Curry Chicken Pot Pie
Alton Brown

4 cups frozen vegetable mix, peas, carrots
1 to 2 T Canola Oil
3 T Butter
1 cup chopped Onion
1 cup chopped Celery
1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Milk
3 T Flour
1 tsp Curry Powder
2 T dried Parsley
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 cups cubed cooked Chicken
1 package Puff Pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Place into oven and cook until golden brown.

In a saute pan, heat 1 T of butter and sweat the onion and celery. In another saucepan, heat the broth and milk.

Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery-onion mix and cook out the water. Add the flour and curry and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened. Add the parsley, salt and pepper.

Toss the browned vegetables and the chicken. Pour into a shallow baking pan, lined with foil, and top with 6 to 8 circles of puff pastry. Place into the oven and cook until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Turkey Breast Cutlets with Lemon & Wine Sauce
Mary Lou White - 2000 St. Phillip’s Homw Sweet Home Cookbook

5 T flour
3 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 c Milk
6 boneless Turkey cutlets or 1 lb of Turkey Breast Meat
4 T Butter
1/3 c White Wine
Chopped parsley for garnish
lemon wedges

In a shallow bowl, combine 2 T flour, cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add egg and milk; beat until well blended.

If using turkey breast, skin and cut crosswise into 6 slices. Pound with meat mallet until thin.

Put 3 T of flour into another shallow bowl. Dredge cutlets in flour; shake off excess.

Heat butter in large heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Dip turkey in batter; fry until golden. Remove from pan; keep warm.

When all turkey is cooked, add wine to skillet. Cook over low heat 2 min., stirring to loosen brownd bits from pan. Add lemon juice; mix well. Pour sauce over turkey cutlets and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Serves 6.

Tomato-y Sauce
Virginia

1 can (14 3/4 oz) diced Tomatoes
1/2 cup Tomato Paste
2 T canned Green Chilies
3 T Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in pan; cook until thickened.

I’m pretty sure Steve hated it. Something about his comment “Jesus, why’d you have to ruin it by putting in green olives?” tipped me off. There were other green olive haters at the table too. Violet picked out everything that even remotely looked green. She had quite a pile on the side of her plate at the end of the meal. Another comment was that the dish was bland - except for the green olives, of course, which ruined everything. Only April liked it - because it was bland.

I may try this dish again (without the green olives) with a few changes. I think replacing the diced tomatoes with Mexican style diced tomatoes might help spice it up a little. Maybe a few extra green chiles as well.

FYI, Steve’s not a big fan of minute rice so I doubled the chicken broth and used regular rice. The rice was cooked perfectly. Too bad it tasted of green olive juice.

Chicken Ole
Desperation Dinners

4 skinless, boneless Chicken breast halves, fresh or frozen
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 extra-large Onion (1 1/2 c chopped)
2 large Green Bell Peppers
1 can (14 3/4 oz) fat-free Chicken Broth
1/2 c White Wine
1 can (14 3/4 oz) diced Tomatoes
2 1/2 c “instant” (5-minute) Rice
1/2 c sliced Pimiento-stuffed Green Olives
1/2 c frozen Green Peas
1 1/2 tsp bottled minced Garlic
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp dried Oregano
1/2 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper

If the chicken is frozen, run it under hot water so you can remove any packaging. Place the chicken on a microwave-safe plate and microwave 3 minutes, uncovered, on high, to begin defrosting.

Meanwhile, heat the oil, over medium heat, in an extra-deep 12-in nonstick skillet that has a lid. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop.

Cut each breast into 3 strips about an inch wide, then add the chicken (fresh or partially defrosted) to the skillet and raise the heat to high. Cover the skillet and cook while seeding the bell peppers and cutting them into 1-inch wide strips. Cut the strips crosswise in half, and add the peppers to the skillet all at once.

Add the broth and wine. Cover the skillet and bring the liquid to a boil. Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes. Keeping the pan covered as much as possible, add the drained tomatoes, rice, olives, peas, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir well.

Cook at a rolling boil until the rice is tender, 5 minutes more. Remove the bay leaves, stir well and serve.

Serves 4 generously

Cheesy Crock Pot Chicken

6 boneless, skinless Chicken breasts - fresh or frozen
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cheddar Cheese soup
Garlic powder
Salt & Pepper

Place chicken in crock pot (rinse chicken if fresh; no need to defrost if frozen) and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Mix undiluted soups and pour over chicken.

Cook 6-8 hours on low. Serve over rice or noodles.

Super-Stuffed Monte-Cristo Sandwiches
Recipe coutesy Rachel Ray

8 slices center cut or apple wood smoked bacon
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup half-and-half, warm
1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp coarse ground Black Pepper
2 T Butter
8 thick cut slices of Whole-grain Soft Bread, white or challah
1/2 cup Brown Mustard
1/2 cup whole berry Cranberry Sauce
1/2 lb sliced Havarti Cheese
1 lb sliced Ham
1 lb sliced Turkey breast
1 1/2 cups medium to dark amber Maple Syrup

Heat a griddle pan or large skillet over medium high heat. Cook bacon and remove to paper towels to drain. Drain off fat and reheat griddle over medium heat. Make sandwiches in 2 batches.

Beat eggs with half-and-half, nutmeg and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to griddle and melt. Turn 4 slices of bread in batter, then add to griddle.

Turn bread after it browns (2-3 minutes). Top 2 bread slices with mustard, the other 2 with cranberry sauce. Add 2 slices of cheese and bacon on the cranberry covered bread. Add ham, then turkey to the mustard covered bread.

Use a spatula to assemble 2 sandwiches and turn and press gently to set sandwiches in place. Repeat to make 2 more sandwiches. Cut sandwiches from corner to corner.

Heat syrup in microwave safe container for 30 seconds. Drizzle syrup over sandwiches at the table.