To All the Mothers

That is me and Jonathan St. Pierre, a nice and very sweaty man (I had to crop out poor Jenny who was making a very unfortunate face). I went to my first ever Argos game this past weekend with Jenny, Homer and Ian. After this photo was taken, Jenny had the brilliant idea to go to karaoke at the Fox and Fiddle, since Ian and Homer are sort of karaoke all stars. So in a cab we hopped, off to Bloor and Beverley. We had a couple of beers at the game and let's just say a few more drinks were consumed (maybe some doubles) and Ian, Tristan and Jenny each brought the house down with their respective numbers. We got home at 2:30am. I had people coming over the next afternoon, and had promised food, ouch.

Here is where the title comes from (well sort of, not to imply that all the mothers I know like going out to sing karaoke until all hours). Luckily I had already planned to make the easiest recipe of all time - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos. These take 15 min to pull together (and that is if you make your own taco seasoning, which I did because I realized it was the one thing I had forgotten to buy). It is also great for working mom's (like the mom whose blog I got it from). Just throw the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and bingo-bango.

You can see the full post where I found the recipe here. In it the author links to her preferred recipe for taco seasoning which I ended up using. I thought it was just enough - she would have used a little more. She mentions that you can even put the chicken in frozen, which I have done in the past, it just takes the full 8 hours on low to cook. This time I just put the chicken in uncooked and not frozen and it was done in about 6.

I had three good size chicken breasts and this (along with a small bag of frozen corn, on can of black beans and a small salsa) made enough to feed 4 adults with a TON of leftovers.

Great for lunches the next day, as a topper for salads or over rice.

I link the Friendly Butcher above, a shop new to the Danforth. Friendly as the name implies and helpful. I hope they last longer than the other butcher did.

A final note, you should visit my friend Avery's blog - she talks about our recent Jam making party and how you can host your own!

I think it is a sort of sick person who is sitting in a spinning class thinking about recipes.  Trying desperately to burn off some calories all while thinking about how to use up the variety of meats in your fridge and freezer is sort of like going to synagogue and fantasizing about a ham and cheese sandwich.  

But this is exactly what I was doing tonight, frankly thinking about food consumes probably a solid 60% of my day, even if I am not writing about it here with much frequency.

I had a good, albeit slightly gluttonous weekend.  Friday night was filled with oysters and delicious wine (though note to self oysters by themselves are NOT a substantial enough meal to drink the better half of France) and Saturday was good old fashioned sleep over with the gals you see above.   I have known them for the better part of 10 years, and Saturday was a comforting reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  

Originally the party was supposed to be at my friend Amber's house but due to a flood we had to relocate and my house was available so I offered it up.  As is my way I made and purchased way more food than was needed, and put probably a little too much brain power into exactly what to make, but out of this quest for a good slumber party snack came this little dandy below.

Behold the chicken potpie popover.

I made them a bit too large to really function as appetizers, and you probably could make them smaller for a little cocktail function.  If you do opt for the size the recipe recommends they freeze amazingly well and can be taken in for a quick lunch, perhaps with a green salad or soup.

Unfortunately there is no photo due to *cough* a slightly higher than normal wine consumption.  Just imagine a puff pastry triangle and you are there.

Chicken Pot Pie Popover 

Adapted from Individual Chicken Potpie Pockets in The Big Orange Book by Rachael Ray

*This is really easier if you have some baking mats (thanks mom!), that way you don't have to muck around with butter in your pan.

1 cup ground chicken

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour *plus more for dusting

1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup skim milk

Salt and Pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 scallions finely chopped

1/4 cup frozen peas

1 small carrot, grated and finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped

2 sheets prepared puff pastry defrosted

1 egg, lightly beaten with a splash of water.

Preheat over to 400.

Cook ground chicken in a non-stick skillet until lightly browned and cooked through.  Set aside.

Heat the 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  When it melts, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the stock and milk.  Season with salt and pepper, cook for a couple of minutes until thickened, then stir in the mustard.  Remove from the heat.

Combine the chicken, scallions, peas, carrots, and dill in a mixing bowl.  Pour the sauce over the mixture and stir to combine.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour and roll out one sheet of dough to the thickness of a nickel, and cut into squares.  Cut each quarter into 2 triangles.  Transfer the triangles to the baking sheet and make 8 more triangles with the second sheet of dough.  Divide the filling among the triangles on the baking sheet, leaving a little room at the edges to seal the pockets.  Brush with edges with the egg wash and place a second triangle on top; press the edges to seal or crimp with the tines of a fork.   Brush the tops of the pockets with more egg wash and cut a small x in the top of each to vent.  Bake for 20 minutes or until deeply golden and crisp.  Serve hot.