Master Chef

Last night, my husband paid me the best compliment in the world – at least to me.  He said I had turned into a Master Chef.  Evidently, he has been enjoying my cooking for a while now, and last night threw him over the edge.  He could barely speak through the groans of yummy pleasures he was uttering. 

I had a huge grin on my face all through dinner, put there by the pride I could feel oozing from my husband’s pores.   Of course, the smile was quickly misplaced when I came down from Cloud 9 to see all the dishes waiting for me to clean.  But I enjoyed the moment while it lasted. 

Some of you may need to hear something like this coming from your husbands and family, so I thought I’d share what I made.  It all started with a simple Christmas gift from my sister….

She gave me this….

And I’ve since been trying every dish in this thing!  Some are too Southwestern-inspired for me,which I’m not a huge fan of,  but a lot of what she makes is just good old fashioned comfort food.   (If you don’t know who the Pioneer Woman is, you haven’t been around blogs much, have you? It’s alright.  She’s fun to read – hope on over and check out her site sometime when you have OODLES of free time at your disposal – The Pioneer Woman

I made her Chicken Pot Pie last night, with her Perfect Pie Crust on top.  She has her pie crust online, so I’ll just share the link with you here Perfect Pie Crust Recipe.  But her Chicken Pot Pie recipe is not on her website, so I’ll type it out.  I must admit that I didn’t use white wine, because we never have it in the house, and I’m CLUELESS when it comes to picking out a wine to cook with (unless it says “cooking wine” but EVERYONE says never to use cooking wine in your cooking – Go figure!).  I also left out the chicken bouillon cube, because I didn’t have any left in my pantry.  Oops!  And finally, when it came to the seasonings, I pulled out an Herbes de Provence that I got as a wedding gift (5 years ago!) that hasn’t been used much.  I never know what to use it in, and this seemed like the right thing to do. 

But I’ve made it before, and it is great as is.

The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Pot Pie

3 celery stalks

3 medium carrots, peeled

1 large yellow onion

4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter

½ cup frozen pees

2 cups cooked chicken

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

¼ cup white wine (optional)

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp ground thyme

1 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 400̊. Begin by finely dicing the vegetables. Slice the celery stalks into narrow strips, and then slice in the other direction to create a fine dice. Repeat this process with the carrots and the onion. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and peas. Sauté until vegetables start to turn translucent, a couple of minutes. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently. Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube and wine, if using. The flour will combine with the chicken to create a delicious gravy. Pour in the cream and stir. Allow the mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with the thyme, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Be sure it’s adequately salted! Pour the chicken mixture into a deep pie pan or small casserole dish. Roll out the crust so that it’s 1 inch larger than the pan. Place the crust on top of the chicken mixture and cut small slits in the top. Press the crust gently into the sides of the dish to seal. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Use a large spoon to serve.

Let me know if any of you try it! I’d love to hear what your family says.!