Archived Arts & Entertainment

Recipes, 12/16/09

My Mother’s Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves—cubed

• 1 cup sliced carrots

• 1 cup frozen green peas

• 1/2 cup of sliced celery

• 1/3 cup butter

• 1/3 cup chopped onion

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• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth

• 2/3 cup milk

No Fail Pie Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup shortening

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup cold water

• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix egg, water and vinegar together. Pour into flour all at once and blend with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap with plastic and chill in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roll out pie crust on floured surface. Divide into two sections—one for the top crust, one for the bottom.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Deluxe Mashed Potatoes*

• 4 large potatoes

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

• 3/4 teaspoon onion salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

• Paprika

Peel and cube the potatoes; place in a saucepan and cover with water. Cook over medium heat until tender; drain. Mash until smooth (do not add milk or butter). Stir in cream cheese, sour cream, chives, onion salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a greased 1? quart baking dish. Dot with butter; sprinkle with paprika if desired. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

*The potatoes are not my mother’s recipe — she just mashed the boiled potatoes with milk and butter. But I like this mashed potato dish because it can be made ahead of time and heated up in the oven.

 

Green Peas Supreme

• 4 ounces Canadian bacon, diced (optional)

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

• 3 cups frozen peas

• 12 fresh pearl onions, peeled (or just use the canned ones)

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large skillet, cook bacon in butter until lightly browned. Add the peas, onions, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes; drain.

 

Miss Ginny’s Six Layer Cake

Duncan Hines Butter recipe cake mix

Grease and flour six (yes, six! This is how the cake looks so beautiful on that front porch) cake pans. Mix the cake as directed, divide into six cake pans and bake at 350. Cool, layer and frost. The basic cake can then be iced with any number of frostings. Here are Miss Ginny’s favorites:

Coconut Icing

• 1 package frozen coconut

• 2 cups sugar

• 8 oz. sour cream

Sprinkle sugar over coconut and blend well with fork or fingers. Store in refrigerator overnight. Add sour cream to mixture. Blend and frost tops of layer cake. Keeps well in refrigerator.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

• 1 stick softened butter or margarine

• 4 oz. softened cream cheese

• 1 box confectioner’s sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa (or desired amount)

Mix thoroughly with a small amount of milk to blend together nicely.

 

Miss Ginny’s Lemon Cheese Cake*

• 1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix

• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

• 1 cup milk

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 3 eggs

• 6 egg yolks

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

• 1 cup butter

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice

• 4 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake layer pans.

Combine the cake mix, instant vanilla pudding, milk, vegetable oil and the 3 whole eggs. Mix until blended. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until cakes test done. Set aside cakes to cool.

To make lemon Cheese Filling: in the top half of double boiler combine the egg yolks, white sugar, butter or margarine, flour, grated lemon rind and lemon juice. Cook stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture is thick enough to spread. Let cool before spreading between cooled cake layers.

*I had never heard of this cake until I met Miss Ginny — I thought it would be a lemon-flavored cheese cake (wrong). Apparently it is an old southern favorite and now one of our favorites.

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