Chicken Pot Pie

Cheap Eat Challenge: Can a family of 6 eat cheap and tasty (and pretty healthy too) on $6/day? Let's find out.

I call this "sunburst of the heart" pie, and don't even think of stealing my brilliant design because it's, like, trademarked or whatever due to the utter genius of my artistry. It's going on display next month at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so if you think it's just a dowdy pie in an old-ish looking pan with a blob of extra dough in the middle, that just shows how little you know about modern art. It also shows that I did not get one single decent picture of the cut pie. Alas.

So we got our dreary rainy day. Perfect for chicken pot pie. If it's hot in your neck of the woods, I feel confident that more chilly/rainy/drearyness will come and go before things level out. So put this in your back pocket and maybe freeze some of the leftover meat from your next roast chicken. Because chicken pot pie is an excellent leftover meal.

Which is a lot of the appeal. If you have a little chicken and some broth or drippings, plus some vegetables--even if they're not the perkiest--hanging out in your refrigerator, then you just need a dough and you're good to go. We didn't have enough meat for a full sized chicken pot pie. I was going to make little ones in ramekins (which would have been lovely), but utter laziness won out and I discovered that if you simply fold the sides of your pie crust down a bit, you can make them fit whatever size fillings you've got. Add the sunburst of heart design, and you've got yourself a winner.

Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from The New Best Recipe
Serves 4-8
Prep time: 10 minutes (if chicken already made; otherwise, you'll need an extra 20 minutes to boil some chicken meat)
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $4.40
(crust: 1.35, chicken: 2.00, vegetables: .50, flour: .05, butter: .30, milk: .20)

Note on vegetables: Use what you've got. I used carrots, kale, and peas. But celery, potatoes, corn, beans, asparagus, mushrooms, or pretty much any vegetable would work as well.

1 recipe Basic Butter Pie Crust
1-1 1/2 lb shredded chicken (I used only 8 oz. and folded my pie crust down)
2 C chicken broth (chicken gravy will also work. I used broth and added the very flavorful drippings from the chicken I'd roasted. If you broth is weak, you may want to add 1 chicken buillion cube)
1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
3 medium carrots, diced
1-2 large kale leaves, shredded with the ribs removed and chopped
3/4 C peas
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
3 Tbsp lemon juice (I forgot this, but it's supposed to brighten up the color of the vegetables; Best Recipe says sherry works even better, but we never have that around so lemon juice it is)
2-3 Tbsp fresh parsley (optional)
Make the pie dough.

If not using a leftover chicken, boil your chicken until it's no longer pink. Shred the chicken.

Heat oven to 400 while you prepare the vegetables.

If using leftover vegetables, warm them before proceeding. If using raw vegetables (as I did), heat oil in large frying pan. Add onion, carrots, and any other uncooked hard vegetables (so no peas, tomatoes, spinach, or cooked stuff). Saute for a couple minutes, then add the kale stems. Saute another minute and add the kale leaves. When the leaves are wilty and the vegetables are somewhat tender (but not mushy or overly soft). Salt and pepper to taste and take the vegetables off the heat and set them aside with the shredded chicken.

Heat butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook about a minute. Add chicken broth, any drippings you have, milk, and thyme. Bring to simmer and simmer until the sauce thickens (probably 1-2 minutes). Stir in lemon juice if using.

Pour sauce over chicken/vegetable mixture. Add any soft vegetables (peas, tomatoes, corn from a can, cooked leftover veggies, etc.) Add parsley if using. Stir and add salt and pepper if needed. (You can do this early and keep it in the fridge till dinner if you wish. Just warm the mixture before pouring in the pie crust.)

Pour mixture into pie crust. Cover with second pie crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the dough, add the leftover blobs of dough in artistic and beautiful ways, as seen above.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the pasty is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let it sit for a few minutes and then cut right in and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

My Mother's Lemonade

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch as our family of 6 tries to eat on $6/day.

(Yes, this is a terrible picture, which is what happens when one changes one's mind about a post late at night and goes into the dimly lit kitchen to try to get a picture. I'll try to get an outdoor one tomorrow since that's where this lemonade deserves to be photographed.)

I was planning to post on chicken pot pie today. I even had most of the post written. But I am sitting here feeling so so hot in our so so hot house that I can't. I just can't. I don't even want to think about chicken pot pie. Which leaves me with... Well, I wish it left me with some ice cream. Or a mango lassi. Or maybe some yogurt popsicles (I promise to buy some yogurt and make lassi and popsicles because I love them so much and they are refreshing and so beautifully healthy.) Or how about a few frozen grapes.

And then I remembered what Kip and I drank after coming in from the yard/garden. What we often whip up when coming in from the yard/garden. Lemonade. The lemonade that I remember as a treat from my childhood. The lemonade that was not the usual Kool-Aid or even Country Time. The lemonade that I considered authentic and real. As indeed it is because it is made from lemon juice, which contains the juice of actual lemons. Although I must confess it is not made from fresh-squeezed lemons. Though I must also confess that this is part of the charm of this recipe. It takes no longer to whip up than it would if you pulled out a packet of yellow colored powder. But it tastes 10 trillion times better.

But...Can it compare to Country Time in cost? Well, actually, it kind of can. I didn't think it would. In fact, I wrote the post as though it wouldn't. I made excuses for my expensive lemonade habit. I talked about how comparing it to Country Time wasn't quite fair since you weren't comparing apples to apples or--hee hee--lemons to lemons; you were comparing lemons (or the juice thereof) to lemon flavoring. I discussed how much better this lemonade is, how your family would thrill at its appearance on a hot day, how it has more vitamin C, and that it's worlds cheaper than making lemonade with actual lemons would be. And then I figured up the costs and compared them. And I was surprised. My mother's lemonade costs only $.10/C (this is with inexpensive Aldi lemon juice) and Country Time costs about $.08/C. Thank you mamma. I'm gonna get another glass.

My Mother's Lemonade
Makes: about 6 cups
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cost: $.60 (for the record, this is only $.10/cup. A cup of Country Time will cost you about $.08/cup)
(sugar: .16, lemon juice: .44)

1 C sugar
1 C lemon juice
4 C water

Mix until combined. Drink.

Want to make it even more special? Crush or tear some fresh mint leaves (they're coming--I've got teeny ones popping out on all my mint) into your lemonade. Stir it up and let it sit in the refrigerator for a while. Strain or spoon out the mint leaves and serve minted lemonade. Hot day meet cool mouth.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch our family of 6 try to eat on $6/day while succumbing to occasional temptation.

I was first introduced to chocolate mint brownies in college. We were from two different worlds--mint brownies and I. I lived in a stringent low-fat land in which I studied a lot and ate cold spaghetti nearly every day because it was cheap and because I stayed on campus for 12 hours most days. And mint brownies lived in a glass case in the creamery, gazing upon me each time I passed. I may have gazed back a time or two. They were, after all, lovely--the dark, dense underlayer topped with a delicate green frosting and garnished with stripes of smooth brunette lines.

Of course they had a reputation, as things like that so often do.

And yet, I reasoned, we could still be friends. Get together some Friday night for tall glasses of cold milk. Chat a little bit, get to know each other. Surely there could be no harm in that.

Now I know what you're thinking, but I swear it wasn't like that. We were just friends. I mean, I don't see why an attractive, sweet, perhaps slightly decadent confection and I can't just be friends, okay.

So if you're feeling friendly, give these a whirl tonight. Although I should tell you, you might want to bring a chaperone.

Chocolate Mint Brownies
loosely adapted from smittenkitchen and pioneer woman's tasty kitchen
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
You'll also need to plan wait time (1- 1 1/2 hours) for the brownies to cool.
Cost: um, too much, but that's the kind of brownie this is, so just go with it. $3.55 for the brownie part; $4.93 for all
(butter: .80, chocolate chips: 1.70, sugar: .50, eggs: .30, flour: .07, cocoa: .18)

Note: Any favorite fudgy brownie will work, so if you just want to try the method with your favorite fudgy brownie, go for it, although I must say that this is a very very good brownie recipe. Also, I highly discourage using boxed brownies, but then I will admit to having very intense feelings (um, I mean very friendly feelings) about brownies.

1 1/2 (3/4 C) sticks salted butter
10 1/2 oz chocolate chips (just less than 1 bag)
1 1/2 C brown sugar (I think white would also work just as well)
3 eggs
1 generous tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
6 Tbsp cocoa

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.

Melt butter, chocolate, and sugar in micrwave, stirring every 20-30 seconds. (Alternately, you can do this in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until smooth.)

Allow it to cool just a minute or two and add vanilla. Whisk in eggs (whisk them in so you don't risk getting blobs of egg in your batter--it's not hard; you just don't want it to sit in warm chocolate for any length of time).

Combine flour and cocoa. Add to wet mixture.

Spread batter in your pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out pretty much clean (which means that if it has a few moist crumbs stuck to it, all the better, but you don't want it coming out with batter clinging to it). Mine cooked up in pretty much exactly 20 minutes.

Let cool completely. (And by 'completely' I mean until you become too impatient to wait any longer and put the mint frosting on even if the bottom of the pan is still warm. But seriously, don't go slathering it on there while the brownies are still hot, unless you plan to hide in your bathroom and scoop it out by the spoonful while shouting to your kids that you need some privacy so please go ask Daddy for help. It's not that this is a bad idea, unless of course, you were supposed to be serving the brownies to guests. Also, you forgot your chaperone--just saying.)

Mint Frosting:
Cost: $1.10
(butter: .55, milk: .02, powdered sugar: .40, extract: .03)

1/2 C butter, softened
2 Tbsp milk
2 C powdered sugar
1/2-1 tsp peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring (optional)

Beat it all together until smooth and lovely. Add the food coloring if you will, although white mint is awesome too.

Darkest Chocolate Glaze:
Cost: $.28
(chocolate: .25, butter: .03)

1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 Tbsp butter

Melt together in microwave, stirring every 15-20 seconds.

Pour over mint frosting in stripes as prettily as you can (which is surely prettier than I can).

NOTE: It's a good idea to line your pan with foil. These brownies are very fudgy and can be a little hard to get out of the pan--you can manage of course, but if you'd like to line the pan, it makes it easier. When I say 'line the pan' I mean drape the foil over the edges, or at least make it so it goes up the edges. Then you can lift the brownies out once they're cool. Here's a picture since I don't have one of my own.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Not what you're craving (who are you and what are you doing on this site?), try Sweets for a Saturday. Or Sweet Tooth Friday.