows I am a bold in your face kind of girl...this attitude and gusto follows me into the kitchen and into the foods I enjoy the most and tend to serve my family...my kiddos have been eating Indian, Thai, Malaysian and Mexican food since they were tiny tots. My family loves flavor, plain and simple...we are so not a "vanilla" family!

I like my food like I like my music...loud and rocking!

This delish pork tenderloin does not fit that description...think of it as the ever present tender love ballad on your fave hard rock cd!

The pork is melt in your mouth tender...the sauce delicate...the apricots transform from dried and wrinkled to plump, soft, almost buttery bites of happiness. This dish is family friendly fare...everyone will enjoy it from your toddler to your big kids.

1/4 cup flour
generous pinch kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 pork tenderloins, trimmed and silver skin removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup orange juice
3 cups dried apricot halves
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp fresh orange zest

In a gallon baggie, combine flour, salt and pepper. Add pork tenders, seal and shake to coat pork evenly.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add pork tenders and cook until browned on all sides, turning frequently, 5-7 minutes. Transfer pork to slow cooker (or dutch oven*).

In same skillet you browned pork, saute onions until golden and soft, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more. Add stock and stir scrapping up any brown bits. Pour stock mixture over pork tenders. Add orange juice, apricots and thyme. Cover and cook on low setting 4-6 hours, until pork is very tender.

When pork is done, remove tenderloins & apricots to a plate and keep warm. Pour sauce into pot and heat over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, until sauce thickens slightly. Add orange zest and mustard. Stir and cook 2 minutes more. Taste and correct seasoning with kosher salt and pepper. Slice pork and return to crock pot. Top with apricots and any accumulated juices. Serve immediatley.

*You can use your crock pot for this recipe or if your oven has a slow cook setting as mine does, a dutch oven. If you go the dutch oven route, you will not have to transfer the sauce at the end of recipe to reduce on the stovetop.

Albondigas (Mexican Meatball Soup)

This soup is delish!!! Even Mr. "Picky Pants" likes it...and that's saying something! You control the "spicy factor" by how much chile powder you add to the meatballs.

For The Meatballs

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1/2 sweet onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano, roughly chopped
2 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

For The Broth

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion,chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo
6 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup fresh (or frozen) corn kernels
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
cooked white or brown rice, for serving

In a large mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs and stock. Stir to form a paste and set aside.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant and softened. Remove from heat and scrape into bowl with breadcrumb paste, let mixture cool about 5 minutes. Once cooled, add pork, turkey, eggs, oregano, chile powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Using your hands, thoroughly (but gently) mix together until well combined.

Cover bowl and let meat mixture rest in fridge at least 30 minutes.

While meat mixture is "chilling", heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or stock pot. Add chopped onion and saute until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and chipotle peppers. Stir and continue cooking 2 more minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, celery, carrots and corn. Reduce heat medium low and simmer until veg is softened, about 30-40 minutes.

While broth is simmering, preheat oven to 350. Take meatball mixture out of fridge and shape into 1" meatballs. Place meatballs onto lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake meatballs until cooked through and golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove meatballs from oven and add to broth. Add lime juice and cilantro, stir and cook 5 minutes. Taste and correct seasoning with kosher salt & freshly ground pepper.

To Serve - Place about 1/2 cup rice in soup bowl. Ladle soup over rice and serve.

Simple and Oh So Heavenly Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

I LOVE BUTTER CREAM FROSTING!!! There I said it...are you happy!?!? There is simply nothing like homemade butter cream. You can tint this lovely frosting with gel or paste food colors or use it as is.

3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tbsp whipping cream


In stand mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium high speed for 3-5 minutes more until frosting is thick and creamy.

Chocolate Truffle Tart...Can You Say Chocolate Heaven!?!?

It's that time of year again...as Thanksgiving (and Christmas) approach, I begin pouring over recipes old and new to add to the holiday dinner table. I found this recipe in one of my Gourmet Holiday magazines...it is 110% chocolate overload...and I love it!!! It is a keeper. This tart is so simple and elegant that it needs little adornment. You could easily serve it "naked" with a light dusting of cocoa powder. I like the lightly sweeted whipped cream because it cuts through the intense richness of the tart. The original recipe did not call for Teddy Grahams, but it's what I had in the pantry and the crust turned out fab using those cute little bears!

For The Crust

1 1/2 cups finely ground Chocolate Teddy Grahams (use your food processor)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For The Filling

1/2 lb good quality bittersweet chocolate (I use Scharffen Berger 62% cacao semi-sweet)
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy whippping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

For Serving

Lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream
fresh berries

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, stir togehter cookie crumbs and melted butter. Pour crumb mixture into springform pan and pat evenly onto bottom of pan and 1 1/2" up the sides of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before filling.

While crust cools make ganache filling. Melt choclate and butter over low heat, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Whisk eggs, cream, sugar, salt and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk in chocolate mixture until thoroughly blended.

Pour filling into cooled crust, spreading to edge with spatula. Bake until filling 1" from edge is set and firm and center still jiggles slightly when pan is shaken, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 2 hours. Cover loosley with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, whip 1/2 heavy whipping cream with 1 tsp sugar. Slice tart and plate with a dollop of whipped cream and a few berries.

Better Than Almost-Famous Swedish Meatballs

This was dinner tonight...pure comfort food!!! My family loves, loves this recipe..I hope yours does too! The orignal recipe was Food Networks attempt to recreate Ikea's famous Swedish Meatballs...I played with it until my family said it was perfect...maybe even better than Ikea's...I'm just saying!

For The Meatballs

3/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb lean ground pork
1 large egg plus one egg white, lightly beaten

For The Gravy

2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup cream (or half & half)
salt and pepper
Egg noodles, cooked according to package directions and kept warm for serving
Lingonberry jam for serving (optional)

To Make The Meatballs

Place breadcrumbs in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, allspice, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until onion and garlic is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Pour hot milk mixture over breadcrumbs. Stir to combine; let cool. Once cool, add the turkey, pork and egg and mix thoroughly. Cover bowl with platic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Remove mixture from fridge and shape into 1" meatballs. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400. Bake meatballs 20-25 minutes, unitl cooked through.

To Make The Gravy

While meatballs bake, melt butter in medium pan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk constantly until roux is pale golden brown. While still whisking, slowly add beef stock. Add worcestershire sauce and lower to a simmer. Add cream and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.Taste and correct seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve

Place a generous amount of noodles on plate. Top with 5-6 meatballs and ladle gravy over meatballs. Place a bowl of lingonberry jam at the table to serve with meatballs. My sweet girl Tori uses lingonberry jam like ketchup...dunks her meatballs in a ramekin filled with the darn stuff...whatever makes her happy!

Leonards's Chicken meets Hot Pockets Equals One Tasty Handheld Dinner

While reading my most recent edition of Food Network magazine, I came across a recipe for homemade "Hot Pocket" style sandwiches. Problem was that none of the mag's flavor combos were ever gonna fly with my kiddos! All were either too boring or too wierd....which got me to thinking, what would my family want in a homemade Hot Pocket...(besides gobs of flavor)? I refuse to buy the commercially made Hot Pockets much to my kids dismay...those things are plain nasty pockets of artifical flavors...blech!

Going thru all the possible flavor combinations, I had a lightbulb moment and decided to take my kids FAVE chicken dish (Leonard's Chicken), deconstruct it and voila...the Leonard's Hot Pocket was born! Juicy roasted chicken, baby swiss cheese and sweet & smoky Black Forest ham...yum to the max! The critics all gave them two thumbs up and Harrison even had one for a snack today after school. In this test recipe, I used white french bread dough, next time I am going to try whole wheat and see what the critics in my house have to say.

3 cups shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken rocks here)
1 1/2 cups shredded baby swiss cheese
1 cup julienned Black Forest ham ( I love Boars Head)
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp seasoned salt
flour for dusting
2 tubes refrigerated french bread
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 425. Spray baking sheet lightly with Pam cooking spray. In a large bowl combine chicken, cheese and ham. Sprinkle spices over mixture and toss with hands to combine thorughly.
Open tube of dough and unroll on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 4 eqeual pieces, repeat with second tube of dough. Roll each piece of dough into a 6x8" rectangle, dusting with flouring to keep dough from sticking. Place a generous handful of filling mixture in center of each dough rectangle, pressing filling down slightly. Fold the two shorter sides of dough over filling to cover. Fold in the two long sides of the dough to form pocket. Pinch edges to seal. Place pockets, seam side down on baking sheet. Brush tops with egg wash and place in oven. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve.