Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie

Southwestern Chicken Pot PieSouthwestern Chicken Pot Pie White Lie!

I thought I was a genius when I first came up with the Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie, but as it turns out, I didn’t come up with it.  Here I was, making Southwestern Egg Rolls for the family and toying with the notion of filming them, which I didn’t,  then later that evening, I was scrolling through Pinterest when I saw a picture of a traditional Chicken Pot Pie made with Grands Flaky Layer Biscuits.  Needless to say, that’s the exact moment lightning struck my brain.  Southwest BlendSouthwestern Chicken Pot Pie!  I even knew how I was going to make it.  But did I do any research before it was done?  The answer isn’t just no, it’s Hell No!  I was sure my idea was so ingenious that I was just going to pave the way to a new Frontier Pie.  Boy was I wrong.  The only real reassuring and comforting thing I can say after discovering other recipes for the same thing is that my recipe tasted great, and I didn’t consult with any book or anyone to make it, and it was exactly how I envisioned it!  So check out the video and the ingredients below and hopefully you’ll be convinced to try this for yourself next time you’re craving a homemade Pot Pie.

Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients:

1 bag Southwest Blend or 2 cups of assorted Black Beans, Corn, Onion and Peppers
3 chopped Boneless Chicken Thighs
2 Puff Pastry Sheets (Puff Pastry sheets should be thawed 40 Minutes in advance)
2 Cups Chicken Stock or Bouillon
1 thawed and strained Frozen Spinach
1 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Flour
2 shakes of Garlic Powder (1 for veggies and 1 for the chicken)
Chopped Cilantro and Parsley (optional)
Oil for frying
 

Combine all the vegetables first and season with Garlic Powder and 1/2 tsp of the Chili Powder.  Prepare and Cook the Chicken in 1/8 cup cooking oil and season with the rest of the dry seasonings, then combine the cooked chicken with the Southwest Blend.  Using the same skillet melt 1 tbsp butter, add 3 tbsp flour, stir to form a light Roux, then slowly add 2 cups of Chicken Stock to make a gravy, then poor the gravy into the Southwest Blend.  Now fit one Puff Pastry Sheet to a well greased pie tin and trim the edges.  Add the Southwest Blend to the pie until it reaches the Brim.  Fit the Second Puff Pastry Sheet over the top and press the edges firmly in a circular motion around the pie to combine the top and bottom crust.  Again, trim the edges, then oil the top or egg wash and cut 3 small slits in the center of the Pastry dough for baking ventilation.  Bake the Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown, and serve.

Classic Margherita Pizza

Margherita PizzaMargherita Pizza is my Favorite!

I’ve been surprised to find that there are a lot of people that don’t know what a Margherita Pizza is.  Maybe because it isn’t on the Menu at most of the large corporate food chains.  I don’t know.  But I do know that this is one of my favorite Pizza’s by far. The sauce is made from 3 different ingredients; salt, olive oil and garlic.  And as far as I’m concerned, that’s just a winning combination.  The other ingredients that make up a Margherita Pizza, other than cheese, are Roma Tomatoes and fresh Basil.  Never EVER use dry Basil when you’re making this Pizza.  I just can’t stress that enough.  You’ll never get the same taste that everyone expects when they sink their teeth into a Master piece like this one, and you’ll very quickly turn what most people consider a work of art, into a piece of trash!

IMG_0872Margherita Pizza Ingredients:

Pizza Dough
3 large chopped Garlic Cloves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
2 Sliced Roma Tomatoes
4 lg chopped Basil Leaves
Provolone and Mozzarella Cheese

Once you’ve rolled out your dough, throw down some corn meal on your pizza pan to prevent sticking and spread the dough out evenly.  CLICK HERE if you need a dough recipe.  Then combine the Olive Oil, Salt and Chopped Garlic in a Large bowl and place the Chopped tomatoes in it for marinating; 10 to 20 minutes.  Chop the Basil and Grade the Cheese if you haven’t already.  Drizzle the olive oil over the dough and use it as the sauce.  Lay down the cheese, then top with tomatoes and fresh Basil and spread evenly like pepperoni.  Drizzle the left over oil, chopped garlic and the juice from the tomatoes over the entire pizza, and sprinkle just a little more cheese over the tomatoes.  Bake on the very bottom rack at 550 degrees for 6 minutes, or 500 degrees for 8.  Ovens are different, that’s why there’s a variance.  Enjoy your Margherita Pizza.

Cooking King Crab Legs

King Crab Legs

The Best King Crab Legs

The thing about King Crab Legs, or any crab legs for that matter, is that they are already cooked when you buy them.  I know, Shocker, right?  So all we need to do is reheat them and you just need to choose the method you’d like to prepare them.  Steaming is an easy way if you have a big enough pot that can be covered with a lid.  A few inches of boiling water in the bottom will get them done in about 4 minutes.  Just make sure that you get the water to a rolling boil before you actually add the King Crab Legs.  Most people don’t realize that you can actually cheat and take it a step further; you can usually have them steamed at the place of purchase when you are buying them.  Of course this means you need to be picking them up at meal time but if you’re waiting on the oven for bake potatoes, a quick trip to the grocery is perfect for that waiting time; just a suggestion.

Be Careful Grilling King Crab Legs

Grilling King Crab Legs leaves people oohing and awing every time you flip open the lid, but you need to be very careful not to dry them out.  Even though you tend to gain the Smokey flavor of the grill, you lose the natural flavors of the crab meat.  Remember this is just a reheat anyway so you don’t want them on the grill for too long.  10 minutes on low with the lid down, tops!

The oven will have a similar effect that grilling does if you don’t cover up the Crab Legs.  It will dry them out, and you will lose flavor.  The way I show you how to cook them in this tutorial is on a broiler pan covered with tin foil.  The reason I do it this way is because you get the best of both worlds.  By adding a half cup of water to the pan you get the steaming effect with convection as the heat rises from underneath the King Crab Legs, then the heat reflects off the foil, cooking the top.  It’s win-win.

You can do a reheat in the microwave, but I don’t recommend it.  In fact I don’t recommend that any meat go in the microwave for a reheat, EVER!  I’ll get into that at later time.

King Crab Legs and Santolla Reds

Now, the crab legs that I’m introducing are not your traditional King Crab Legs.  These are called Santolla Reds.  The reason I’m using these instead of the other is they are practically the same thing.  First off, they are almost exactly the same size; same look and everything that way.  The only difference that I’ve noticed is they are a little bit saltier, so I just use unsalted butter.  Second, it’s about the cost.  I wouldn’t be living up to my reputation as the Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen showing you recipes at “A Low Budget Wonder”, if I was showing off recipes that aren’t affordable.  Santolla Reds, if you can find them, are usually at least half the price of regular King Crab Legs.  I can pick them up at Smith’s right now, for $6.99 a pound, and that’s year ‘round!  Try getting more than a pound and a half of king crab legs at any restaurant these days for under $26 bucks!  It’s worth doing it at home, and worth knowing a few tricks to cooking King Crab Legs and other gourmet meals at a low budget wonder.