Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato & Buttermilk Crust

I always get excited after daylight savings time, although it is initially hard to wake up in the morning due to how dark it is, the nights are so much more enjoyable, as the sun does not set to almost 7 sometimes. It is the time of year when I remember, oh ya, I have neighbors, who start to eventually emerge from their homes with a friendly hello, like they had not been hybernating for the past 4 months. Today however, is a bit more gloomy and rainy - the perfect weather to finish up the last of the pot pie before it is all bbq and patio.

Pot pie is a classic comfort dish, that can be made a few different ways be it vegetarian, chicken, beef, lamb, venison etc.... You can add a number of different herbs or spices (sage, rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram, curry), the broth can consist of anything from chicken, beef or vegetable broth, white wine, or with creams like coconut milk, or cream of mushroom soup. The topping itself can also be either mashed potatoes, an herbed crust or biscuit, potato biscuit or sweet potato biscuit. Regardless of the recipe it will certainly provide you with that warm cozy and homey feeling.

For this pot pie I used chicken, vegetable broth, thyme and rosemary with a sweet potatoe biscuit as the topping.

Filling

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 cup onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 cups peeled white potato or sweet potatoes, cubed

1 cup sliced carrots

1 1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp salt and coarse black pepper

1 cup sliced green beans

1/2 cup corn niblets and/or peas

3 T all purpose flour or cornstarch

Sweet Potato Biscuit Topping

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 T softened butter

3/4 cups cooked mashed sweet potato

3/4 cup 1% milk or buttermilk

If you would rather a normal biscuit topping you may use 1 cup four, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp ground sage, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 T butter and 1/3 cup milk.

Directions for Filling:

First cook chicken breasts either in the oven or stove top until tender.

In a saucepan spray non stick spray, add onions, pepper and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 4 mins. Add 2 cups broth, potatoes, carrots, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 12 mins. Stir in beans, corn and cooked chicken and cook for about 3 mins.

In a small bowl mix 3T flour with the remaining 1/2 cup broth. Add to the filling mixture and cook until bubbly and thick (optional: can add cornstarch to thicken mixture if desired).

Once thick transfer the mixture either to a 2 quart casserole dish or to 6 x 5-7oz ramekins.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Directions for Biscuit:

Boil water and cook 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes. Once cooked, mash 3/4 cup of sweet pototo and add whisk in mild.

In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the sweet potato and milk mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until a soft ball forms.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surgace and roll or pat out to fit top of casserole dish or ramekins.

Place dough over casserole dish or ramekins. Brush top of biscuit with milk or egg white.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Let cool 5 mins before serving.

Healthy Granola

Last weekend after finally getting some snow around here I went snowshoeing a couple days in a row. The first day there was only one trail to follow, the next there were so many loops that we thought we'd either got lost or did the same circle a few times over. I brought some healthy granola mix I had made over the holidays, which I also gave as gifts to friends and family. The granola is really good on its own, in yogurt and recently I saw a cook on the Food Network add M&Ms to it and then sprinkle it over ice cream - yum!

1/2 cup wheat flour

5 cups rolled quick cooking oats

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup bran flakes

1 cup almonds chopped

1 cup walnuts chopped

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup oil

1 cup honey

1 T cinammon

1/2 cup each of raisins and cranraisins (cherry flavored)

add anything you love in granola

Combine all the ingredients and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes, tossing around every 10 minutes. Watch for it to turn golden brown. The longer it cooks the harder the granola will be and it hardens more as it cools....let cool completely and then store in containers in the fridge or freezer.

Almond and Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

I had never ate or made thumbprint cookies, but again I had to make cookies for a kids christmas party....and after using so much chocolate (m&m oatmeal cookies, cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies, sweet marie bars, chocolate bark) I decided that perhaps jam might be a nice change and a hit with kids....turns out they like chocolate much more! But they did brighten up the plate with a deep red raspberry jam. The toasted almonds on the outside added a nice crunch and complimented the raspberry flavor really well.

Thumbprint Cookies

2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 large egg whites

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts of choice (I used almonds)

1/3 cup jam (any flavor - I used raspberry)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla extract and salt. Gradually stir in flour.

Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Dip in lightly beaten egg whites, then roll in nuts. Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press down center of each with thumb.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, fill centers of cookies with jam. Or, fill centers with 1/2 teaspoon of jam before baking.

Pecan Rolo Pretzels

Yeah there are finally snowflakes in the air making it feel more like Christmas time and that I am not just baking millions of cookies for no reason. I pre-made dozens of cookies and happy that I did because it seems like there is an event every other night to attend which involve festive drinks and food. With so many cookies I decided to wrap some up as a hostess gift. These mini rolo pretzels were simple and make a great gift. You can place them in a jar or festive bag or take out food box. My sister in law made these treats with the help of her 6 and 4 year old boy, making it an easy and fun recipe to do together. They have since named them 'Paws' on the account that when you flip them over they look like dog paws!! Very creative!!

Pecan Rolo Pretzels

1 bag of mini pretzels

12 oz bag of Rolo chocolates

1 bag of pecan halves or almonds

Preheat oven to 250. On a cookie sheet, neatly lay out pretzels, single layer. On top of each pretzel place an unwrapped rolo on top.

Carefully place in the oven for 4 minutes. Remove. Immediately take pecan halves and squish them into the rolo, squishing the caramel out and making the pecan stick.

Cool for 15 minutes, and then place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, until the caramel hardens.Pack up and give these away before you eat them all.

Drinking hot chocolate at the tree farm.

-14C.......brrrrr