Recipes, etc: Brussel sprouts, Pot Pie and Chili!

Hey All!

Here are some recipe ideas to answer Ann Marie's post:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE roasted brussel sprouts!  Trim them, cut the big ones in half, toss with olive oil and sea salt, roast for about 30 minutes (give or take) in a 400 degree oven, flipping them over once halfway.  They should be pretty brown . . . "under-roasted" are worse than "over-roasted" in this case!  You can eat them plain or toss them with shredded parm. 

We just had chili as well . . . I will share our recipe, because it is pretty darn good, and it took me years of looking for a good recipe.  I actually just took a vegetarian chili recipe (read: lots of veggies) and added a pound of beef.  I used to do ground turkey a lot too, until we invested in a beef share.  Now I have a freezer full of grass-fed beef straight from the farm . . . heaven!  :) 

"REALLY GOOD VEGETARIAN CHILI WITH MEAT"  (ha ha)
**do NOT get hung up on amounts here.  Just throw in whatever veggies you have on hand!**
1 lb ground beef
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 diced yellow (any color) pepper
3 or more crushed garlic cloves (I always add more)
2 1/2 cups diced zucchini (I use 1)
1 1/2 cups water (if you have leftover broth, its even better!)
1 cup diced carrot
2 1/2 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP sugar
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp hot sauce (I skip this, and then add as needed at the table)
2 (16-oz) cans kidney beans, drained
2 (14.5-oz) cans no salt whole tomatoes, undrained and coursly chopped
2 (8-oz) cans no salt tomato sauce

Cook meat, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, and garlic til browned and crumbly.  (Might have to add a little olive oil, depending on the meat).  Add everything.  Bring to a boil.  Partially cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or til thickened, stirring occasionally. 

As for the chicken pot pie . . . I have to laugh because I combined about 3 recipes . . . and my comment to Liam was "I will never be able to replicate this!"  ha!  :)  But I'll do my best!   (This pastry recipe is the one I used, verbatim, and it is really good). 

CHICKEN POT PIE

For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound or 8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (This can also be made a day or more in advance.)

So, for the filling (ingredients in italics), I stared some potatoes boiling and then basically chopped up a ton of veggies . . . celery, onion, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, etc . . . and cooked it with some butter.  When they were soft, I added flour and cooked for a few minutes.   Then I added chicken broth to make a simple gravy.  I let it thicken a bit (tweak as needed to get your desired thickness) and added a splash (or more, to your liking) of heavy cream along with frozen peas, corn, and pearl onions.  Stir in as much leftover (cooked) chicken as you have/want.  I think I added dried thyme as well as sea salt and pepper.  I made it in individual ramekins  . . . so first I cubed up the cooked potatoes and scattered some in the bottom of each ramekin.  Then fill each ramekin to the top with the filling.  Cut a very generous circle of dough for the top (let it flop down the side almost all the way down).  Brush egg wash around the rim of the ramekin before setting dough on top.  (I would also recommend butter, as our crust stuck to the rim a tad.)  Crimp the edges.  Cut some slits in the top and brush with egg wash. 

Put ramekins on a tray and bake at 375 for approx. 45 minutes . . . keep an eye on it after about 30.  Crush should be golden brown, filling bubbling up through the slits. 

Hope this helps!  Sorry the filling recipe is so vague . . . I ended up "making it up" as I went along because all of the recipes I found had either several STICKS of butter or cream of something soup.  The filling turned out really good, though!  There is plenty of richness without adding any more butter than you need to cook the veggies, I promise!  :)