Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Looking for a fun dinner idea for the kids? Then this blog post is for you! Today I’m going to walk you through making mini chicken pot pies. Don’t be intimidated by the amount of steps. All the steps are relatively easy. All you’ll need is a muffin tin and a food processor.

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Pie Crust

2 2/3 cups of flour

8 ounces (AKA two sticks) of COLD unsalted butter

1/2 cup ice water

pinch of salt

Git-R-Done

The first step is making the pie crust. It is easier to do this in a food processor or mixer but it can be done by hand. Place flour and salt in food processor. Cube up butter and add to the flour. Runn the food processor until the butter has been cut into the flour mixture. You don’t want large chunks of butter in the flour. Now slowly drizzle the water into the flour mixture while running the food processor. The dough should feel sort of like playdough. Place dough on a floured surface and gently work into a ball. You do not want to over mix because the dough will become tough. If you’re going to use the dough right away allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. You can also make this dough and use it the next day or so.

Pie Filling

4 ounces butter (AKA one stick)

1/4 cup of flour

Half an Onion Medium Diced

1/2 cup carrots, Peeled and Medium Diced

1/2 cup celery medium diced

2 cloves of chopped garlic

2 or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 cup of milk

1 cup chicken broth

Git-R-Done

Melt your butter in a large pot. Add your vegetables and cook until the onions are translucent. Try your best not to get any color on the vegetables. Add your flour and cook for a minute or so. You do not want any color on the flour. The flour mixture should look like wet sand so you may need to add more butter or flour to get the correct consistency. Now add your chicken broth and milk and allow to come to a simmer. The liquid should thicken. If it is too thick feel free to add more broth or milk to get the consistency, you like! This can also be done in advance.

Now it’s time for assembly!

Cut your pie dough in half and roll it on a floured surface until it’s about an 1/8 of an inch thick. Depending on the size of your muffin tins you might have to get creative how to cut the dough. I used a rocks glass to cut the dough and i needed to roll it a little more so I had enough dough to Fill the muffin tin. Spray the muffin tin with pan spray for the amount of pot pies you’re making. Lay the dough so it covers the bottoms and the sides of the tin. Now take your filling and fill each pie up a little over 3/4s of the way. Now you need to roll out the tops for your pies! Roll out more pie dough in the same way and the same size to cover them up. Place a piece of dough on top of each pie and press with a fork where the two pieces of dough touch to seal. Take a small knife and cut a slit on top so steam can escape while you’re baking.

Filling up the pies.

Filled and Topped Pies

SHAKE AND BAKE

Set your oven to 400 degrees for and bake for about 20 minutes. I always start at 20 minutes and bake longer if i need to. The dough should be slightly browned and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes and you should be good to go!

Pro Tip: You could use store bought pie crust if you’re looking to save time.

Pro Tip 2: Feel free to add some frozen peas to the filling.

Cheers!

Chip

How to make a sourdough starter!

Baking sourdough is time consuming but it is well worth it! It’s a great activity to do with your family on a weekend. At the restauramt we often have sourdough toast on our charcuterie boards and we also use sourdough for our English Muffins!

Sourdough Starter

The Ingredients

250 grams of All Purpose Flour

250 grams of room temperature water

Glass or plastic container large enough to hold all the ingredients

Git-R-Done

What you’re going to do is weigh the flour and water separately and combine them in your vessel. Mix them with your hand. if your container has a lid, do not close it all the way so the gas can escape. Otherwise you can cover the container with plastic wrap and poke holes in the plastic. Store the starter on the counter in your kitchen for 24 hours. Now you’re going to need to feed the starter every 12 hours by doing this: Mix together 250 grams of flour and water with 150 grams of the old starter. After 6 feedings the starter will be ready for baking!

Pro Tip: Add some starter to pancake batter for sourdough pancakes.

Pro Tip 2: After 6 feedings you only need to feed the starter once a day.

Cheers!

Chip

Watermelon Gazpacho

The kids are back and school which means summer is almost over! What better way to hold onto the summer season than with some Watermelon Gazpacho!! This recipe is simple and delicious!

Watermelon Gazpacho

The Ingredients

4 cups of chopped up watermelon

1 lime zested and juiced

1/4 cup of fresh basil

1/4 cup of fresh mint

a pinch of salt

Git-R-Done

Step 1: Place all ingredients in a blender.

Step 2: Blend until smooth.

Step 3: Serve in chilled soup bowls.

Pro Tip: Depending on the size of your blender you may have to make the gazpacho in batches.

Pro Tip 2: Basil Pesto is a great garnish for this!

Cheers!

Chip

Lemmon Muffins!

Who doesn’t love a good muffin? This muffin recipe is simple and it’s a hit. You can jazz it up by adding chocolate chips (like in the picture) or by adding some fruit like diced strawberries. Amanda and I like to make a dozen and freeze them so we can warm them up in the morning for the kid’s breakfast.

Lemon Muffins

The Ingredients

4 c All Purpose Flour

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest

4 eggs

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups Heavy Cream

Git-R-Done

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl.

Step 3: In another bowl whisk together the wet ingredients.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.

Step 5: Spray muffin tins with pan stray and fill them with the batter two thirds of the way.

Step 6: Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pro Tip: Add 1 cup of Chocolate Chips to make Chocolate Chip Muffins. (You can even add 2 cups!)

Pro Tip 2: Milk can be substituted for the Heavy Cream.

Cheers!

Chip