Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Linda Young shares this recipe for individual chicken pot pies.
"It is from an old Betty Crocker mini cookbook called The Weekend Chef. The recipes for the filling and the crust are easy and make four delicious individual pot pies. Of course, using leftover chicken and whatever vegetables and cheese you happen to have makes the recipe flexible, too. Pot pies freeze well, too," Young writes.
Chicken Pot Pie
Pastry:
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (Gold Medal recommended)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
½ cup shortening
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
¼ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped green bell pepper, optional
¼ cup butter or margarine
⅓ cup all-purpose flour (Gold Medal recommended)
1 (13 ¾-ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup broccoli florets or chopped zucchini
½ cup sliced carrots
½ cup sliced celery
½ cup cauliflower florets OR frozen peas
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese OR ½ cup grated parmesan cheese or mozzarella
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken
For the pastry: In a bowl, mix flour, salt and paprika. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl. An additional 1 to 2 teaspoons of water can be added if necessary.
Gather dough into a ball; shape into a flattened round on a lightly floured surface. Roll ⅛- to 3/16-inch thick. Cut into 4 circles, each about 1 ½ inches larger than the diameter of your individual baking dishes.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
For the filling: In a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, cook onion and bell pepper in butter or margarine until onion is translucent; stir in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Stir in broth, milk and vegetables. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in cheese.
Divide the chicken among 4 ungreased 1 ½-cup casseroles or baking dishes; spoon sauce and vegetables over chicken. Top each casserole with a round of pastry. Roll edge of pastry until pressing on edge of casserole; flute. Cut slits in pastry to allow steam to escape. Place casseroles on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and sauce begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.
Makes 4 servings.
Linda Wolf shares one of her favorite soup recipes.
Wolf notes the recipe was a "category winner" in a Kansas newspaper recipe contest.
Cheesy Vegetable Soup
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 cup frozen corn (Wolf uses kernels cut from 1 ear fresh corn)
½ cup chopped broccoli
¼ cup shredded carrot
1 can cream of potato soup
1 soup can milk
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon salt
In a pot, melt butter, adding onion, corn, broccoli, carrot and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in soup, milk, cheese and salt. Continue cooking just until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about cabbage in my Front Burner column, inspiring Joyce Williams to send along this recipe, which sounds delicious.
"German noodles and cabbage is simple and is something I grew up eating. Over the years, I have played with the basic recipe, sometimes adding peppers, onions and garlic or apples. You can kind of make it your own," Williams writes.
German Noodles and Cabbage
4 pounds cabbage (or you can used bagged coleslaw mix)
½ teaspoon salt
4 slices bacon
3 to 4 tablespoons butter
Salt, pepper to taste
1 pound wide egg noodles
Grate cabbage into shreds, add salt, mix well. Set aside.
Dice bacon and brown in large pot or Dutch oven. Add butter and cabbage, mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for one hour until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally. Cook noodles as directed, drain. Combine noodles with cabbage mixture. Heat through over low flame before serving.
Next week: Bisquick meatball casserole
Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food on 02/20/2019