Chicken Pot Pie

Despite being quite the temperate winter (Hello 60*F days in January), we’ve still had a few chilly days this side of the Ohio River. I’d actually consider any day that dips below 40*F cold, but that’s just me. And with these somewhat cold winter days comes the overwhelming desire for nice hot stews, one-pot meals and comfort foods. Like Pie, Chicken Pot Pie to be precise. What’s more warm, comforting and delicious than that? Around Thanksgiving I found this recipe for Chicken Pot Pie and seriously might consider never trying another one again, it’s that good. The recipe actually calls for turkey and at the time I used leftovers from our Thanksgiving feast, however, I’ve used chicken a few times as well.  The recipe comes from my current cooking hero, god…. muse, Giada de Laurentiis, but (God forbid) I’ve made a few adjustments to what she has. Turkey and Pancetta Pot Pies.

Here are my adjustments, do what you will!

*I substituted the Heavy Cream for Half and Half. At the time I just simply didn’t have the heavy cream on hand, but truthfully you’d hardly notice the difference and you save a few calories in the long run.

*You don’t have to use pancetta. I’ve found in the past that there isn’t a great variety of pancetta, which is a shame! Pancetta is an uncured/un-smoked bacon and is really yummy. So if you can’t find it, or just don’t want to use it, Bacon is a great substitute, just chop it up and fry it. But again it’s up to you!

*I’ve never actually attempted to make her crust that she has the recipe for, so if you want to go for it, more power to you! Instead, what I do is buy the Pillsbury crescent rolls and baked it right on top, and I’ve also used Pillsbury’s pie crust as well. (I actually don’t like crust very much. Pizza crusts, pie crusts….most bread crusts. I’m weird, but I do LOVE the crescent rolls.)

*And lastly I don’t know about you, but I do not have 6 10oz ramekins lying around. I do have about 14 4oz ones for crème brûlée, but that’s for another time. I love presentation and cuteness as much as the next girl, but it’s unnecessary. Every time I’ve made this recipe I’ve poured all the filling into one large baking dish and it has turned out fine. You only have to bake it long enough for the crust to cook thoroughly and golden up anyways, since the filling is already cooked.

Well there you have it, my augmented Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie recipe. One last tip. This is a great recipe for leftovers, chicken or turkey! But a great shortcut is to head over to your grocery’s rotisserie section and pick up a whole chicken or turkey breast from there; already cooked and ready to go, delicious and cheap. Now in the past I’ve found it is incredibly hard to find the turkey breast, but if you are dying to make it with turkey and don’t want to risk it, just call department up and they’ll have one ready for you!

Enjoy!

Mixin the fillin

Sorry ’bout it

Sorry, no new cooking fun today! Hey it happens, but don’t give up on me yet! There will be more yumminess to come.

-Syddo

The Happy Sumo - Simpsons

Flatbread Eggplant Pizza

Have you heard of pinterest? No? Well look it up, it is fantastic! Some people use it more for fashion, some for dream house ideas and others for wedding fantasies. And some, like this food obsessed blogger, use it for recipe inspiration. So earlier this week I skimmed past a pin of eggplant flatbread. It looked delicious, but I kept scrolling. As the week went on, I couldn’t get the recipe out of my mind. So earlier today, I decided to search around for a similar recipe to make as a an appetizer for a dinner party later that night. Here’s the link and I highly suggest you try it out, it was definitely a crowd pleaser. I’d even recommend serving it as a main dish since its very filling!

Grapefruit!

Dying for a little afternoon snack? Why not a grapefruit? I’ve been craving one of these all week! Mmm delicious and nutritious! A bit tart? Sprinkle a little sugar on it, I’ve recently discovered Truvia. I think it smells a bit like cotton candy, but it’s 0 cals and tastes great!

Chicken Normandy

Seriously, I’d give anything to go back to France again. A few summers ago I was lucky enough to go on a 30 day epic adventure all over Europe, and spent 3 of those days in Paris. Met a lot of amazing people, saw some spectacular sites and places, and ate a lot of good food. And none so great as literally every morsel consumed in Paris. It shall forever confound me how a simple baguette, mozzarella cheese, tomato and prosciutto sandwich, bought from a small street vender could compete with some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten, and I. LOVE. SANDWICHES. 

Our little Parisian picnic in the park by the Eiffel Tower

Not only did I leave Paris with a new affinity for French cuisine, I also left the city of lights with a newly found passion for French Wine. I honestly can’t tell you why I singularly love French Wine more than any other. I didn’t leave Germany only craving German beers, and I didn’t leave Hungary with the wish to only have Tokaji, even though it is extremely tasty. I’ve been very fortune to have tried some fantastic wines so far in my young life, and can admit that I have a long way to go as far as developing my wine-o knowledge. And yet, as of today, I’m prejudice.

Très bien, let’s continue. Today I make Chicken Normandy.

See I love this blog because not only can I share my cooking adventures, I can go more in-depth about why foods are what they are. I’ll be borrowing another recipe from the fantastic site of Simply Recipes, seriously they know what they are doing!

This recipe as well as several other’s I’ve looked into, share a couple common ingredients. Mainly apples, apple cider, and root vegetables. And according to this factoid site, Normandy is known for its apples and apple cider. Ah it all makes sense.

But anyways, I love the earthy simplicity of French cooking. Take some nice veggies, some protein of choice, and some wine and you’re over half way there. Cook it low and slow and magnifique! (I need to learn some more French words…) But back to the wine. While searching for what would be the best (French)wine to pair with this meal, I discovered that Normandy, although known for cider and brandy, not so much for their wine. Granted they do have a few vineyards upon a quick search, but I decided to go for a Pinot Noir.

Well I have to say this is one of the best chicken recipes I’ve ever made. I got the highest of praises from my sister who claimed it was the best chicken she’d ever ate. I’m so happy at the results, especially because I sacrificed my left hand for it! After reading the precaution, and even wearing a glove, I still accidentally grabbed the hot handle of the pan after, it was removed from the oven with my ungloved hand! My poor hand….ow. Le Sigh.

Well it was quite a feast, and I am itching to try this recipe full-scale with a WHOLE chicken. I’m usually never one for chicken skin… kinda creeps me out plus… it’s just straight up fat. But this recipe made the best crunchy skin ever! I hope you all try this one out and NOT grab the hot handle.

As Julia Child would say, Bon Appétit!

Browning apples in butter, honestly does it get much better?

Browning the chicken in the butter, Mmmm

Jake thinks he's gonna get something, ha ha ha.

Simmer down apple sauce

Om Nom Nom.

Dates

Do not be fooled by that dastardly monkey from Raiders of the Lost Arc! 99.9 times out of 100 , no one is going to try to poison your dates! Unless you hang out with this guy…

Dr. René Belloq

Medjool Dates

Wow, dates…. where have you been my whole life? They look like big, wrinkly, brownish red blobs, but oh, they are so good! Bite into one and your teeth sink into its sweet, sticky, chewy texture. It’s to die for.  A couple of months ago I decided to take a chance on dates. I bought a small pack of Medjool dates, the creme de la creme of dates, so I’m told, and haven’t looked back.

Yay history lesson! People have been eating dates for thousands upon thousands of years. And I remember back from my Sunday School lessons that the ancient people of yore would refer to the Date Tree as the Tree of life. So really, something that has literally been around forever, beloved by mankind since the dawn of… whenever, can’t be bad. Don’t be a baby and try one. And be warned, they are addictive.

No one for sure knows the true origin of the date tree, but the oldest traces of them are found in and around the Middle East. The Medjool date comes from Morocco, va va voom!

Just a quick jaunt over to Morocco

How was your virtual field trip? Sweet and tasty.

Uncle Arnold Eggs

So this morning I decided to be a bit nostalgic and make what I’d always known as, Uncle Arnold Eggs. I’m pretty sure that aside from my family, no one calls them that. It was a breakfast food I grew up with that was one of my Dad’s specialties. It truthfully is a well-loved and common type of fried egg, here is a list of other names for this delectable egg-y breakfast according to Wikipedia:

“Bird’s nest, bull’s-eye eggs, cowboy eggs, egg-in-the-hole, egg in toast, egg(s) in a frame, eggs in a blanket, elephant egg bagel (when made using a bagel rather than bread), frog in a hole, toad in a hole, gas house eggs, Guy Kibbee eggs,  one-eyed monsters, one-eyed jacks, moon eggs, and Rocky Mountain toast.”-wikipedia

Where on earth had this recipe originated to be coined so many names? I gave it your basic 10 minute google search inquiry, and pretty much came up empty-handed. The oldest reference I saw to it was the Gas House Egg (creepy), which was mentioned in the 1941 Betty Grable movie, Moon Over Miami. However if I were to take a stab in the dark, I’d say they may have hailed from the UK, the front-runners of eggs and toast, but honestly, I have no idea. So if you come across any cool origin stories of this yummy breakfast…hit the comments, I’d love to know.

But for now, I’ll just stick with Uncle Arnold Eggs.

In essence you take a piece of bread and punch an egg-sized hole out of it, make sure it is wide enough for the egg to fit inside. Melt some butter in the pan and toast up the bread over Medium heat. Wait about a minute and then carefully crack the egg into the hole without breaking the yolk. Wait about 1-2 minutes, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Also, about this time I usually add the cut out hole from the bread to the side of the pan to toast up (later it is used for dipping). Flip the Uncle Arnold Egg and wait another 1-2 minutes. I like my yolk super gooey, so I really just cook my egg long enough for the whites to firm up. But if you don’t like to use yolk like a condiment as I do, just add an extra minute or so to each side of the egg so that it firms up more.

And Voilà! You have yourself your very own Uncle Arnold Egg. It pairs great with coffee!

1 slice of bread, 1 egg, 1TBS of butter, and 1 small glass to punch out a hole in the bread.

Melt the butter and start toastin'!

Crack the egg in the hole, season with some S&P.

Crack the middle open for gooey goodness, dip and eat!

Mmmmmm….Chocolate

I know I’m stock piling posts on day one, but why not. I’ve cooked for a while now and I’ll definitely be adding some older attempts here and there in the future anyways. What with Valentine’s Day rapidly distancing itself from us (thank god), might as well add this delicious one to the mix!

So this year instead of spending a fortune at the Godiva store, I decided I would finally attempt to make my own truffles and for a quarter of the cost. After doing a bit of research on the intraweb last week, I decided that as gourmet and lavish as truffles taste and look, they were promised to be a piece of cake to make, even easier! What I gathered was to make a good-sized batch of truffles, I’d need about 8 oz of REALLY good chocolate and 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. After that, the combinations and mix-in’s are endless.

Personally, I’m a dark chocolate-a-holic. I don’t waste my time on milk chocolate if I can help it. For one thing, dark chocolate has higher antioxidants and less fat! It stimulates happy endorphin feelings and makes you feel less depressed. Obviously, chocolate is a miracle food.

So I popped over to my local Kroger and spent about 10 minutes staring at the chocolate in the baking aisle. Not overly impressed by the variety of chocolate Kroger’s had to offer, I ultimately decided on Ghirardelli’s 72% Dark cocoa and grabbed 2 bars and then walked over to the dairy section to grab a pint of heavy whipping cream. At the last-minute, I ran back to the baking aisle and grabbed a bag of dark chocolate chips to melt for dipping later on. All together I spent about $9, which is awesome because all that made about 24 truffles in the end, where as Godiva’s current 8 piece box set runs a hefty $15!

So here’s how it’s done guys. I poured my 1/2 cup of cream into a small heavy bottomed sauce pan over Medium heat and let it come up to a low boil/ high simmer. While that was heating, I took my 2 chocolate bars and broke them up into tiny pieces in a small glass bowl. (*Tip, make sure that you break or chop your chocolate finely and uniformly, it helps the chocolate melt faster and evenly*) Once the cream is ready, turn off the heat and pour on top of the chocolate and stir, stir, stir! Once the chocolate is fully melted you can start getting crazy with it. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extra at this point, but honestly the sky is the limit! Add hazelnut, almond, mint, or even try some fresh chopped raspberries, really anything just know that a little bit goes a long way!

And now we play the waiting game.

Pop the bowl of chocolate which is now technically a ganache into the fridge and attempt to occupy yourself for a couple of hours until the chocolate is completely cooled. Difficult? Torture? Well I have a short cut if you just can’t possibly wait that long. Make an ice bath for your chocolate; just get a large bowl and fill it with ice,  plop your smaller bowl inside and stir the ganache until it becomes thicker. You’ll still need to put it in the fridge for a bit, but you’ve knocked a lot of time off.

Once the chocolate is cooled, prep a baking tray with some parchment or wax paper for your delicious truffles to sit on. Scoop out about a tablespoon or so amount of ganache and roll between your hands, do this quickly because the chocolate will melt a bit. And ta-dah! You’ve just made a truffle. Congratulations! Oh you want to make them fancier? Alright. Roll them around in some cocoa powder and you will have yourself a pretty authentic truffle.* Roll them in crushed walnuts, sprinkle them with sprinkles, decorate them with icing! Or back to my last-minute decision of dipping them in more chocolate! I poured some of the dark chocolate chips in a bowl and spooned out a nice heaping spoonful of peanut butter and melted them in the microwave. Then I plunged my truffles into the ooey gooey chocolat-y nutty-ness and then set them on the baking sheet. Once finished, put the truffles back into the fridge on the tray to harden the toppings, but after they’re cool I suggest putting them in a zip block back or an air-tight container to keep them fresh, if you haven’t eaten them all by then!

Bon Appétit!

Sydney

*Classically they are rolled in cocoa powder to imitate their name bearer– the fungi truffle, a magical (and not in the psychedelic way) mushroom that makes almost any dish amazing. But that’s for another day.

Word of the day… Demitasse

For those who don’t know me, I am a barista at Starbucks. Thinking back to my earlier declaration that I don’t really create or invent a lot of recipes…I take it back, sort of. I do like to invent new drinks. So here is a little Starbucks insider info.

DID YOU KNOW?! That Starbucks has for-here ceramic mugs? Pretty sure 98% of our customers do not know this. And even fewer people know that you can get shots of espresso as a beverage, no really, it’s on the menu. And if you order plain ole shots of espresso for here they’ll come in the cute little Demitasse cups!

Isn’t it cute?

The majority of the few people who are in the know, usually just order it straight up single or doppio (double shot) style. A few others, who like to cheat the system and earn a stern look from their barista, will order a doppio with a cup of ice on the side and proceed to go to the condiment bar and make a “poor man’s latte” by secretly combining the two with half-and-half or 2% milk. I highly suggest you do not this. Seriously….

Anyways, back to my newly invented beverage! So at work despite having an endless tap of free coffee for partners, we rarely have the time to enjoy its caffeinated goodness unless on a break, thus we have what I commonly refer to as the EMERGENCY DOPPIO. Two glorious shots of espresso that take 19-21 seconds to pull and then down the hatch. An instant pick me up for the partner in the middle of peak hours.

A while back a fellow partner told me of a very interesting drink called the “tear drop” or what is also called… apparently in coastal locations? the “rip tide.” Here’s what it is: In a demitasse pump in half a pump of syrup of choice (I use vanilla), pour in about 2 tablespoons worth of milk, then pull your shots. Take a wide spoon and place it strategically inside the cup at an angle which will cause the espresso to rest on top of the milk instead of mixing in. (Typically I use just 1 shot of espresso but 2 works as well.) Layering the espresso this way results in a delightful drinking experience. As you sip the espresso, it is bitter at first and then sweet and cool at the end.

Alright, alright, what’s the drink? Well in essence its the tear drop but instead of syrup I used a pack of honey! I know, a lot of build up for that…. But I thought it was inspired and dubbed it “the bumble bee” for its tiny size, bitter frontal attack and smooth, sweet, honey finish. So try it sometime! It will cost about the same price as a coffee, so not to bad. And its the perfect amount if you are looking for just the caffeine without the filling drink.

I’ll try to sprinkle in some fun Starbucks drink ideas through out the blog when they come to me! I’m sure there will be plenty more to come!

Ciao!

Here We Go…

Hey…you!!!! Friend, family member or random person who has stumbled upon this page. Welcome to the christening of my Travels thru Food blog!

Boat christening or....man's head pops out of lady's arm magic trick...you decide.

Alright, now that’s done and out-of-the-way. Here’s my spiel, overview….pretty much what you can expect out of this blog. After much internal debate, I’ve come to a universal self truth: I love food, I love traveling, I love cooking. Unfortunately, at this point in my life I do not have the necessary funds to travel (very far) nor the dinero for the exquisite fine dinning that Cincinnati has to offer. But I CAN follow a recipe pretty gosh darn well, or so I’m told. So thus begins my trekking across the globe from the comfort of my kitchen.

Honestly, as much as I like to pride myself on being super intuitive and creative, I’m not entirely sure about that. So at least for now you wont be seeing me masterfully creating something out of nothing. I’m more of the stumble upon a recipe, drool a bit and then make it kind of girl. With that being said, by all MEANS send me your recipes, tips, critiques, destinations and restaurants and I’ll be sure to take everything under consideration! Or not. Anyways. Let’s begin!

For our first meal we must travel back in time. To yesterday. Valentine’s Day. [Insert dramatic…bumbumbum] music

Having no special Valentine to spend a romantic dinner with this year, I decided to whip up a romantic dinner for myself (and my studious sister who was probably in need of some fresh air and nourishment.) So without much of an idea of what to make, I decided to let Fresh Market inspire me with all that it had. (Quick side note. Fresh Market is AWESOME. However, it is not awesome for money-saving penny pinchers, I honestly couldn’t care less if my fennel is organic or not…. shakes fist at the price $3.49/lb.) As I’m blindly walking around the store, head down, scrolling through one of my many favorite recipe sites, I decided that my romantic dinner should be first and foremost Italian, and then proceeded to flip through about half a dozen pasta dishes before stopping at Linguini with Clam Sauce.  Truthfully, I don’t think this recipe is authentically Italian, but in my opinion had all the high-notes of what a coastal Italian meal should have. Also clams are apparently an aphrodisiac, not that it mattered all that much to this blogger on this night of all nights. But anyways, this being my first time cooking clams I attacked the recipe with gusto! It was actually not really bad at all in the sense of difficulty. The only change I made to the recipe was that I did not use Ouzo or… Sambuca… or any other Anise flavored liqueur. I substituted the 1/3 of a cup for some really good quality sherry and I was overjoyed by the results! Plus licorice is one of the few things I really dislike in this world so I can’t say I missed it.

Picture from the recipe's site

I kept the meal simple. When I make it again, which will hopefully be soon, I will definitely be opening up a tasty bottle of red wine to pair with it and maybe whip up a small salad or cut up some nice crusty bread. But I was feeling mope-y at the time and decided to only make the main course.

This recipe is brought to you by Simply Recipes! Amazing every time!

**Small disclaimer, I have no intention of infringing on any copyrights! I’ll try to give credit to the amazing chefs I discover!**