Chicken Pot Pie

3 c chicken, cooked and chopped (I have a secret. I actually use canned chicken for this. I prefer Kirkland Signature Premium Chunk Chicken Breast. It's the Costco brand. I couldn't find it on their site, so no link for it. Sorry. I use 2 12.5 ounce cans for this recipe.)
2 celery ribs, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 small-medium onion, diced
1/4 c butter (I use olive oil. It would also work well to do a combination of butter and olive oil.)
1/4 c flour
2 tsp. Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
1 c water
1 can evaporated milk
1 c cheese, shredded

Crust:

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. cold butter
1/2 c milk

This is actually more of a casserole pot pie, but this can be made into individual pie servings.

Spread the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish that has been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray. Saute the vegetables in butter (olive oil) until tender. Add the flour and stir until a paste forms. You're making a rue which is the reason for the butter, but it works just fine with the olive oil. Slowly add the water, bouillon and milk, cooking and stirring until thickened and bubbly. I season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste at this point. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with the cheese.

For the crust: sift together the dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it's coarse and crumbly. Stir in enough milk to form a soft dough. It most likely will not require the entire half of a cup. *Remember to not overwork it. It will make the pastry tough and the butter will get warm. The secret to flaky crust is cold butter. The butter basically explodes in the heat of the oven and the explosion of steam is what creates the flakiness in the crust.* Roll out the crust. Lay over the dish. Cut slits in the crust for ventilation. You can brush the crust with an egg wash, cream or melted butter if you would like. An egg wash is simply 1 egg mixed with some water, or it can be mixed with cream. The cream or butter can be brushed on alone. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c butter or shortening
1/3 c buttermilk
2 tbsp. heavy cream or melted butter

*Any biscuit or pastry works best if the butter is cold. Don't let it got too warm.*

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter or shortening until mixture is coarse and crumbly. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes or more. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add enough buttermilk to hold the dough together. Mix quickly with your fingers just until dough forms. DON'T OVER MIX! You'll end up with tough biscuits if you do. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 3/4 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter (any kind of cutter will do) and place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush the tops of the biscuits with cream or melted butter. Bake at 400 for 13-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Chicken & Wild Rice

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. chicken bouillon (I actually use a product called "Better than Bouillon Chicken Base". It's more of a paste. Much better then the cubes or powder.)
2 cups water
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 6-oz. package seasoned long grain and wild rice mix
2 cups broccoli florets

Place the chicken in a crock pot. Mix all ingredients (except broccoli) together and pour over the chicken. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 6-7. Add the broccoli during the last hour of cooking.

Tomato and Basil Spaghetti

1 pkg. thin spaghetti
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6-8 medium to large tomatoes
8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella (Use the soft fresh variety. Preferably the balls of mozzarella packed in water. The low moisture type tends to be oily when in melts.)
fresh basil (about 2 tablespoons and that's about 10 large leaves)
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Chop the tomatoes in a small to medium dice, tear/shred the basil leaves and cheese and put all into a large bowl. Add the minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes so that the tomato juices will start to run (macerate). While doing this, cook the spaghetti until it is al dente. Drain and pour immediately into the bowl of other ingredients. Pour in olive oil (about 1/4-1/3 cup) toss to evenly coat. Serve immediately.

Homemade Sour Cream

4 T cultured buttermilk
2 C half and half

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl. "Splash" in 2 C half and half. DO NOT STIR IT! SIMPLY POUR IT IN. Cover with a lid and leave out for 12 -48 hours to achieve desired sourness and thickness. Once it's how you like it, place it in the refrigerator to stop the cultures from growing. It will keep for a week.

I found this recipe here.

Chicken Nuggets

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 C cornstarch
1/3 C flour
3 T corn meal
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
3 eggs
1/4 C milk

Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and milk together. Add to dry ingredients. Cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. About an inch to an inch and a half in size. In a large, deep skillet, heat some oil. Place the chicken into the batter and allow to sit for a few minutes. This will make for a more tender piece of chicken. Remove from batter and cook in the oil. Cook until golden brown. About 5-7 minutes. Remove and place on a paper towel to drain. Serve with your favorite dipping sauces.

*You can also use chicken tenders to make "fingers" or "strips" instead of nuggets. Something I thought of tonight (after I already made it, of course) was that I should have made the batter with buttermilk. It's a classic fried chicken ingredient and would definitely make the chicken more tender. I'm going to use it next time.

Beef Macaroni Bake

This is essentially Hamburger Helper from scratch. I like to make things like this when I want something fairly decent and edible, without a lot of prep time. It's dishes like this that dried minced onions are perfect for.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 package elbow macaroni
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce (you may need a 3rd can, depending on how much moisture the pasta absorbs)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups cheddar cheese
dried chopped onions to taste
Salt & Pepper
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the macaroni until al dente. Drain the water. Brown the hamburger with the dried chopped onions (I would say I use a couple of tablespoons of them), season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain off excess fat. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, macaroni and half of the cheese. Mix well and pour into a 9 x 13 casserole dish you have sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake until melted, or cover again with foil and let it stand until the cheese melts.