"CPP"

Since Christmas this year was just James and I, I made a chicken pot pie for warmth, comfort, and a sense of home.

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts - to make from scratch, easy peasy recipe below!

Directions

1. Line bottom of pie crust. Set aside.

2. Boil chicken breasts, about 10-15 minutes. Then set aside to cool. Once cooled, cube.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk vigorously. Once mixed, add milk and chicken broth, salt, pepper. Then carrots, celery, peas, onions, chicken. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Then cool slightly.

4. Pour mixture into bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Easy Peasy Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

3 to 6 Tbsp ice water

1. Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

2. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

5. Add filling to the pie.

6. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Grad show pictures... finally!

The spread...

Chocolate work

Plated dessert - white chocolate mousse with crunchy and passionfruit glaze

Apricot tart

Chocolate macaroons

Foccacia

White choc passionfruit

Palmiers, bowties, william tells

Sacher

Croissants - regular and chocolate

French-ccacia

My French pastry chef was joking about the foccacia that we made. It was a lovely recipe that my Italian boyfriend loved. Franco-Italia relations... in the bakeshop?

Foccacia

1 lb 3 oz. Bread Flour
1/2 Tbsp Salt
1 oz. Fresh Yeast
2 oz. Olive Oil
1 1/2 cup Water

1. Mix yeast and water in mixing bowl.
2. Add flour and salt and mix on low speed until rough dough.
3. Mix for 5 minutes on medium speed and with 1 minute left, add the oil and mix for the final minute.
4. Let rise for 1 hour or until double in size.
5. Fold dough and bench proof for 20 minutes, covered.
6. Press dough (lightly!) into greased quarter sheet pan or two round 9" cake pans. Let rest for another 45 minutes in a warm, draft free area.
7. Brush with olive oil, poke with fingers, and sprinkle with toppings.
8. Bake at 450 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.

Voila!

Recipe courtesy of Chef Yves Fournier and San Diego Culinary Institute

New Age Pizza

In an attempt to use what I had in the the fridge (and pantry) I made a simple and rather tasty non-traditional pizza. Inspired by the schicciata recipe from a dear family of friends and one of my most loyal readers (yeah you, gramps Muratori), this pizza was topped with potatoes, sausage, tomato sauce, a bit of cheese, onions, and garlic.
While I don't have exact amounts of what I added, I can give you the steps and the inspiration to this pizza. Play around, try your own, you may be surprised at how delicious a non-pepperoni red sauce mozzarella pizza can be.
I made the pizza dough first and let it rise all day. The longer the slow rise, the more tasty the dough. Here's a recipe for a great pizza dough.

Traditional Pizza Dough
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp salt

1. Proof the yeast by putting it in warm water with the sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until you see bubbles on top and can smell the wonderful smell of yeast.
2. Mix 4 cups of flour, olive oil, salt and slowly add the yeast solution. Add the remaining flour slowly until dough is smooth to the touch and does not stick.
3. Knead the dough until firm and elastic and surface indents and bounces back when poked with finger.
4. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in the refrigerator all day.

Makes 2 thick 12-inch shells

Prepare the topping:
1. Take out dough from the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature about 15 minutes. Preheat oven (and baking stone or pizza pan) to 475 degrees F.
2. While dough sits, boil the potatoes then mash them up and set them in a bowl.
3. Brown the Italian sausage (out of the casing) and add chopped onions. Saute. Add this to the potatoes. Throw in minced garlic, just enough tomato sauce to keep mixture moist and some Parmesan cheese (feel free to use mozzarella if you please). Mix well and set aside while you prepare the dough for decorating.
4. Roll out half of the dough (for one pie) flouring the surface liberally. Add the topping mixture. Set in oven to bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Using that basil: Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad and Bruschetta

When I moved to San Diego I started my "garden" and planted a few different herbs in pots on my balcony. One of them is a basil plant that just kept getting bigger and bigger! I had no idea that basil plants get this big (I don't have much experience with gardens, let alone herb gardens, but love plants and want to someday have my own real garden, y'know, in the ground). Anyway, so to prune my basil bush a bit I made a couple dishes for tonight that involve lots of basil.

Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad

The pesto was actually made by a friend, and pesto is very much a personal taste thing but I guesstimated the amounts he used, make your own tweaks as appropriate.

Pesto: Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 medium sized garlic cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pop the ingredients in a food processor and presto! you have... pesto.

Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad: Ingredients
1 cup pesto
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 lb chicken breast
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook the macaroni. Set aside and let cool.
2. Marinate the chicken breast with the pesto in a plastic zip top bag so you can really smear the pesto around all over the chicken breasts.
3. Heat a pan with olive oil. Sear the chicken breast on each side for about a minute or two. Then cover with a lid until cooked through, being careful not to burn the pesto covered chicken.
4. Cut up the cooked chicken in 1/2 inch pieces, mix into pasta. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Feel free to add more pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper, again personal preference.

Bruschetta

2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup basil, packed and chopped
2 Tbsp walnut, chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Baguette

1. Mix tomatoes, onion, basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
2. Preheat the broiler.
3. Cut Baguette in diagonal slices about 3/4 inch thick.
4. Place one layer of bread on a pan, drizzle with olive oil, and toast until lightly brown.
5. Spoon tomato mixture onto each slice of bread and serve.

Ziti-batiti

For dinner tonight I made a baked ziti with sausage and spinach. Can you tell that I like sausage and spinach? I kind of improved a recipe that goes something like this:



Baked Ziti
1 lb penne pasta
1 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
3 cups of your favorite red sauce (or Quick Marinara Sauce recipe below)
1 1/2 cups spinach, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups mozzarella, grated
salt & pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente. Drain.
3. While pasta water is boiling, brown casing-less sausage. Mix in large bowl with chopped spinach. Mix in red sauce, cooked pasta, parmesan, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper. Mix well until combined.
4. Transfer to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover with remaining 1 1/2 cup mozzarella. Cover with tin foil.
5. Bake 15 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking until lightly browned on top.

QUICK MARINARA SAUCE

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly chopped
Sprig of fresh thyme
Sprig of fresh basil
2 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
2. Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper to taste. Use now, or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.