Fall Themed Chicken Pot Pie
Cooked, diced chicken
Onions, celery, freshly minced garlic
Cooked diced carrots and potatoes
Frozen peas (opt.)
Butter
Flour
Chicken broth
Milk
Salt and pepper
I chose not to provide amounts for this recipe because it is very flexible; make it based on the number of people you are fixing for and your preferences. I like to use legs and/or bone-in thighs and make the broth first unless I have this on hand already. Can use the pulled chicken from this process, canned, or cooked. I sauté the onion, celery, and garlic in butter. Can thicken this or separately make gravy with butter, flour, broth and milk (optional). Cook carrots and potatoes in the same pot as cooked chicken, in broth, or whatever makes sense at the time. Add the peas last to prevent overcooking them. Once you have the filling assembled, pour it into a greased baking dish lined with biscuit dough as follows:
3 c. flour
2 T. baking powder*
¾ tsp. salt
5 T. butter
1 cup and 2 T. milk.*
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry cutter.** Stir in milk. Knead slightly on floured surface. Place 2/3 of dough into well greased 9×13” pan. With floured hands, pat evenly all over bottom and sides of pan. Pour chicken mixture into prepared crust. Here’s where the fall theme come in – cut remaining dough with leaf shaped cookie cutters and arrange on top of casserole. Regular biscuit cutters will work, of course. Bake at 375°for 25-30 minutes. I like to brush the biscuits with butter as soon as it is finished baking.
*an alternative idea – to make buttermilk biscuits, use the same amount of buttermilk as recipe calls for milk with 1 T. baking soda instead of baking powder (always half the amount of baking powder). This is a pretty reliable conversion to buttermilk for other foods, such as pancakes.
**I have found that a double batch works great in a food processor to cut in flour.
Deer Jerky
From “Evercookin’ with the Evergrowin’ Girls” cookbook of Evergrowin’ Greenhouses, used by permission Copyright 2007 Morris Press Cookbooks. The book can be found at Evergrowin’ Greenhouse west of Bridgewater on Thomas Spring Rd.
1 ½ lb. deer meat (cut across the grain)
1 tsp. seasoning salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ c. Worcestershire sauce
¼ c. water
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ c. soy sauce
red pepper to taste
Mix together marinade and pour over deer meat. Marinate overnight. Dehydrate until done. Excellent recipe!
Easy Crockpot Apple Butter
Apples
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
⅛ tsp. allspice
Fill crockpot with apples; add remaining ingredients. Cook on low 22 hours; stir occasionally. Beat with mixer slowly until smooth. Cook 2 more hours.
Fruit Pie Filling to Can
12 c. fruit (peaches, apples…)
3 c. water
1 ½ c. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. lemon juice
½ c. corn syrup or honey
Bring to a boil and add:
¾ c. Thermflo*
1 ½ c. water
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves
Fill jars for canning; hot water bath 20 minutes
*Thermflo is a modified cornstarch far superior to regular cornstarch – affords smooth, clear thickening whereas cornstarch can be clotty-looking with a murky appearance. It can be found at Sharp Shopper and other bulk food stores
