Mini chicken pie tartlets / chicken pot pie

One of my favourite things to do is to take a recipe or a dish and adapt it to make something smaller. I often find recipes overwhelming because the portions are usually meant to feed 6-8 people, which is a lot of food. (And to be honest, I'm sometimes just too lazy to do the math). But over the last few years, I've gotten pretty comfortable (through lots of trial and error) with tinkering. I once made chicken pot pie from scratch - pie crust, roasted chicken - and it took forever. After thinking through the basics, I decided to do something much simpler - namely buying a roast chicken (or using leftovers) and the pie crust.

Since then, I've adapted the recipe again and turned it into finger foods. The end result? Mini chicken pie tartlets, or "home made" chicken pot pies

Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (or the leftovers from roasted chicken...at least 1/2 though)
- 2-3 cups of frozen mixed veggies (more chicken = less veggies, and vice versa)
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (low sodium)
- 1/2 cup of skim milk (or if you like more flavour, actual cream)
- 2 big pie shells or 12 mini pie shells


Directions
- Defrost pie shells
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees celcius
- Separate the cooked chicken from the bones and shred / cut into small pieces
- Pour oil into a large pan and wait for the pan to heat
- Once the oil starts popping, toss in the minced garlic with the salt
- Lower the heat to medium as soon as the garlic starts to brown (approximately 15-20 seconds)
- Toss in the frozen vegetables
- Cook the veggies on medium heat for 3-5 minutes
- Toss in the chicken
- Open the cream of mushroom soup and pour into the mixture
- Add the milk
- Stir until the soup and milk are evenly distributed
- Wait until the mixture starts to bubble a bit and remove from the heat
- Take the defrosted pie shells out of the box
- Add the filling to one of the pie shells (or half the small shells) - be careful not to overfill
- Take a little bit of water, and with your finger, wet the edge of the pie shell
- Take the remaining pie shell, turn it upside down and put it on top of the pie shell
- Pinch the edges of both pie shells so that they stick together
- Using a fork, poke a few holes into the top of the pie (this allows steam to escape...otherwise your pie could explode)
- Place the pie in the oven and let it cook for 50 - 60 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown)
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes
- Enjoy

Whole new appreciation for Iron Chef...

In my last posting, I mentioned that I'd be cooking a few dishes for my almost sister. I had a lot of dishes to make in a short period of time, so I had to come up with a battle plan. Namely, a work back schedule. Up at 7:00 a.m. to light the fire place so that the dough for my cinnamon buns would have a warm place to rise. 7:15 - 7:30 mixing dough (which, is AWESOME with my red KitchenAid mixer). The ultimate goal was to be done cooking by 11:45. Let's just say that when I was done, I had a whole new appreciation for Iron Chef. Cooking quickly is one thing, but to cook, plate, and then transport...let's just say that my own version of Iron Chef took much longer than an hour.

The end result? Foods that brought a smile to my baby sister's face. Which made the five hours of non-stop cooking completely worth it.

I used this recipe from the Food Network as a base for the cinnamon buns. However, I did change one thing - I mixed brown sugar with white sugar.

Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup plus 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the bowl
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

For the Filling:
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the Glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions
Make the dough:
- Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over low heat until it reaches about 100.
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle in the yeast and 1/4 teaspoon sugar (don't stir). Set aside until foamy, 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla.

- Whisk the flour, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the salt and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture.
- Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky. Knead on medium speed until the dough gathers around the hook, 6 minutes. (Add up to 2 more tablespoons flour if necessary.)
- Remove the dough and shape into a ball.
- Butter the mixer bowl and return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1 hour 15 minutes.

See how to form these Cinnamon Buns

- Roll out the dough, fill and cut into buns (see instructions below).

- Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; place the buns cut-side down in the pan, leaving space between each.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325.
- Bake the buns until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Cool in the pan 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze:
- Sift the confectioners' sugar into a bowl, then whisk in the cream and melted butter.
- Transfer the buns to a rack and spoon the glaze on top while still warm.

How to Form Cinnamon Buns
1. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-by-14-inch rectangle with the longer side facing you.

2. Spread with the softened butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border on the far long edge. Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the butter.

3. Brush the unbuttered far edge with water. Roll the dough away from you into a tight cylinder and press on the long edge to seal.

4. Cut the cylinder with a sharp knife to make 6 equal-size buns.

The cooking motivation

My mother hates cooking and often wonders what motivates me to cook. Oftentimes, it's to release stress and sometimes, it's just plain necessity (eating to survive).

But by far, the biggest motivation for me is cooking for those I care about. Like tonight - I spent a few hours grocery shopping and doing general prep work...all so that I can get up at 7:00 a.m. on a weekend to cook for my (almost) little sister.

I love how food can bring a smile to people's face and I love that sometimes, food can bring comfort. The joy of tasting something new or something familiar - it doesn't matter which because the emotion is the same. The fact that I can bring joy to others makes me happy.

On the menu for tomorrow:
- Mini chicken pot pies
- Mini bocconcini salads
- Cheese puff pastries
- Fresh cinnamon buns (fingers crossed because I've never made these by hand before)
- Fresh guacamole and salsa (with store bought chips)

Wish me luck.

Raw oysters

My family decided to take part in a raw oyster fest last night. Normally, I'm a fan of raw oysters, but since I just got over food poisoning, I opted for cooked chicken.

I did, however, observe the process. To start, the oysters came from a fishmonger who just received a fresh shipment from Vancouver. Armed with lemons, Tabasco Sauce and some shucking knives, I watched as my family began the process of cracking open those shells.

Now, I don't know what they were imagining, but I know from experience, shucking oysters is hard work. It takes awhile to get get your knife into the hinge of the shell and pry it open. Once you open the oyster, it's a good idea to rinse before you eat it, as it's often a little grainy and too salty.

And although it's rare to get bad oysters from a reputable fishmarket, it does happen. So SMELL the oyster BEFORE you open it. (Sadly, the oyster eaters learned this the hard way. Perfume, candles and two air vents helped to clear the smell a little, but us non-oyster eaters definitely felt a little ill).

The end result was a delicious meal (or so I was told). And it was a good experience to learn from. Whether or not it was worth all the work? Let's just say the consensus is to go out next time.

Oh...and there's a whole new respect to those who work at oyster bars.

The Food Network (in print)

It's no secret the Food Network has revolutionalized North America's interest in food and cooking, and made celebrities out of chefs. But I recall hearing in the news that most people who watch the Food Network don't actually cook. I guess this is why the creators came out with the Food Network Magazine - in case you're actually interested in seeing the recipes and getting to know the various chefs better.

I love the magazine, but find the reading goes by too quickly. With the purchase of the latest issue, I've added to my physical cooking library.