Yup, today at a Pinch of This, a Dash of That it’s all about Rachael Ray. Some people love her, some people despise her—I happen to love her and find her overly cheery stature infectious and entertaining. I also give her major props for getting as far as she has in the food industry without any culinary degree—YES it is possible! =) I can only hope, right?
I’ve subscribed to her magazine Everyday With Rachael Ray since it started (did ya’ll know the favorite southerner, Paula Deen launched her own magazine now too?! Just got the first issue the other day!) because it is plump full of totally useful cooking info and of course some fun from front to back. And it’s reasonably priced too. Of course I always get my magazines the frugal way from here! So anyhoo, I decided it was time for Rachael to make a guest appearance (since she hasn’t yet!) and so I picked out a recipe that was somewhat challenging, yet very “delish” when completed. Her Lemon Chicken Not-Potpies with Poppy Seed Crust were a unusual twist on the traditional pot pie. Now I am not the biggest chicken pot pie fan out there, but of course I am a mean food critic(haha), and I know for a fact that a good homemade pot pie is 100x better than the kind you pop in the microwave—filled with preservatives and rubbery chicken—you get the drift. Pretty much anything homemade can top out store bought! Plus it can be much cheaper. The only drawback for this recipe was that if you don’t have 2 ingredients (poppy seeds & puff pastry sheets) they ran a little high priced at my grocery store. But of course it’s the only big chain store in town so they have no competition and can charge basically any price! I should have driven to Wal-Mart 20 minutes away! So besides that, everything about this recipe was great! I think the pictures speak for themselves. So check out the recipe here and then follow along on my homemade pot pie adventure.
- FYI, the only change I made to this recipe was instead of the white wine, I just added some more chicken broth.
* When boiling potatoes, always make sure you add the salt! Why? It makes the water reach a rolling boil faster.
* Of course EVOO has to make an appearance here. In this case it is used in the skillet to sauté the chicken. Quick tip: I always grab these nice packets of EVOO from Subway—hey olive oil is expensive otherwise, this is much more thrifty, plus the perfect amount for one meal.
* After you’ve traced and cut your puff pastry circles, make sure to brush the egg evenly over the surface.
* Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the egg-brushed puff pastry circles. I just love poppy seeds!
* This is how they look once they’re out of the oven. Check out that divine puffiness! 8-)
And the final result…
“Yummo!!”
p.s. Be sure to check out an awesome Build-Your-Own-Bar giveaway here!
