Chicken Pot Pie
Baby, it's cold outside.
Around here, that means it's time for something hot and comforting - and a double-crusted pot pie fills that bill, completely.
These are my favorite kind of meals... easy to make, flavorful, filling... and total comfort. My mom used to make a lot of casseroles and pot pies and the like when we were kids. Feeding six kids was a challenge on a fireman's salary and she knew how to stretch her shopping dollars. I still marvel at how she was able to do it and make it appear so effortless. Then, again, she ran the house - not us.
Meals like thbis are easy because there's no recipe involved - they're usually just clean out the refrigerator-type meals. Throw it all in a pot, thicken it up, pour it into a crust, and bake.
It doesn't get easier.
This pot pie started off as a vertically roasted chicken. I boiled down the carcass and picked it clean. The meat went back into the broth with potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and frozen mixed vegetables. Frozen mixed veggies, by the way, are great to have in the freezer at all times. They go into soups, stews, casseroles... A perfect add-in for so many things.
I thickened it with a bit of flour and butter, added some French herbs, and a bit of salt and pepper. It really is that easy.
And so is making the crust...
I've been making pie crust for years and they always come out. I'm constantly disappointed when I break down and buy a pre-made crust and always swear I'll never do it again. I think I have finally learned my lesson.
This particular recipe really is good. I just tweaked it to add some vodka. It's better than ever.
And I really do believe that any homemade crust is better than any store-bought crust. Even a less than perfect or tough homemade crust is superior.
Really.
Gnocchi and New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is quiet around this house. The thrill is gone, so to speak - both of us spent way too many years in hotels and restaurants to even think about going out and celebrating with the crazies.
Our last attempt was December 31, 2003 in New York. We went up and saw The Producer's - the night Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick returned - and were less than a half-block from Times Square when the show let out a little after 11pm. We headed up the street to Broadway and were blocked by some of New York's less-than-finest. It was when they started putting people in pens along the sidewalk instead of letting everyone mill into the square. We had easily dropped a grand for hotel and tickets - and couldn't get into the square to see the ball drop. Frustrated and pissed, we headed back downtown to our hotel and had a quiet glass of champagne with the bartender, beverage manager, and a couple from Norway.
Ten years later, we tucked Nonna in at 7 and watched a filmed Broadway production of Into The Woods with Bernadette Peters. Broadway. A lot less expensive.
New Year's definitely doesn't have the same allure as it did when we were kids. The best thing nowadays is getting new calendars. I get Victor the Broadway Bares calendar every year and this year I got the Warwick Rowers Calendar - signed by the boys! Cheesecake with no calories!
2014 is going to see a few fun things happen, though... we're off to Sicily in May, and we celebrate our 20th Anniversary this year, as well.
And in April we file federal taxes as a married couple for the first time.
We ended 2013 with a quiet dinner - homemade gnocchi, asparagus, and ribeye steaks. Victor had made roasted garlic butter a few days ago and we've been using it on everything. He made garlic mashed potatoes night before last and saved the leftovers for gnocchi.
They were the perfect thing to end the year. We don't have any New Year food traditions - no pork and sauerkraut, hoppin' john, or any of that. I made pancakes and sausage for breakfast.
Potato Gnocchi
- 2 cups garlic mashed potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- S&P to taste
Make a mound of potatoes on the counter with a well in the middle, add the egg, cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix together.
Slowly add the flour and mix until you have a firm but smooth and supple dough..
On a lightly-floured counter, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch-long pieces. Lightly flour the gnocchi as you cut them.
Roll into classic gnocchi shape with a gnocchi board or off the tines of a fork.
Drop in the gnocchi into boiling salted water and cook for about 90 seconds from the time they rise to the surface.
Victor tossed the cooked gnocchi into a skillet with some melted butter and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. Use any sauce you'd like.
So here's to another year of fun food.
Bon appetit!