Restoring My Faith in…Everything

There is a thing in this world that is good and holy.

And chicken-y and creamy and pie crusty.

It is all of these things and it is called…

CHICKEN POT PIE.

[must be said with a booming, God-like voice for full effect]

Liz came over a few weeks ago for a sleepover! And even though I’m pretty sure she was just using me for my central heating and my cat, I love her company so much that I choose to ignore those things. So, of course we cooked— we made a DELICIOUS chicken pot pie. I would make this once a week if I wasn’t so curious about trying new recipes. It is seriously that good.

Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

Allow for about an hour to make this, especially if you’re a slow chopper like me

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
½ cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1¾ cups chicken broth (you can either buy this or use leftover water from boiling the chicken. You might add a bouillon cube while the water is boiling to give it more flavor.)
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat and stir often until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and set aside. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Slowly pour hot liquid mixture over. If you’re like me, you’ve probably run out of room and there’s nowhere to pour the mixture by now. It will seep down slowly, but you might have to find (or make) some holes in the chicken mixture and spoon it in. When you’ve forced in as much liquid mixture as possible, cover with top crust, seal edges and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for ten minutes before serving.

A Bloody Battle

Walking into the kitchen is like walking into a cage match for me. I have no doubt that I will come out battered (cake battered or otherwise), bruised, diced and fried.

I started fighting back last week. I bought a meat tenderizer. Yes, my dear little meat hammer. And I must report that I walked away from cooking that meal with zero injuries (which was nice since I was cooking for guests and didn’t want to resort to busting out the Hello Kitty Band-Aids). I didn’t even whack my thumb with the meat hammer, like some scene out of a wacky-go-lucky sitcom or an episode of the Three Stooges.

So here’s my theory. You’ve got to show the dinner who is boss. Maintaining authority at all times is the key. And sometimes taking a meat mallet to the chicken breasts does the trick. (Put plastic wrap over the chicken first, or else you’ll get splattered. Not technically an injury, but still not fun.)

As a side-note, sometimes retaliations happen. For example, you go into the kitchen unprepared for the battle of cooking dinner. You merely want to core an apple. So, you get out your nifty little apple corer—the kind that cuts the apple into slices at the same time it cuts out the core—and prepare your apple snack. And while you’re trying quite unsuccessfully to pry the leftover core from your nifty apple corer, you slice your finger. You may just find yourself looking at the meat hammer in the sink and thinking to yourself, “Karma.”

Asparagus Pee-ple

My sister, Kirby, bought me the Kawaii Not book of comics last year (which I lurve, seester), but I never looked up the website until a couple of weeks ago.

And I found this...

which I find appropriate to post now because I had asparagus on Monday, and well... you know.

And for those of you who don't think your pee smells after you eat asparagus, it does, you just can't smell it. No seriously, read this if you don't believe me.

(Click picture for a larger version.)

No Fart Jokes, Please.

It’s not that I don’t find bodily functions funny. I’m as immature as the next 22-year-old (maybe more so). But I can’t take anyone making fun of beans. They are dear to me. I don’t know how else to say it except,

I freaking LOVE beans.

So that fact, coupled with my Arkansan-upbringing should make it a no-brainer that I am a huge fan of red beans and rice. In general, Cajun cooking is right up my alley, but I’m quite picky. Seafood is not an option, and quite a few Cajun staples revolve around fishy flavors. So as a kid, while everyone else chowed down on Jambalaya and fried catfish, I always migrated towards a hearty helping of the red beans and rice.

The following recipe is one of my favorites so far. And, the magazine it came from listed it as only costing approximately $3.00 per serving, which my budget very much appreciates at the moment.

Red Beans and Rice

Originally appeared as a slow cooker recipe in Family Circle.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ teaspoons Cajun seasoning
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ pound dried red kidney beans
1 large chicken bouillon cube
3 cups water
½ pound light kielbasa, cut into ¼ inch half moons
¼ teaspoon black pepper
3 cups cooked white rice

Rinse beans and pick over. Then bring to a boil in 3-4 cups of water. Boil 2 minutes, then take off stove and let sit for one hour with lid on. (If the instructions on the package of your dried beans differ, follow those steps here.) When beans have sat for an hour, put back on stove and simmer in large pot while you follow the next steps. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and celery. Cook, stirring, for 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Then scrape contents of skillet into pot to cook with the beans. Also add Cajun seasoning, oregano, thyme, bouillon cube and some water, if it needs it. Then allow the mixture to keep simmering (covered, with lid tilted to let out steam) for 1½ to 2 hours. When beans are tender, stir in kielbasa and black pepper. Cook until heated through. Serve over rice.

Makes 6 servings.

Per Serving: 344 calories; 8 g fat (2 g sat.); 8 g protein; 48 g carbohydrate; 11 g fiber; 890 mg sodium; 24 mg cholesterol.