Hearty Chicken Pot Pie

An excerpt from American classic recipe cards

Ingredients:

• 1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed chicken broth
• 1 ⅓ cups water, divided
• 4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
• 2 stalks of celery, cubed (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups medium mushrooms, quartered
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 lb of fresh sugar snap peas or snow peas, shelled or 1 cup of frozen peas
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 9" unbaked pie crust
• 2 ½ cups (325g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar, optional
• 1 cup (230g) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed
• 2 ½ cups chopped cooked chicken
• store-bought rotisserie chicken or poached shredded chicken thighs
  
• Poaching breasts or thighs in seasoned broth keeps the meat incredibly juicy and yields tender shreds for your pie.

Directions:

1. Follow Joanne Gallagher's easy flaky butter pie crust recipe for the pot pie a day before. If you have frozen the pie crust, thaw in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before blind baking. Preheat oven to 425°F. 
2. Place boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a pot. Cover with 1–2 inches of cold water or broth, and add aromatics (onion, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and turmeric). Bring to a gentle simmer about 15–20 minutes. Turn the heat off, cover, and let the chicken steep until cooked through.
3. 1n a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth, 1 cup of water, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
4.  In a large skillet, heat oil until toothpick is bubbling. Add mushrooms and onions. Add in the peas and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth mixture.  
5. In a bowl, whisk remaining ⅓ cups of water into the flour until smooth. Wisk flour paste into the large skillet of vegetables. Increase the heat to medium high. Bring to a boil
6.  Spread out pie crust on floured surface. Measure and roll, if necessary, to fit 1" thickness dough to cover a 2-quart baking dish and another to cover up the pie filling. Cut a scalloped round hole from the center of the top pie crust for ventilation using a cookie cutter.
7. Add chicken to the vegetable mixture. Transfer to the baking dish. Place the top pie crust over filling. Trim and flute edges.  
8. Place the baking dish of the chicken pot pie in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is bubbly or crust has browned. 

Banana bread

An excerpt from ​https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/best-banana-bread-recipe/

That website was ads galore!!! 🤪😫😩😤

Ingredients 

• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
  
• 3 Large ripe bananas 
  
• 2 Large eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  
• 2 Cups all purpose flour 
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 Cup granulated sugar 
  
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda or 1/3 cup club soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
  
• Optional pecan or walnuts 
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter and set aside.
   
2. Add the stick of butter to a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute, or until melted.
   
3. Add the bananas to the same bowl and mash with a fork.
   
4. Add the vanilla extract and egg to the bowl and use the same fork to mash and stir until no yellow streaks of egg remain.
   
5. In a second large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
   
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula just until combined.
   
7. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Best Traditional Fish and Chips

What we know as fish and chips today originated in England but its earliest origins can be traced back to Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal. ~ Kimberly Killebrew

Excerpt from Feast & Merriment

​Ingredients 

• 3 pounds Russet potatoes about 4 large potatoes.

• 3 quarts canola oil for frying plus 1/4 additional cup

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup cornstarch

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ½ teaspoon paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 3 tsp Diamond kosher salt

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 ½ – 2 pounds 1-inch-thick cod fillet or other thick white fish, such as hake or haddock cut into approximately 3-ounce pieces. (Thoroughly dry fish with paper towels)

• up to 3 cups beer 24 ounces, cold. (Any beer will work in this recipe, even nonalcoholic beer with the exception of dark stouts and ales.)

INSTRUCTIONS

 
1. Prep the fishSlice fish into your preferred size portions. I like smaller pieces, about 2 ounces per piece, but sometimes you need to follow the natural cuts of the filet. You want portions that are evenly sized as much as possible. Pat dry with paper towel and set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Prep the potatoesPeel the potatoes and slice off the “top & tail” to square off the ends of the potato and discard. Cut each potatoes lengthwise into 1/2 inch fries. Add potato pieces into a water bath for about 30 minutes.
Remove from water and pat dry with paper towel.
3. Fry the Potatoes

In heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (about 7 quart capacity), heat TWO of the three quarts oil over medium heat to 350°F. Pro Tip: Use an Oil safe Probe to monitor and control temperature for perfect results. Add fries to hot oil and increase heat to high. Fry, stirring with mesh spider or slotted metal spoon, until potatoes turn light golden and just begin to brown at corners, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer fries to paper towels to drain.
4. Set up the dredging stationWhisk the flour, cornstarch, cayenne, paprika, pepper, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Remove 1.5 of a cup of the flour mixture and add it to a casserole dish and set this flour & dish aside.
Go back to the flour mixture that remains in the bowl and add baking powder. Whisk to combine.
Add 1.5 cups beer to the flour mixture in the mixing bowl and stir until mixture is just combined (batter will be lumpy). Add remaining beer as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until batter falls from whisk in thin, steady stream and leaves faint trail across surface of batter.
5. Dredge & fry the fishWith the fries done, increase the heat of the oil to medium-high, add remaining quart of oil if necessary and heat oil to 375°F. Meanwhile, thoroughly dry fish with paper towels. Dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture shaking off excess flour. Dip 1 piece of fish in batter at a time and let excess run off, shaking gently. Place battered fish back into the casserole dish, or what ever dish you are using, with the flour mixture and turn to coat both sides.
Add each piece directly to hot oil if or, if you choose, keep pieces in single layer on baking sheet and repeat until all pieces are coated. It’s best to do it in batches if working alone, just be careful not to let it sit too long to avoid the batter sticking to the sheet pan.
As you add the fish, you will likely need to adjust the heat to keep it maintained at 375-385°F. Not adjusting your temperature to maintain oil temperature when frying is a common, and costly, mistake. The fish will not crisp up. But make it too high, and everything will burn. Use an oil safe thermometer for best results.
Fry the fish, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes depending on thickness. Use a kitchen spider to remove fish from hot oil and transfer fish to a sheet pan lined with a gridded cooling rack. Never walk away from the kitchen when frying the fish. 
If you are unsure about the doneness, remove one piece of fish and use an instant read thermometer to test for a minimum of 145° F.
Serve fish & chips with traditional malt vinegar and tartar sauce.