Chicken Potpie Casserole

A friend forwarded me a video of a recipe for a dump casserole for a no mix chicken pot pie. I’m a fan of bottom crusts on my pot pies, so I wasn’t too convinced that this would be a good recipe. I was wrong – the biscuit mix made for a lovely crust and the flavors all came together for a very yummy meal. Of course, to make it mine I eliminated the carrots and peas and added broccoli, cheese and mushrooms.

I wish I’d gotten a better picture as this one doesn’t do it justice but the hoards had descended. I was able to beat them off long enough to get some for myself and took a picture before folks came back for seconds.

This is a very comforting dish that will definitely go into our regular rotation.

Chicken Pot-Pie Cobbler

1 stick butter
1 rotisserie chicken, about 2 cups picked from the bones and chopped
1 8 ounce can mushrooms, pieces and stems
1 10 ounce package frozen broccoli florets
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups milk
1 box Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit mix
2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350. Place the stick of butter in a 9-by-13-inch pan and melt in the oven as it preheats.

Once the butter is melted, add chicken into an even layer. Distribute the mushrooms over the top along with the broccoli florets. Sprinkle on grated cheese. Pour in the milk. Sprinkle biscuit mix over in an even layer with the seasoning packet. Pour the chicken stock over.

Place on a baking sheet to catch any spillover and bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Greek Grilled Quail

One of my parent’s neighbors had some extra quail so he gave us four. I like the flavors of the Mediterranean with grilled poultry – so I did a marinade with garlic, oregano and lemon. I set two zone on the grill for direct and indirect cooking and in short order, we had a delicious meal.

Be sure not to marinate for too long as the acid will toughen the bird. Also, don’t cook it too long over direct heat or they will dry out. Finally, eat quail carefully as you don’t want to crack a tooth or swallow some of the bird shot!

I served rosemary sweet potatoes with them – recipe here. I did have to prebake the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven as the quail cooks so quick. After the prebake, I peeled them and sliced them and tossed them in rosemary butter brown sugar and then finished them on the grill.

Greek Quail

4 quails
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place the quail into gallon size freezer storage bag or a large food storage container. Combine the remaining ingredients, mixing well. Pour the marinade into the bag with the quail, making sure the birds are completely coated.

Marinate for at least 2, but no more than 4 hours. Prepare your grill for two zones with the charcoal on one side.. Cook the quail over direct heat five minutes on each side before moving the quail to a cool part of the grill to finish, about 5 minutes more. Let rest briefly before serving.

Grilled Pork Steaks with Honey Mustard Root Beer Glaze

My brother-in-law had left some pork blade steaks the last time they were here and I’m only just finding them in the back of the freezer. Oops! I decided to combine my honey mustard marinade with my root beer mustard and the result was delicious.

These were fairly thin, so I grilled directly over the coals. They came out juicy with a sweet but tangy glaze. Yum!

Honey Mustard Glaze

4 pork blade steaks or pork chops
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1 cup root beer (I prefer Abita Root Beer as they sweeten with cane sugar not high fructose corn syrup)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside ⅓ cup of the mixture to glaze the pork once on the grill. Pour the rest in a zip top bag and put in the pork steaks or chops. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Grill on a 350 degree direct fire grill for 7-10 minutes on each side or internal temperature is 145 degrees F. Baste with reserved sauce when you flip over the steaks.

Welsh Rarebit

There is just something pleasing and comforting about a cheese sauce. And, when you have a sister willing to scale up the recipe SIX times, there will be plenty of both pleasure and comfort to go around. As you can see from Mom’s recipe card, the original only serves four and the pot I’m holding it over contains over a gallon of cheese sauce.

We go a step further than just cheese on toast – which there is absolutely nothing wrong with and will be how I eat the leftovers. Instead, we toasted up English muffins then put on some sliced ham (Canadian bacon would have been great, too) and a thick slice of tomato before we ladled on the sauce.

Smooth and delicious and I was tempted to lick the plate. Instead, I toasted up another English muffin and used it to wipe the plate clean.

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beer (or milk)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

In the top of a double boiler, melt butter. Add flour to make a paste. Add in beer (or milk) gradually, stirring constantly. After mixture thickens, lower heat and stir in the seasonings. Add the grated cheese by the handful and stir until mixture is smooth. Taste for seasonings.

Serve immediately on toast.

Grilled Greek Lemon Shrimp

I had planned on a different prep for this recipe but the shrimp I had were pretty small. Therefore, I decided to slice the lemons and use them as a base to keep the shrimp from dropping through the grill basket.

It worked really well for the grill – I think I only lost 2 shrimp to the fire!

If you don’t want to grill the shrimp, you could always put a layer of lemon slices on a sheet pan with the marinaded shrimp on them and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or so.

I also used Penzeys Greek Seasoning for the marinade. You could certainly make your own – see below for a recipe.

I served them with grilled zucchini (quartered into spears and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper – grill them maybe 5 minutes longer than the shrimp) and rice.

The shrimp are really flavorful with both the spices, the grilled lemon and smoke. As this was for my mom’s birthday, I was super glad they turned out perfectly.

1 ½ lbs of shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Greek Seasoning
3 lemons

Juice one lemon. Mix together the olive oil, spice blend and lemon juice. Pour into a zip top bag and add the shrimp. Gently massage the marinade into the shrimp and then seal and place in the refrigerator while you set up the grill (no more than 30 minutes).

Set up the grill for direct cooking. I use a Weber kettle and used a half a chimney of charcoal briquettes. After they got ashy, I spread them evenly over the center of the grill, in the shape of my grilling basket.

Thinly slice the remaining lemons. Place a single layer of the slices in the bottom of the grill basket and then spread the shrimp over the slices. Close the basket so no shrimp can escape. Grill for 5 minutes with the lemon side down. Flip and grill for 3-5 more minutes or until shrimp are done. They will be pink, opaque but not too firm to the touch.

Remove from grill and place shrimp in a bowl. Squeeze some of the lemon slices over the shrimp and serve.

You could definitely make your own Greek Seasoning. I’m at my parents and the blend was easier than mixing up my own. Here is my recipe:

[Greek Seasoning]

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Mix together all the spices and store in an airtight jar.

[/recipe]

Ham and Cheese Croissant Casserole

This is a recipe that you can scale up or down, based on how many people will be at the table. The below recipe is for four people.

Once you’ve built the casserole, it can stay in the fridge for up to 8 hours before cooking. Makes it very useful to make ahead to slide into the oven when you get home from your holiday shopping.

Feel free to adjust with your favorite cheeses and herbs. Michelle wants to do it again with salsa in with the milk and pepper jack cheese in place of the Gouda. I think that will be delicious!

This is a very comforting dish and everyone at the table was a member of the clean plate club.

1 day-old croissant per person, cut in half
1 cup whole milk
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices ham, diced
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup Gouda cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a casserole baking dish. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, thyme, eggs, salt, and pepper. Pour into a pie plate. Dip croissants in egg mixture, then arrange in baking dish. Distribute ham over the bread. Pour remaining egg mixture over the croissants and sprinkle the top with the cheese.

Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until cheese bubbly on top, 5-10 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Trout Almondine

My roofer had taken advantage of the full moon high tide to head down to Grande Isle for some fishing. As an apology for then coming to my house late and without all the necessary tools to do the job, he reached into his cooler and handed me a fresh caught trout.

My go-to preparation for trout is simple but elegant – fish, lemon, butter and almonds. As I only had the one fish (ie two filets), I cut the below recipe in half. That gave me lots of lovely sauce.

Don’t be like me and take a phone call after tossing the almonds in, as then your butter might go a bit past ‘browned’ but it was still mighty tasty!

4-6 trout filets
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper, flour
1 stick unsalted butter, divided in half
½ teaspoon pepper (white, if possible)
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup slivered almonds
juice of 1 lemon

Soak filets in milk for 1 hour.

Remove from milk and sprinkle with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour. Sauté the filets in half a stick of butter for about 3-4 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer to an oven proof dish and keep warm in a very low oven (170 degrees F).

Melt the remaining ¼ cup butter over medium heat until it begins to brown and smell toasty. Lower heat. Add in almonds and toss well. Stir in lemon juice.

Arrange filets on the plate. Pour over sauce.

And, he swears he will come back on Sunday to finish the job!

Easy Stroganoff

This was a cheap and uncomplicated comfort food from when I was a kid and I still have it as one of my go-to’s when I need a fast and easy meal as it only takes 30 minutes to make. Is it particularly authentic? No but if you want one closer to the old country, I blogged about it here – Leftover Brisket Beef Stroganoff.

I usually use ground chuck as I normally have some in my freezer but any ground meat will do. It is a good idea to pull the sour cream out ahead of time to come to room temperature as it could break or curdle if it is added to the hot dish while still cold.

Creamy without cream and super comforting.

1 lb ground meat
1 clove garlic, minced
½ lb mushrooms, sliced (fresh or canned)
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
dash of paprika (optional)

Brown meat. Drain most of the rendered grease, leaving about a tablespoon. Stir in garlic and mushrooms (if canned drain them). Sprinkle over flour and cook, stirring regularly for five minutes. Add seasonings and soup and cook for 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and slowly stir in sour cream. Sprinkle on the paprika and serve over noodles or rice.

Cheesy Leftover Chicken Pot Pie

I bought a rotisserie chicken the other day and after dinner, I picked the remaining meat from the bones. Later in the week, once I got home from a busy day of being out and about, I further cut down on prep time by using a seasoning blend and a refrigerated pie crust to have a delicious pot pie on the table in about 90 minutes.

I’m not a pea or carrot fan, so I instead I used fresh broccoli. The broccoli goes well with the cheesy sauce and the cheddar adds enough saltiness that the rest of the dish needs no added salt.

I made two small pies instead of one large and froze the second before baking. When I’m ready to eat that one, all I will need to do is put it in the oven from frozen and add about 15 minutes to the bake time.

The pot pie is very filling and full of comforting flavors. It was so good, I ate the entire half!

2 pie crusts (I used 1 package of Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts)
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups seasoning blend (PictSweet) or dice 1 medium onion, 2 stalks of celery and 1 bell pepper
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 large head broccoli, broken into individual florets
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Sauté the veggies until soft, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and continue to cook for 5 minutes more. Whisk in the chicken broth to loosen the flour and remove any lumps. Slowly add the milk and whisk until well combined and the sauce has thickened and just reaching a simmer, around five minutes. Drop in cheese by the handful and stir until melted. Stir in broccoli and chicken. Remove pan from heat.

Place one pie crust in the bottom of a pie pan. Pour in the filling. Place top crust on and pinch and roll the edges together. Cut 4 two inch slices in the top for steam to escape. Place on a rimmed baking sheet to contain any drips

Cook for 45 minutes, rotating pan midway through cooking. Let stand for 15-30 minutes before slicing and eating.

One Pot Jambalaya

I made some Tasso ham the other day and set aside a cup of the cubes for this recipe. I also cheated and used a seasoning blend so I didn’t have to chop the onion, celery and bell pepper. I just used two generous cups of the frozen veggies to speed things up. And if you already have a favorite Cajun/Creole Seasoning, use a tablespoon of it to season the chicken. Here is my recipe for a batch to keep on hand.

Everything, including the rice is cooked in the jambalaya making this the perfect one pot meal. Because the Cajuns who developed this meal were a thrifty bunch, this meal stretches with your budget – have shrimp? Toss a handful or two in at the end when returning the chicken to the pot. Only have squirrel or rabbit? Use it in place of the chicken. Vegetarian? Leave out the meats altogether, swap vegetable stock for chicken stock and add red beans to cook with the rice. My version has chicken, ham and sausage so 2 chicken breasts, 1 cup of diced ham and 1 link of sausage add plenty of protein to serve four people while not breaking the bank.

This is a pretty quick recipe and in about an hour you’ll be eating a deliciously, hearty dish that has so many layers of flavors. Fix your plate and we’ll have big fun on the bayou!

1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup diced Tasso Ham
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 cup long-grain rice
3 bay leaves
3 cups chicken stock
1 link andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch coins

In a small bowl, stir together paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, thyme, basil, cayenne and salt and pepper. Or, a tablespoon of already prepared Creole/Cajun seasoning. Place the chicken into a medium bowl and toss in the spice mixture until completely coated with the seasoning.

In a large, Dutch oven, heat half of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and any extra seasoning from the tossing and sauté until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the rest of the olive oil to the same pot, along with the onion, bell pepper, and celery; sauté about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and rice, stirring to coat well. Cook about 2 minutes or until every grain of rice is glistening. Add bay leaves, Tasso ham and chicken stock. Stir well to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then turn the temperature down to just hold a simmer. Cover.

Cook until rice is just tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in chicken and andouille sausage. Cook about 10 minutes more with the lid off. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and/or pepper, if needed. Serve.