Nothing like a hearty bowl of winter chowder

There is no better day than today to sit down to a hot, chunky bowl of chowder.  YUM!

Back when I was making the pot pies, the thought came to mind how good the pie itself would be just as a chowder.  After all, the pie crust is what makes the pot pie, but it's also the thing that's not good for you (among other things in life, of course).  So as I was debating how to cook the fish I had stored in the freezer I thought about making the soup and the decision was finalized when Rob mentioned he had all this cooked chicken that he didn't know what to do with.  Hmmmm... I think I see a chicken chowder in your future, dear husband.

And this is exactly what I've done; made a seafood chowder and a chicken-potato chowder.  While they still took a good amount of time to prepare, I ended up tossing them both into slow cookers to simmer for a few hours.  If nothing else, I figured the potatoes needed cooking time to soften up a bit.  But after inhaling a bowl of soup I know I made the right call.  The chowder is out of this world and as I said, what better day to have it than today when it's snowy and blustery out.  I feel all warm and cozy on the inside now :)

Getting back to the pot pies, these are different in a few ways.  I didn't use peas or celery and I added sweet potatoes, red potatoes and corn.  I'm not a fan of celery and I just plain ol' forgot the peas.  But I really like the texture of the potatoes with the carrots and therefore that works really well for me.  I also added a bit more broth and cream to the mix.

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves

3 celery ribs, chopped (optional)

3 carrots, chopped or sliced

1 10oz package frozen corn

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup fat free half-and-half cream

1 cup coconut milk

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 4.5oz cans crabmeat 

3 handfuls uncooked jumbo shrimp (cut into pieces)

2 4oz fillets uncooked tilapia (or other white fish)

1 medium red potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 medium sweet potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1tsp Old Bay seasoning

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, (celery if you're using it), and carrots until tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn, potatoes, parsley, thyme, flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Whisk in vegetable broth, half-and-half, and coconut milk and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the seafood.

Transfer the chowder into a slow cooker and set for about 3 or 4 hours. 

CHICKEN POTATO CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup butter

1 small onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped (optional)

3 carrots, chopped

1 10oz package frozen corn

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup fat free half-and-half cream

1 cup coconut milk

Salt and ground black pepper to taste 

3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

 

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, (celery if you're using it), and carrots until tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn, potatoes, parsley, thyme, flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth, half-and-half, and coconut milk and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the chicken.

Transfer the chowder into a slow cooker and set for about 3 or 4 hours.

PERSONAL NOTES:

You may find you'll want either thicker or thinner chowder.  If that's the case, then either cut back or increase the amount of broth/cream/milk to the soup.  I like thicker soup so I tend to use less and add in if I need to "loosen" it up a bit.  I love a chunky soup so this just works well for me. 

Pot Pies - Two Ways

Happy New Year!!!

The hubby and I maintained our tradition of staying in and doing nothing for New Year's Eve.  That could mean we're getting old and/or it could just mean we're over the big partying thing.  Probably a little of both.  As a matter of fact, I slept through midnight (I was asleep after 11p) and was woken up at 12:05am by my hubby so he could wish me a Happy New Year.  Then I sank back to sleep.

Since we were staying in I decided to cook us both dinner - which I rarely do. But just so you know, that's only because I don't know how to cook very many meat dishes and Rob doesn't really eat fish or veg-only meals. 

After some searching, I came across this recipe for chicken pot pie and decided to give it a whirl.  What would I make for myself, you might ask?  The same thing, only adapted for a seafood dish.  Actually, I changed quite a bit of it. 

CHICKEN POT PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter

1 small onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2/3 cup frozen peas

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup half-and-half cream

salt and ground black pepper to taste

3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1 (17.3 ounce) box frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm®)

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, celery, and carrots until the celery and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, parsley, thyme and flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and half-and-half, and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the chicken meat.

Transfer the chicken, vegetables, and sauce into a 2-quart baking dish. Arrange biscuits on top of the filling. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with water; brush egg yolk on the biscuits.

Bake in the preheated oven until the biscuits are golden brown and the pie filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.


SEAFOOD POT PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 celery ribs, chopped

1 carrots, chopped

1/4 cup frozen peas

1 small potato (any kind)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1-1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

2/3 cup fat free half-and-half cream

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 4oz cooked tilapia fillet, cut into bite-size pieces

6oz cooked jumbo shrimp

1 5oz can crab meat

1 (17.3 ounce) box frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm®) 

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, celery, and carrots until the celery and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, parsley, thyme and flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Whisk in vegetable broth and fat free half-and-half, and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the fish.

Transfer the mixture into a 2-quart baking dish. Cut a piece of the puff pastry to the size of the baking dish, cut a small hole in the middle (the size of a nickel) and arrange on top of the filling. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with water; brush egg yolk on the puff pastry.

Bake in the preheated oven until the  puff pastry is golden brown and the pie filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The seafood pot pie varies from the chicken pot pie in a few ways.  Yes, it has the fish, but I also added potato.  Actually, when I made mine I used a sweet potato.  Plus, I eliminated the celery and peas.  I just didn't want them. 

I also substituted fat free half & half for the regular half & half to make it a little lighter.  The consistency remained the same.  Then I cut the vegetable broth down to 1 cup to make it thicker still.  It came out great - I absolutely loved it. 

To top it off, instead of using the biscuits (as the original recipe calls for), I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets.  For both dishes, I ended up cooking them in 15oz glass dishes (oven safe, of course).  This is what enabled me to make these using two individual dishes for each recipe. If you follow the original recipe  and use the biscuits, you'll need the extra space a two quart dish supplies. I have no regrets using the puff pastry over the biscuits. So when it came time to put the puff pastry on, before putting the pot pie mixture in the bowls, I turned one upside down and pressed down so it would be just enough to cover the top. Then I cut out a whole in the middle so it could breathe.

Although both dishes tasted great (Rob loved his pot pie!), the downside to making this wonderful dinner is that it took me FOREVER to make it.  2 1/2 hours!  So Rob suggested that next time I might use frozen carrots or something to help reduce time spent chopping.  And no, my food processor doesn't have an attachment the right size for this kind of slicing.  The carrots and celery would have come out far too thin.  And that would have made me sad.

Oh, the other downside is the calorie content.  OUCH.  Each individual serving is 770 calories.  If you choose to forego the pastry (and really, why would you want to do that?) it would be 450 calories, which is definitely better. I guess you'll have to decide which works for you.