Best Chicken Pot Pie

This is oh-so-good, and it happens to be what I'm making for dinner tonight.  I am going to make TWO so that we have leftovers to eat for lunch tomorrow. :) :)

Preheat: 425*
Category: Chicken, pie, PICTURES

2 Unbaked pie crusts (use my double pie crust recipe)
1 lb. Chicken, cooked and cubed
1 c. Carrots, sliced
1 c. Frozen green peas
1/2 c. Celery, sliced
1/3 c. Butter
1/3 c. Flour
1/2 t. Salt
1/4 t. Pepper
1/4 t. Celery seed
1 3/4 c. Chicken broth
2/3 c. Milk

1.  Combine chicken, carrots, peas & celery.  Cover with water and boil for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain.  Set aside.

2.  Cook onions in butter; add flour, salt and pepper, celery seed. 

3.  Slowly add chicken broth and milk.  Simmer until thickened.

4.  Place chicken mixture in the bottom of the crust.  Pour the hot liquid over.

5.  Place 2nd pie crust on top and seal edges.  Cut 3 slits on top for steam.  Or like I do, gently fork in a C for Chicken pot pie. :) :)

6.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the insides are bubbly.

7.  Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Yummiest, Most Simple Apple Pie

This recipe turns out EVERY SINGLE TIME!  I love it!  I use my nice knives my SIL bought for me us for Christmas last year and I can get my apples nice and thin.  Plus I slice my slices in half so they fill the pie plate better.  You're gonna love it!

Preheat: 375*
Category: Pie, apples, dessert, PICURES

1 recipe for Double Pie Crust
6 c. Apples, thinly sliced
3/4 c. Sugar
2 T. Flour
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/8 t. Nutmeg

1.  Line the bottom of a greased pie plate with rolled-out pastry. 

2.  Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Add the apples and toss until they're coated.

3.  Dump the apples into the pastry-lined pie plate and pack them in.

4.  Cover the pie with the 2nd pie crust.  Roll the crust up and in, and crimp.  Cut slits on the top of the pie. Or like I do, gently use a fork to make the letter A to show what kind of pie it is!

5.  Bake with edge of pie crust covered with foil and bake at 375* for 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.  Let pie sit for about five minutes before slicing in!  I like my new Pampered Chef pie crust shield--I hated the foil!  What a waste and what a hassle!

Optional: Serve pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on top!  Mmmmm.

Pie Crust

This pie crust is versatile! I have several more crust recipes I have recently copied down and I want to have a pie crust-off to find out which I like, which is easiest to roll, etc.  But this is my tried-and-true crust from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. :)

Preheat: 400*
Category: BHG (Better Homes & Gardens), Crust, Pie, PICTURES

Single Crust:
1 1/4 c. Flour
1/3 c. Shortening
4-5 T. Cold water
Dash Salt

Double Crust:
2 c. Flour
2/3 c. Shortening
6-7 T. Cold water
2 Dashes Salt

1. Cut the shortening and flour together until you get a bowlful of pea-shapes.

2.  Cut in the COLD water one Tablespoon at a time until you have a good, workable crust.  This is something I learned from experience... When you roll the dough into a ball, it has a good marbeling of shortening and it's not really sticky (sticky enough you need to have flour on your hands though!).

3.  Roll out dough to the right diameter.  Tricks? Roll dough into a ball and press with the flat of your hand until it's ready for a rolling pin.  Roll out starting in the center as if rolling out to the numbers of a clock.  Center to 12, center to 1, center to 2, etc., until you've gone in a full circle.  My deep dish pie pan from Pampered Chef needs me to roll out my dough to 12".  Make sure your rolling surface and your flat surface have plenty of flour to keep your dough from sticking!  To transfer dough from the flat surface to the pie plate, roll the flattened dough carefully and loosely onto your rolling pin.  Lay the dough on the side of your pie pan and voilà!  Of course I say voilà but it's never really that easy, is it? :) :)

OR, if you are not putting a top onto the crust,

Spinach Quiche

Here's that quiche I teased you with on Friday. :) It takes about one good multitasking hour and a half if you get a premade pie crust.

Preheat: 450*, 325*
Category: Eggs

1 Deep pie crust
1/2 cups Onion, chopped & sautéed (1 med. onion)
6 slices Bacon, cooked
8 Eggs
1/2 cup Sour cream
1/2 cup Light cream
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper
3 cups Spinach, lightly packed
2/3 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

1. Prepare pie crust; poke holes all over and bake at 450* for 8 minutes. Cover baking crust with a double layer of foil. Bake crust an additional 4 minutes without foil.

2. Mix everything else together, in the above order.

3. Pour into cooled pastry shell.

4. Bake at 325* for 45 min. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. I experienced a longer bake time... Like 15 minutes extra Also, I like a lighter crust (my mom's pie crusts always turned black!), so I reuse that foil from step #1 to cover the edges. Then I covered the whole quiche when I realized I didn't want the top to brown any more and the insides to cook!