Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Tuesday, March 18, 2008
From My Kitchen To Yours: Chicken Pot Pie, Mother Lode Pretzels
Well, finally March is here, so spring can’t be far behind, right? We “spring forward” this weekend and at least the days are getting longer.
I went on a week’s vacation with my sister Pat and her neighbors, Tom and Vera Strobel, from Chetek. We drove (actually Tom did all the driving) to Tunica, MS, on a little gambling jaunt. While we didn’t dine in any fancy places, we did stop at a Bob Evans restaurant in Illinois and I had a chicken pot pie that was out of this world. So, of course, I had to come home and try my hand at making one. I have made them before with a Bisquick crust, but tried it this time with refrigerated pie crust. It turned out pretty good, but I may still tweak it a bit, maybe adding a couple potatoes. Here’s the basic recipe:
Chicken Pot Pie
2 refrigerated pie crusts
Two cans (10-3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
3/4 c. milk
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2 c. cooked chopped chicken
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 small onion
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. salt
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Take pie shells out of freezer to warm for 10-15 min. before placing in pie plate. Meanwhile, defrost frozen veggies in microwave; chop and sautee onion.
Mix chicken, defrosted veggies, sauteed onion, garlic, soup, salt and milk in large mixing bowl. Pour into pie shell; top with second pie shell. Pinch edges together and poke holes in top crust. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until crusts are done.
I got the next recipe for a great sweet/salty treat from Barb Stafslien, who found a similar recipe in Taste of Home magazine and made a few adaptations. Barb and I are always talking “new recipes” at the TeePee. Last week when I got back from vacation, she brought these treats into the TeePee. I thought they were great and just had to make them that very night, so picked up granddaughter Kelsey, who helped me put them together. They’re easy and oohhh so good - and Kelsey and Grandma had a good time making them and delivering them to family members.
Mother Lode Pretzels
1 pkg. pretzel rods (10 oz.)
1 pkg. caramels (14 oz.)
1 tbsp. evaporated milk
1-1/4 cups mini chocolate chips
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. butterscotch chips
2/3 cup crushed Heath bars or toffee bits
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
Break pretzel rods in half and set aside. In a large saucepan over low heat melt caramels with milk. In a large shallow bowl combine chips, toffee bits and nuts.
Pour caramel mixture in a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Dip the broken end of each pretzel piece two-thirds of the way into caramel mixture. Allow excess caramel to drip off then roll in the chip mixture. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in airtight container. Yield: 4-1/2 dozen.
Remember, if you have any recipes to share, e-mail me at rosalie.ducklow@lee.net or mail to Tomah Journal, P.O. Box 190, Tomah, WI 54660.
This column will be going on-line shortly, so watch for it at tomahjournal.com.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.