Light Low-Sodium Chicken Pot Pie

• Everybody loves a delicious chicken pot pie.  When I was growing up we had the frozen variety - which was pretty tasty.  But not as tasty as when I was served one with a puff pastry crust in a restaurant in Boston and realized there is so much more to pot pie than just the frozen variety.  So, here we go - this recipe takes about an hour and a half total to make but most of it is just the baking part.
  
  What you will need:

Pie Filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 3 cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth
• 2 1/3 cups cubed red potato
• 1.5 ounces (about 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken
• 1 cup frozen petite peas
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons 1% low-fat milk

Crust:

• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of butter, salted
• 5 tablespoons ice water

Let's Get Cooking:

Crust:

To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon 6.75 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 6.75 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; cut in 7 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 5 tablespoons ice water; stir just until moist. Press mixture gently into a 5-inch circle; cover with plastic wrap. Chill 15 minutes. Roll dough into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Chill dough until ready to use.


Pie: 

Preheat oven to 400

To prepare filling, melt 2 teaspoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrot, onion, and thyme; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Combine flour and 1/3 cup water in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Return potato mixture to a boil. Slowly drizzle flour mixture into potato mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Stir in chicken, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Spoon chicken mixture into an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place dough on top of chicken mixture, pressing to edge of dish. Cut 4 slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Gently brush crust with milk. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Slow Cook Beef Stroganoff

This recipe was not one I thought I would be cooking on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend!  But 2013's start to Summer is a washout - so here it is.  This recipe is fairly straightforward and prep time is minimal, so you can prep it in the morning and have it waiting for dinner after you have spent the day enjoying the weather (ideally.)

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 6-7 Hours


What you will need:

• 1.5 lbs stewing meat
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 lb mushrooms (I use a lot. You don't have to.)
• 4 tbs butter
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 heaping tbs brown or dijon mustard
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 12 oz can fat free condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 6 oz fat free sour cream
• Egg noodles
• 2 tbs dry or fresh chopped parsley (for garnish)

Let's get cooking!

• Heat olive oil on medium-high heat and add stewing meat
• Brown meat, do not need to cook through completely but make sure most pink is gone
• Add beef broth to pan - I used hot water with Herb-Ox Sodium Free Bouillon powder dissolved in it
• Stir in mustard and simmer for a few minutes
• Transfer to slow cooker set to warm
• Using same pan as you used for the beef, add butter to pan over medium-high heat
• Stir in chopped onion and mushrooms and sauté until soft - about 10 minutes
• Add mushroom mixture to slow cooker and mix
• Sprinkle sugar over top and mix
• Cover and cook on warm for 6 hours
• 10 minutes before serving, stir in cream of mushroom soup and sour cream and prepare egg noodles
• Serve stroganoff over egg noodles, sprinkle parsley to garnish

Enjoy!

Crunchy Light Crab Cakes

Who knew you could buy delicious fresh crab meat at the grocery store?  I definitely didn't until I was cruising Pinterest and stumbled upon this delight.  Delicious and really simple to make - I put my own twist on these to lighten it up and add a little more natural flavor...the crab meat is so flavorful that I didn't want to add too much seasoning as it might take away from the crabiliciousness.

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used more but I am a bit of a lemon-head.)
• 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 chopped parsley (dried is ok)
• 1 cups breadcrumbs
• 1 lbs crabmeat 
• 1/2 cup of flour (to coat crab cakes)
• 2 cups vegetable oil (to fry the crab cakes)

Let's Get Cooking!

• Mix all ingredients together (except the flour) in a large mixing bowl.
• Heat oil for a couple of minutes on medium high heat until hot, you can test by spraying some water from your fingertips into the oil - it should spatter and pop.
• While oil is heating, shape mixture into palm sized cakes.
• Fry cakes until golden brown on each side - should only take a few minutes.

Should make 6 cakes!  Serve over a bed of greens with hot sauce on the side and plenty of lemon.

Enjoy!

Easy Cinna-Sugar Donuts

Ok - I love cooking but sugary-baking type dishes are outside of my comfort zone.  But, this recipe is easy and fun and came out perfectly the first try!  I was inspired by LittleBitFunky's Blog Post for Naughty Donuts, but put a few little different twists in there.

What you will need:

•   Grand's Homestyle Buttermilk Biscuits
•   A Stick of Butter (you could use 2/3 of a stick, but I used a whole    stick)
•   1 Cup Sugar
•   2 Tbsp Cinnamon (or to taste - cinnamon sugar mixture should be light brown)
• Approx 2 Cups Vegetable oil or enough to fill your cooking pan about a 1/2" full.

Let's Get Cooking!

• Melt butter and place in a bowl large enough for dipping donuts
• Mix Sugar & Cinnamon together in a similar shallow bowl
• Heat up vegetable oil in your pan on medium heat until you can sprinkle water in it and it sizzles and pops.
• While oil is heating, shape your donuts!  You can lay the dough flat and cut holes with a cookie cutter, or just shape them with your hands (that's what I did!) and use up and extra by making them into little donut holes (or munchkins like we call them here in New England.)
• Place donuts in the vegetable oil using tongs - be careful not to put your face anywhere near the pan!  When they brown after a minute flip them over.  
• When both sides are golden brown, put aside to cool.
• Once donuts are cool enough to handle, dip them in the butter, and then cover each side with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
• You are done!!  Eat one right away while it is still warm - they are amazing.  Save one for later, and GIVE THE REST AWAY!!!!

Enjoy!