Chicken Pot Pie

1 pre-formed pie crust (bottom), and one of the frozen pie crusts that come rolled up (top)
1 lb chicken breast cut into cubes
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium or 3 small potatoes, cubed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cubes chicken bullion
1/3 cup butter (=5 1/3 tablespoons)
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cups milk
shredded cheese (cheddar, or similar works well) - about a handful
pepper
celery flakes
marjoram
dill
parsley

Preheat oven to 425.

Add chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery, and bullion cubes to large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat. Reserve 2 - 2 1/4 cups of the liquid, drain the chicken and veg. mixture and set aside.

In saucepan, cook onions in butter. Add flour and spices/seasonings. Add reserved broth and milk. Cook over lowish heat until thickened.

Put chicken and veg in pie crust, mixing in the cheese. Pour gravy on top and cover with top crust. seal and cut slits in the top.

Cook 30 - 35 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes.

adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie-ix/

French-ish Mac&Cheese (Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce)

Bechamel Sauce:
1 stick unsalted butter 

Little more than 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 quart mix of skim milk & fat free half and half [or 1 qt. whole milk]

1 cup grated fontina (or Gruyere)  [can use good Swiss if store is out of others] - 1/2 cup for sauce, 1/2 cup for topping

Nutmeg (don't actually measure, just shake some out)

salt and pepper

1/2 lb thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned or 1/2 lb bacon cooked and crumbled

1 lb box of rigatoni

3 -4 tbsp unsalted butter, broken up

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.

Start heating water for pasta.

Bechamel sauce:

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Keep stirring and add in milk/creamer until smooth. Simmer until it’s thick enough to coat a spoon (10 minutes or so). Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup fontina/gruyere, prosciutto/bacon nutmeg salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

When water for pasta is boiling, add the rigatoni and cook for about 5 minutes – the insides should still be hard. Drain and return to pot. Add béchamel sauce and mix until the pasta is covered.

Grease a 9x13 baking pan and pour in the pasta. Smooth down the top, cover with ½ cup of fontina/gruyere and dot with butter.

Bake 25 minutes – it should be bubbling and golden brown.

Reheat at 400 for 10-15 min.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

5 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons dijon mustard

1/4 tablespoon dried basil

1/8 tablespoon dried parsley

1/8 tablespoon marjoram

bit of salt, pepper

Mix the mustard, honey, and spices. Either divide sauce in half or make half at a time. Coat chicken pieces and put in fridge to marinate overnight/for a few hours. 

Preheat oven to 375. Put chicken in slightly greased baking dish. Brush 1/2 of remaining sauce (1/4 of original) onto chicken. Cook 30 minutes. Turn chicken and coat with remaining sauce. Cook 10-15 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through. 

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-honey-mustard-chicken/detail.aspx?src=lp4116_l1

Apple and Leek Stuffed Pork Chops

Ingredients:

2 boneless pork chops

1 apple

1 pear

4 leeks (a bunch)

Cheddar Cheese

Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

Directions:

Chop 1/4 of the apple and 1/4 of the pear into small cubes

Chop leeks and submerge in water (can't use green part)

Saute leeks in 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Shred cheese

Slice pork chops open making pockets to fill with ingredients

mix the filler and stuff the pork chops

Brown pork chops on both sides and then put in over for 22 minutes at 400

Source - the Jessica Brain

Written so Dan can reproduce it.

whipped cream

1 pt heavy whipping cream

8 splenda

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Whip ingredients until peaks appear. Better to do w/ electric mixer in chilled bowl, but works fine with whisk and room temp bowl, because really, laziness wins.

New England Clam Chowder with croutons

4 slices turkey bacon, diced

3-4 scallions, chopped (or 1 1/2 cup onion)

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 large piece celery, chopped

4 cups cubed potatoes (5ish med. potatoes)

2 10-oz cans clams, drained (and chopped if whole/baby clams) with liquid kept

4 tbsp butter

3.5 cups fat free half and half

3-4 tbsp flour

pepper, salt, dill, parsley, etc

1 scallion, cut into tiny circles

shredded sharp cheddar

loaf of crusty bread, sliced

Put oven at 400.

Cut up bacon and put it in unheated stock pot. Cook until a bit crisp, add onions and garlic and about 1 tbsp butter (don't need butter if use real bacon, probably). Cook about 5 minutes, stirring with spatula occasionally. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Pour liquid from clams over vegetables, and add water until they are just barely covered. Add seasonings. Bring liquid to a boil and cover, cooking until potatoes are tender (15 min or so).

Prep bread with cheese on baking sheet. Put in oven once potatoes are done, and should be ready when soup is.

Add clams, half and half, butter, and enough flour to thicken soup. Don't boil, but cook about 5 more minutes, until everything heated, stirring to keep flour from clumping.

Serve garnished with a little cheese and scallions, with bread for dipping.

Makes 4-8 servings.

Acorn Squash

1 Preheat oven to 400

2 Cut squash in half lenthwise and clean it. Score insides. Place in shallow pan with at least 1/4 inch water in bottom.

3 Coat the inside of each half with butter. Add 1/2 tbsp butter to well of each half. Add 1/2 tbsp brown sugar and a bit of maple syrup.

4 Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes