Skillet Chicken Pot Pie & Cast Iron seasoning tip!

So months ago, we went on a camping supply shopping frenzy. Well, not necessarily ME, it was more Mr See Marie Cook who went through this spell of temporary insanity. Of those purchases, there were two I was truly looking forward to getting. A cast iron skillet, and a cast iron dutch oven.

Of course, between buying those things, and now, our world was shaken up and tipped over like a snowglobe. Losing jobs, selling a house, starting a business, and moving have all taken the top priority, and now the dust is starting to settle. I have used the dutch oven, but have just recently gottten around to digging out the skillet.

A few weeks ago Brad said that he wanted something cozy, some comfort food to match the gloomy weather outside. Well, I happen to know one of his all time favorite old school dishes is chicken pot pie. What a perfect opportunity to use my skillet.

I had recently DVR'd an episode of Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network. The topic of that episode was Chicken Pot Pie. Here is how it worked for me:
I was shocked to realize that I had no chicken stock in the house. None, not a drop. Luckily Mr Tyler Florence included his chicken stock instructions in the recipe. I love that man. Anyway...

Stock ingredients:
-1 whole chicken
-1 gallon cool water
-2 carrots, cut in 2 inch pieces
-2 celery stalks, cut in 2 inch pieces
-1 onion, halved
-1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
-2 turnips, halved (I did not use these as I did not have any on hand)
-2 tbsp dried thyme
-1 tbsp rosemary
-1 bay leaf

Chicken. Good. All right that's a line from the movie The Fifth Element that always makes me laugh. Oh, no one else knows what I'm talking about? ::ahem:: carry on...
You will need a large, heavy bottom stock pot for this. I believe this is one Brad's mom gave to him a while back. A lot of my often used items were gifts at one time or another from Brad's mom. A kitchen Goddess that woman is.

Veggies and herbs getting ready for a swim.

Now of course you will need to handle the chicken, and after handling and raw meats make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. Before handling the bird, I take off my ring...

Oh who am I fooling, this is just a chance to show off my gorgeous engagement ring! The man has good taste.

Of course I cannot chop carrots without snagging a few for the beasts. Carrots are their favorite.

Chop the carrots and celery into 2 inch pieces.

Half the onion and garlic head horizontally. Like so.

Put the chicken in the stock pot, and cover with the gallon of cool water. Add the veggies and herbs, then bring the pot to a boil.

I also had to add some salt and pepper. Couldn't help myself.

Bring that to a boil. Skim it well, then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 45 minutes, skimming any oil off that rises to the surface.

This is when, in my recipe, the box in the freezer that I THOUGHT was puff pastry was actually pie crust. Awesome. Well I figure in a pinch, I could use the pie crust instead. But in the end I decided to go with the good old Bisquick biscuit topping.

Once the chicken has cooked for 45 minutes, remove it to a platter to cool. At which point it looks a hot mess, but we will remedy that I promise.

Let the chicken stock continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes. This helps to condense the flavor. You should end up with about eight cups when you are finished, which is why the ingredients specify a gallon of water.

Ahhh Bisquick. You've saved me again. I made a double batch of the recipe on the box for chicken pot pie. Of course, I just made the dough portion of the recipe.

Now strain the chicken broth into another large pot. Discard the solids.

I pick out the cooked carrots, again, for the dogs. They had quite a treat that night for dinner.

When the chicken is cool, shred the meat and discard the skin and bones.

Picked clean.

This is the chicken I will be using for the pie.

And THIS is the chicken that ensures my dog's endless love for me. This is what they got on their kibble for dinner. Their eyes glazed over I swear it.

Now for the pie.

Ingredients:

-1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

-1/2 cup all purpose flour

-Salt and pepper

-3 carrots, cut in 1/2 inch circles

-1 onion, chopped (next time I will dice them finely)

-1 box of frozen peas (though I used shelled edamame)

-1 tbsp parsley

-1/4 cup of shredded parmesan

Now wipe out the stock pot, and put it back over medium heat. Melt the butter in the pot.

Then add the flour a little at a time, whisking to form a paste or roux. Whisk until smooth.

Gradually pour in eight cups of the chicken stock. I did it one cup at a time. Whisk the entire time to prevent lumps.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Now, I cannot emphasize this enough, make sure to use plenty of salt! It's not often that you will hear me say that, but in this case it is crucial.

Run your frozen veggies under cool water for 2-3 minutes to thaw them.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

While the edamame thawed, I prepared the dough for the top of the pie. This is the recipe, which I doubled:

-1 cup bisquick mix

-1/2 cup milk

- 1 egg

Stir the ingredients together with a fork until smooth.

Set aside until you have the pie assembled in the skillet.

Now go back to the roux. It should be nice and thick. Fold in the chicken,

Carrots,

Onions,

and edamame or peas.

Stir to combine.

Spoon the mix into the skillet.

Get the bisquick mix, and spread evenly over the filling.

Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese, and sprinkle some pepper on as well. Makes it look a little prettier in my humble opinion.

Bake the dish for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the top to be nice and brown, like this!

Isn't it pretty?

Nice and ready for it's close up.

I mean my goodness. At this point I heard Brad yell from the livingroom "Are you going to eat it or make out with it?!". Never you mind buddy boy...

Now, no matter how good this smells, how beautiful it looks, or how many men and children you have wailing about their growling bellies, you must let this set for at least 25 minutes. Otherwise you are going to cut into a soupy mess. That would really be a shame considering all the work you just put into it. I won't lie though, it was a test in patience and strength to go about our lives for the whole half hour I let this sit, pretending that it wasn't just right there on the kitchen counter.

After we could take it no longer, I cut into it...

Behold!

I will tell you, Brad thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Though he did use even more salt at the table. He enjoyed it so much, that this is the chunk that was missing when we were done.

And it was even better as left overs a few days later.

Since I want my relationship with my cast iron to be a very long and successful one, I know that I need to take good care of it. This requires some maintenance after every use. According to the pamphlet that came with this skillet, I was instructed to wash it out with warm water right after using it. A small amount of dish soap in a sink full of hot water is acceptable as well. Then dry it completely. At which point it this is what I have:

Then I sprayed it generously with a cooking spray, I used PAM.

Flip it over, and spray the backside also.

I let that sit overnight. Then in the morning I wiped any excess oil off, and put the skillet away.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Shepherd's Pie

This is a recipe I got from the March 2009 issue of Bon Appetit. The original recipe calls 2 pounds of lamb. I used one pound of really good quality ground sirloin I got from my butcher, and one pound of ground turkey. I also added a few other ingredients to make this recipe my own.


Ingredients for the filling:
-1 medium eggplant, cut into cubes
-kosher salt
-4 tbsp, or more if needed, extra virgin olive oil; divided
-1 lb ground sirloin
-1 lb ground turkey
-1/2 large white onion, chopped
-1 14 ounce can of tomatoes
-1.5 cups of broth, whatever you have on hand
-2 tbsp flour
-1/2 cup of white wine
-4 large garlic cloves, chopped
-1/2 tbsp of oregano
-1 tsp cayenne
-4 large mushrooms, chopped

Ingredients for the potato topping:
-12 red potatoes chopped in 4, NOT peeled
-1/4 stick of butter
-1 tbsp olive oil
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 cup of milk
-1 cup shredded cheese

Now onto the fun.




















Lay the eggplant cubes on a baking sheet, use one with a raised edge. Like so.

Sprinkle with kosher salt, don't be shy now.

Let that stand all nice and pretty, for about an hour. Tossing every now and then.

At that point you will rinse the eggplant, and pat dry with paper towels.

Heat up 3 tbsp of oil in a heavy large pot over med-high heat. Add the eggplant and saute until it is tender, about 12-15 minutes. Toss the cooked eggplant into a medium sized bowl.

In the same pot, lightly brown the ground meat, and set aside. This meat will continue to cook in a sauce so do not brown it too much in this step.

In same pot, add in 2 tbsp of butter, the onions, 2 tbsp of flour, and stir to coat. Continue to stir until the mixture has thickened, and the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the wine, and boil until most of the wine has evaporated. Be sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, that's where a lot of flavor will be.




















After the wine has evaporated, add the tomatoes with juice, broth (I used some homemade chicken stock I had on hand), garlic, oregano, cayenne, and mushrooms.

Add the meat with it's accumulated juices. Simmer until thickened to your liking, then keep over very low heat while you cook the potatoes.

At this point I set my oven to preheat to 375 degrees.

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes or so.

Melt the butter & oil in a medium saucepan over med-high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, not more than a minute or so. Add milk and simmer.

Drain the potatoes, and return them to their pot. Leave the heat under this pot on medium, and stir the potatoes until the cooking water has almost completely evaporated. Enough to where you can see that it has cooked off, but not long enough to let the potatoes start to stick to the pan.

Add the milk mixture, and mash until the potatoes are smooth.



















Here is what my filling looks like before I put it in the baking dish, I just used a large, square, Pyrex baking dish. You can use whatever dish you like, even a 13x9x2 would work.




















Pour the meat filling into the baking dish, then cover it with the potatoes.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top. I used a blend of cheddar and Monterrey jack.

Place in oven and bake, until the filling is heated through, and the topping has turned a golden color.

Juices from the filling may seep up onto the top of the casserole. It doesn't make it look pretty but the flavor is amazing.

I served it with a salad and enjoyed every bite!

In hindsight, next time I will add something green, and some carrots.

This is a very versatile dish, the possibilities are endless.