Chicken Pot Pie

Everybody remembers from their childhood having pot pies for dinner. I'm not even talking about homemade  pot pies either. I'm talking about the individual sized frozen ones that came in an aluminum pie pan. They were often tucked back in the freezer for those nights that nobody felt like cooking. You would toss them in the oven and then flip them over onto your plate in order to get them out of the pie pan. There was nothing special about them, but for some reason, to me at least, they always tasted delicious. This recipe definitely has that nostalgic pot pie taste, but with fresh ingredients. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

Filling:

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 3 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
• 3 stalks of celery, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 12 Pearl Onions, chopped
• 24 black peppercorns
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves

Béchamel:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• generous pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp thyme, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

1 egg, beaten

2 Pie Crust Rounds (store bought or homemade)

Raw Veggies and Aromatics

Place the prepared potatoes, carrots, and onions in a saucepan with the bay leafs, thyme sprigs and peppercorns, then top with water to cover. Heat on a medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, leaving to cook until just tender (8-10 minutes).

Drain the vegetables, and discard the aromatics. Spread out on a large dish and leave on a dish to cool.

Pearl Onions - Potatoes - Carrots - Celery - Chicken

While the other vegetables are cooking, quickly blanch the celery for just over a minute in a large pot of boiling salted water. Drain and cool in a bowl of ice water, then add to the dish of cooling vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium saucepan heat the butter over medium heat. Once melted, slowly whisk in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes (lower the heat to ensure the mixture doesn’t color). Whisk in the milk, adjusting the heat to achieve a gentle simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and reduced to roughly 2 cups (30-40 minutes). Make sure you move the whisk over the bottom and corners of the pan to be prevent the béchamel from burning.

Pour the completed béchamel through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Add the parsley, thyme, and cayenne, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Béchamel Sauce

Place your first pie crust round into the bottom of a 9-10" pie plate, gently easing the dough into the corners and up the sides. Scatter the vegetables and chicken into the pie crust (you can make one large pie, or several individual servings), and evenly pour the béchamel over the ingredients. Place the second pie crust round over the pie dish and cut off any excess around the edges, firmly pressing down around the rim to secure. Brush the top of the pie lightly with egg wash and cut slits in the top of the pie in order to let excess steam escape.

Veggies, Chicken and Béchamel Sauce in Pie Crust

Pie crust top brushed with beaten egg

Place in the preheated oven (on the lower rack) and bake until golden brown (45-55 minutes). If the crust browns too quickly, cover with aluminium foil. Remove from the oven and leave to rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Finished Product - Don't mind the poor presentation :)

Kitchen Word of the Day

Béchamel Sauce: Also known as white sauce, is one of the five mother sauces created by Antonin Carême then later reclassified by Auguste Escoffier. It is used in many recipes of Italian cuisine, for example lasagne. It is used as the base for other sauces (such as Mornay sauce, which is Béchamel with cheese). Béchamel Sauce is traditionally made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white roux (equal parts butter and flour by weight). Another method, considered less traditional, is to whisk kneaded flour-butter (beurre manié) into scalded milk. The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour.

Buffalo Nuggets

With the changing leaves and the summer breeze turning quickly into winter chill. This time of year brings on one of the greatest American traditions...football. With Football, most Americans have associated 3 food groups with the grid iron, Pizza, Beer & of course the chicken wing. Whether grilled, baked or deep fried we Americans love our chicken wing. Which brings me to my next recipe being featured  on Happy Valley Chow; Buffalo Nuggets (AKA boneless buffalo wings, but I wanted a special name for mine).

Ingredients

• 1.5 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Paprika
• 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• Pinch of Black Pepper
• 1 Lbs. Cubed Chicken Breasts
• Canola Oil for frying
• Chicken Brine (optional; recipe follows)

Directions

First, combine all the dry ingredients (Flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper & kosher salt) mix with a fork until well incorporated. Separate the flour mixture in half and distribute to two separate bowls. Add the buttermilk to a third bowl and season (to taste) with salt and pepper. 

All of our dry ingredients

Drudging Station (Flour, Buttermilk, Flour)

To cube the chicken breasts, first remove the tips. Then slice the breasts into 1" thick strips length wise. After you make the strips then you'll want to cut the them into 1" chunks.

Remove Tips

Cut Into Strips

Cut Into Chunks Now we are ready to begin frying! Heat enough canola in a large stock pot so that the chicken chunks are covered when we begin frying (for me I put in about 1-2" of oil). Heat the oil to 350-365° F. While the oil is heating begin preparing your first batch of chicken (I started out with 6 pieces) you want to dredge them in flour, then in buttermilk (drain off excess) and then dredge again in flour. After oil is heated add in your first batch and fry until cooked through, about 5-6 min (If you're worried they aren't done, either cut a piece open to make sure it's cooked all the way through or test with thermometer, should read 160°F) transfer to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all chunks are fried.  After all pieces are fried, transfer to a bowl and coat with your favorite sauce or simply don't use any sauce and sprinkle on some fine sea salt, fresh rosemary and thyme. Bon Appétit!  Looking to kick up your chicken for any meal?? Try this delicious brine! Ingredients 1 Quart Water 1/4 Cup of Diamond Krystal Kosher Salt (International Section of most grocery stores) 1.5 Tsp Whole Peppercorns 1 Tbsp Honey 4 Bay Leaves 4 cloves of garlic 1/2 Lemon 1/4 Bunch of Parsley  Directions Makes 1 Quart In a medium sauce pan bring water to a bowl. Add in remain ingredients, stir and continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and let cool down completely and transfer(lemon, garlic, everything in the pot)  to a container or 1 quart mason jar and refrigerate.  Whenever you are ready to brine, just put your chicken in a large zip lock and pour the brine in so that the chicken is completely covered and let sit for about 2 hours or up to 12 hours (note: Brining can make your food taste great, but over brining can lead it to be very salty so experiment with your brining times).  Kitchen Word of the Day Mis en Place:   (pronounced [miz ɑ̃ plas], literally "putting in place")  is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects to prepare during his/her shift Prepping everything you need is crucial for any cook, whether they are professional or your average home cook. Having everything in order cuts down on time & stress and will usually increase the quality of your food.

Baked Chimichangas

My Girlfriend and I absolutely love Mexican, we probably have it once a week. Whenever we go out to Mexican restaurants I usually peruse the menu, but then end up getting "the usual"...chimichangas. Now for me, the perfect chimichanga has a nice crispy tortilla shell and a hot and gooey mixture in the middle (in this case chicken). After going out for chimichangas way to much, I figured it was time to come up with my own variant of the dish that would be an easy and cheap alternative for a week night Mexican crave. So, without further ado, the first recipe presented on Happy Valley Chow...the baked chimichanga!

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Lbs. Shredded Chicken Breasts
• 1 Can (4.5 oz.) Chopped Green Chiles
• 1 Package of Taco Seasoning
• 4 Flour Tortilla's (10")
• Egg Whites
• 2 Cups Shredded Cheese (Cheddar, Monterey, Pepper Jack, etc. your preference)
• Taco sauce (if desired)
• Sour Cream (if desired)
• Guacamole (if desired)
• Refried Beans (if desired)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F

Heat 1.5 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the shredded chicken and canned diced green chilies, mix together until incorporated. Add in package of taco seasoning and add water as directed by packaging. Stir together until combined and let simmer, stirring occasionally over medium heat until hot and the sauce has thickened, about 5 min.

While chicken mixture is simmering, wrap tortillas in a paper towel and microwave until pliable. When chicken mixture has thickened lay out the flour tortillas and spread the egg whites on the outside rim of tortillas. Evenly distribute chicken mixture in the center of the four tortillas. Top with taco sauce (if desired) and cheese.

Heat 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in medium sauté pan on medium heat. Fold the sides in on the tortillas so that they overlap, then fold down the top and fold up the bottom of the tortilla to enclose the chicken mixture in tortilla, should form a box shape like a little package (refer to 5:00 of video). When oil is heated add in chimichangas folded side down and pan fry on both sides until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet and put in oven for about 10 min, until crispy and gooey. Cut, plate and add your condiment(s) of choice. Bon Appétit!