Happy New Year! Back to blogging...

It's a new year and I am eager to pick up where I left off...well sort of.  In a nut shell, on Thanksgiving day, Mr. P and I made dinner for his side of the family.  It consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, lumpia (miniature egg rolls), pancit (noodles), sweet potato, brownies, and pumpkin pie. 

On Christmas day, my side of the family came over.  We cooked chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans and a couple of aunties brought dessert and Peking duck.    

Tonight was my first night cooking in apt 106 in 2012.  I made chicken pot pie.  I was inspired to make this dish after reading a friend's facebook post about her success making chicken pot pie.  Just thinking about it made me hungry.  I read the basic recipe from allreceipies.com and the suggestions to modify flavor and volume.

Here is what I used:
1 box of Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts
1/2 bag of frozen foursomes vegetables
1 pound of chicken, cubed
garlic powder
salt
pepper
paprika
(add any seasoning to your liking)

To make the gravy:
1 3/4 cups of chicken broth
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 large onion
1/2 cup flour

I broiled the vegetables in the chicken broth for 10 minutes.  Then drained the vegetables, saving the hot broth for the gravy.  I used another pot to melt the butter and cook the onions until soften.  Then add flour, milk, and broth, and vegetables.  Meanwhile, cook the chicken in a separate pan.  Next I unrolled the pie crusts, fixing any cracks, then placed one crust into a deep 9in pan.  I pre-baked the crust for 5 minutes in 375 degree oven.  The crust bottom rose a little so I used a fork and poked the crust a few times to release the air.  Then I added the cooked chicken and gravy mix.  There was about 2 cups of leftover gravy which I used as a garnish.  Then I placed the second pie crust on top and used a fork to poke some holes for ventilation.  Cooked the pot pie for 35 minutes.  Then I cover the edges with foil and baked for additional 10 minutes.

I was totally amazed how well this turned out.  The gravy was nice and thick with enough vegetables and chicken.  However there were a few rookie mistakes.  First I did not taste the gravy to adjust seasoning level so it was a bit bland.  Mr. P thought the pot pie was delicious that way and easier to add seasoning afterwards.  Second mistake was not allowing the pie to cool enough before cutting into it.  So all the filling started coming out.  Overall, it was a successful chicken pot pie experience. Oh and it's really good with rice! 

~Mrs. P          

Delicious Disaster

On Friday night's, Mr. P is the DJ at a local lounge.  This particular Friday night was extra special because we celebrated 3 birthdays, Mr. P's and two of his best friends.  I thought it would be a treat to have his favorite dessert, brownies, as Mr. P's birthday cake but I ran out of brownie mix...Pooh!  After looking in the cupboards, I found Trader Joe's Crumble Coffee Cake mix.  I totally forgot about buying it.

I gathered the ingredients.  I noted the two packages in the box, one package with white dry ingredients and one package with brown dry ingredients.  The disaster: I mixed the white dry ingredient package with the wet ingredients!  Yes I mixed the package of white dry ingredients, which is suppose to be mixed with the cut butter, with the eggs, water, milk, etc.  I realized this mistake after I poured the mixture into the pan and it barely covered the bottom.  At this point I know that I will not execute the crumble in crumble coffee cake.   

To salvage this baking disaster, I mixed all the ingredients together. After baking for 45-50 minutes, the coffee cake turned out really nice.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It was sweet, moist, and had a little crumble.  It started out as a disaster, but ended up becoming very delicious.  I decided not to use the coffee cake as a birthday cake because I ran out of time...time to let the cake cool, cut up, and put in to a container.

Next time I will add chocolate chips and mix the ingredients correctly.

~Mrs. P
 

Squash it! Pumpkin and Butternut Squash

It's November already! The holiday season has arrived which means it's time to eat a bunch of squash like pumpkin and butternut squash.  First I present my mini pumpkin muffins.  This semi-homemade snack was really easy to make.  Purchase 1 box of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Mix, follow directions on the box, pour into mini muffin pan, and bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Yum! Mr. P requested tiny muffins because it was easier to eat and handle rather than slice a pumpkin loaf.  I made a pumpkin loaf a few weeks prior.  It turned out well however, the product was so soft that it crumbled after we cut into it.  So I agree with Mr. P that mini pumpkin muffins is the way to go.

What do you do with all the craved pumpkins after Halloween??? My guess: make pumpkin pie! And that's what I did.  This time of year brings back childhood memories when my mom made homemade pies during the holidays.  I remember when my mom forced me to try pecan pie.  Not sure why I was scared to eat it but I am glad she made me because I LOVE pecan pie. (Mental note: make pecan pie.)  Pumpkin pie is an easy dessert to make.  I used Trader Joe's frozen pie crust (2 crusts in one package) and 1 can of pumpkin.  Follow directions on can to make the pumpkin mixture and baking directions.  At first I thought the pumpkin pie was completely baked when I took the picture below.  But it was not so I stuck it back in the over after the pie cooled for a couple of hours.  I know a rookie mistake but that's how I learn...the hard way.  After 15-20 minutes the pumpkin pie was completely done however the crust was slightly burnt.  That's okay because Mr. P loves burnt crust.  Weird I know.  The crust was still tasty.

       

















Enough of sweets, now on to savory.  This was my first attempt at making curry chicken and butternut squash, another recipe I picked up from Aunt K.  I used fresh garlic, red onion, 2 frozen chicken breasts, 1 pkg of cut butternut squash, and 1 jar of Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce.  I saute the garlic and red onions for 2-3 minutes.  Then added diced chicken breast and cooked for another 2-3 minutes.  Finally I added the butternut squash, curry simmer sauce and water and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes.  I did add a splash of heavy whip cream to reduce the heat from the curry sauce.  A simple dish to make and so good too.  Mr. P enjoyed this dish so much that he ate leftovers the next day.  Yay! Leftovers are the best (depends on what your leftover are first of all) because all the flavors got a chance to meld together.  Oh soooooooooo goooood!  Enjoy the "food porn".
~Mrs. P

New Endeavor...

Starting this evening, I am going to take on a new personal project, writing a blog! A blog about something that I love to do during my spare time: cooking and sharing my food experiences via photographs. Prior to this blog, I used Facebook as my platform sharing my "food porn" but it's not as satisfying to just show a picture. I want to be able to describe the dish, ingredients used, and my opinion. I also purchased a few cookbooks to branch out and not be in a rut making the same dishes. I will share those experiences as well.

To begin my new journey, I share my first time cooking in my new home. I finally moved back to CA to live with Mr. P (a story for another day) and we were at the beginning stages of making a home together. In January 2011 I documented my first homemade meal in Apt 106, spaghetti! Simple and ultimate comfort food. It is something that I know Mr. P loves to eat.

I acquired the basic recipe from my Aunt K and then adjusted to my liking. The recipe is simple.

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil or use any type of oil prefered)
1 pkg of hot Italian sausage (use any type of ground meat if you like-I like it spicy!)
1 jar of marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce (I like Wal-Marts brand Italian garden or Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara)
1 can of corn
1 pkg of spaghetti noodles
1 pkg of mushrooms
1 small or 1/2 large red onion diced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Every time I make this dish, I add something new. Mushrooms and onions are the most recent additions which definitely improved flavor and body of the spaghetti sauce. The sauce tastes better the next day too!

Yum-Yum-YUM!!!

~Mrs P.