KringleTalk » Recipes

Mrs Claus Chicken Pot Pie (or Turkey)

Mrs Claus — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:50:36 +0000

Chicken potpie is one of my favorite meals. It is wonderful because you don’t have to make sides, since it is a protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable. You could always serve it with a nice light salad, but I like to enjoy it in all of its heavy comforting glory. The majority of the recipes for potpies I see only include a top crust. I am a double crust kind of girl. I feel like the balance of crust to filling is more even with a two-crust pie. Plus, since there are plenty of vegetables inside, I can have two crusts, right?

Chicken potpie is very easy to make without a recipe and easily adaptable to what you have on hand. You just need pie pastry (homemade or store bought), cooked chicken (or leftover turkey), vegetables of your choice (I like onions, peas, and carrots), and things you can find in your pantry (chicken broth, butter, flour, salt & pepper).

Here are some easy to follow instructions that you can change to fit your recipe:

Start by melting some butter in a large saucepan or dutch oven, if using onions sauté them now, if not throw in an equal amount of flour.
Proceed by streaming in chicken broth while continuously stirring until the consistency of gravy.
Add chicken and vegetables (frozen peas, blanched carrots, parboiled potato cubes, frozen pearl onions), stir and heat through.
Fit the bottom pie crust into a pie pan, fill with chicken and vegetable mix, add a top crust, cut slits to vent and voila! Chicken pot pie!

Now you can proceed two different ways: wrap in plastic wrap and then with foil or brush with an egg wash and bake in a 375 degree oven until hot, bubbly, and brown!

If you need a little extra kick of savory flavor, add some poultry seasoning.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Mrs Claus — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:10:52 +0000

As you know I have a slight aversion to cookies due to overexposure, but there are still a few that I am able to adore. One of which is the Jam Thumbprint. It is a timeless cookie that can be made in numerous variations to the cookie base, and by using various jams. My favorite of these is a shortbread cookie rolled in coconut and filled with apricot jam, but for an assortment I also use raspberry and strawberry jam (or any other preserve I have on hand). This cookie has been mastered by Ina Garten. It uses an exorbitant amount of butter, even for me! But they are worth it, so very worth it.

I followed the directions to a tee; I left the butter out overnight to soften, used a small ice cream scoop to make uniform cookies, and did not have any problems with the bottoms/coconut burning. I would urge you to make these immediately, to test them for the upcoming holidays before you have to fight hoards of guests off them.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

The Mrs Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Claus Family Thanksgiving Menu

Mrs Claus — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:12:56 +0000

I am happy to report that I have assembled my Thanksgiving menu for you to peruse! The recipes I haven’t listed can be found online, all you have to do is click the links attached. I will be sure to take pictures of the event!

Herb Butter Turkey
Stuffed with Caramelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts
Cheddar Scallion Biscuits
Cranberry Sauce
Scalloped Oysters
Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart

Mashed Potatoes

I like using Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes for mashing. I just peel and cube them, cover them with cold water, sprinkle them salt, and bring to a boil. After they boil, I lower the temperature to medium and let them simmer until they fall apart when poked with a fork.

My favorite basic mashed potato has butter, half and half (cream for the holidays), and either sour cream or cream cheese. All of those ingredients are optional and amounts can vary for those who are more or less health conscious.

Sweet Potatoes

I like my sweet potatoes to be in nice chunky cubes. I parboil them in salted water. While they are boiling, I melt butter and mix with an equal amount of brown sugar. After the potatoes are finished boiling, drain them and put them into a buttered casserole dish. Pour the butter-brown sugar mix all over the potatoes, shake to make sure all are covered.

These are perfect as is, and go into a 350 degree oven until cooked through, about 30 minutes. If you want a more extravagant sweet potato, make a pecan crumble topping to spread over the top. Yum!

Brussel Sprouts

Cut fresh brussel sprouts in half. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium low heat. Place sprouts flat side down, season with salt and pepper, and splash a little chicken stock or water over the top and cover. Cook until the brussel sprouts until golden brown and cooked through.

Cranberry Sauce

Boil cranberries, orange juice and sugar together until the cranberries have burst. Set aside to cool and solidify. Add orange zest, toasted pecans, and diced celery if desired when cooled. Refrigerate.

Tres Leches Cake

Benard Elf, Northpole Chief of Staff — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:05:49 +0000

Right now I am on a cake-baking spree! For the time being, cookies are on the back burner. A few years ago, Kris and I went on vacation in Mexico. It was lovely, sunny, and warm. We were lucky enough to get a beachside property. We went snorkeling everyday. It was delightful to look down at bright fishes and marine life, just an arm’s reach away. I couldn’t get enough!

I did get more than enough salt water. I couldn’t quite get the hang of the snorkeling mouthpiece. With every breath I inhaled, a little salt water would leak into my mouth. Which leads to the fact that I never knew how salty salt water was until then, which is extremely salty. Every afternoon I’d be parched. I was tired and grumpy from my dry salt filled mouth, until I discovered the miracle of Tres Leches Cake. That, and bottled water, were the only things that would perk me up after drinking a gallon of ocean water.

This miraculous cake is literally drenched in three milks (which is the translation of Tres Leches). It is super moist and deliciously sweet, the perfect counterbalance to salt water. It is a great way to reminisce about vacations past or a good reason to make a delicious cake!

Tres Leches Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream

1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup heavy cream

1 pint heavy cream, for whipping
1 heaping tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale, doubled, and have become thick and creamy. Add cream and vanilla. Combine egg yolk mixture and dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. While the mixer is still on, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff.

Add 1/3 of the egg whites to flour and yolk mixture to lighten it. Then fold the rest of the egg whites in gently.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and spread out to make even.

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the cake completely.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and ¾ cup heavy cream.

When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork/toothpick/skewer many, many times all over the suuface.

Pour 1/3 of the milk mixture on top of the cake slowly allowing it to absorb. Then continue with the rest of the milk. Some of the milk will pool up around the sides, but it will eventually soak up.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

Whip 1 pint heavy cream with 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until thick and creamy. Spread thickly over the cake.

Serve!

Spicing Things Up in the Artic

Benard Elf, Northpole Chief of Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:46:40 +0000

All of the recipes I’ve posted so far have been sweet. Understandably, due to years of vicious media, you may believe that we only live off of desserts, but that is just absurd! It would be impossible for Kris and myself to survive off of only cakes, cookies, and pies. While Kris does have a substantial appetite for anything sweet, we both also enjoy a healthy dose of savory foods. A staple around here is roasted chicken. It is simple, homey, and makes the house smell lovely.

Usually I just stuff the chicken with a variety of herbs, lemons, and garlic, rub it with a bit of butter and finish it off with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Last week though, I was feeling a little spicy. Cajun seasoning was just the ticket!

What’s great about this rub is that you can make it depending on how spicy you like it! We like it with a touch of bite, but by all means make it mild!

Cajun Roast Chicken

4-5lb whole chicken
4 tablespoons of butter – room temperature
1 head of garlic
Cajun Seasoning
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
1 heaping teaspoon of cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon whole dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Lawry’s seasoned salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine spices in a small bowl. Set aside.

Rinse chicken with cold water, then pat dry. Rub 3 tablespoons the butter underneath the skin over the breast meat. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken cavity. Cut the garlic head in half horizontally, put inside. Rub the remaining tablespoon of butter all over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle Cajun seasoning all over the chicken, then rub all over the chicken trying to evenly distribute the spices.

Tie together chicken legs and tuck under the wings. Place in roasting pan.

Roast chicken for 1 ½ hours, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Baste the chicken every 20 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Cut and serve!

(I like a little gravy to pour over the chicken, or anything else on my plate! If you feel up to waiting another 5 minutes, I would recommend making this gravy. It has a delicious hint of spice from the rub!)

To make a simple gravy, pour off pan drippings into a liquid measuring cup allowing the fat to rise to the top. Place the roasting pan onto a burner on medium heat (if it isn’t safe on the stove top, just use a skillet) Pour about 3 tablespoons of fat back in, and add in an equal amount of flour, whisk together. The consistency shouldn’t be gluey, if it is too thick and dry looking just add a little more fat in. After a minute, pour in a cup and a half of chicken broth while whisking smooth. (Store bought chicken stock works great!) Bring to a bubble add salt and pepper, check for seasoning. Serve!

A German Chocolate Work of Art (Cake)

Mrs Claus — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:58:12 +0000

Understandably, there are quite a few birthdays at the North Pole. All the elves, reindeer, and miscellaneous human help (Santa and myself included), there is not a month that goes by without a birthday. This month there was a request from an elf named Austin, who wanted a German Chocolate Cake. Austin is an excellent worker in the electronics department. Every year Santa has him inspect the wiring in his sled. He hasn’t let him down, literally, yet!

Obviously I wanted to make a magnificent cake for such a hard working elf. I was on a mission to make the ultimate German Chocolate Cake recipe. Thankfully I found it! It was at the lovely food writer, David Lebovitz’s blog. After just a little searching, I stumbled upon dozens of raving reviews for this cake. It is the ultimate German Chocolate experience. Unfortunately greatness like this requires a vast amount of work, but thankfully none of the steps are too difficult.

Instead of posting the recipe for this labor of love, I am linking to the recipe, A German Chocolate Work of Art. It is quite long and I don’t want to be at fault for your pièce de résistance not coming out perfectly. I did make a few slight changes to his original recipe, but I am sure if you followed it to a tee it would be more than delightful:

I switched the 2 tablespoons of rum to 1 tablespoon of vanilla for the syrup. I would also recommend cutting it in half seeing at it makes a hefty amount of syrup and you probably don’t have reindeer around to lick it up. The second change I made was using 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate and 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate for the frosting.

Enjoy!

The Mrs Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mrs Claus — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:31:53 +0000

As Mrs. Claus, you must understand that it is very difficult to find any sort of cookie exciting these days. I’ve had soft, cakey, chewy, puffy, any cookie you’ve made, I’ve “been there. baked that.” Kris is the worst though he can’t get enough! He is always pestering me, especially around mid-May when cookies are most scarce (which is not scarce at all), for cookies around the house. So it is no surprise that he finds these cookies divine. I, on the other hand, am quite shocked at the fact that I am able to love these! I ate four standing over the oven before Santa could snatch up the entire tray.

For this recipe to be absolutely Mrs. Claus worthy you MUST let the cookie dough sit overnight before baking. This lets the Oreos soften and become part of the dough. If you are not a cookie aficionado, like myself, more of a cookie monster, like my husband, by all means bake them off the second they are combined! They will still inevitably be delicious.

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
A scant 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
20 Oreos, quartered

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line the pans with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter and both sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended. Add in the crushed Oreos. Beat on low speed for just a few seconds to break up the Oreos in the dough. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Let the dough sit overnight.

When ready to bake, drop packed tablespoons of dough on a parchment-lined pan, spaced at least an inch apart. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes in a preheated oven or until the edges are lightly browned, but the center still remains soft. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Let the Blogging Begin!

Benard Elf, Northpole Chief of Staff — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:56:48 +0000

It’s almost that time of the year again! Which for Mr. Claus is busy-busy-busy, but for me it’s always slow. Starting in September I see less elves loitering around the house and fewer reindeer eating my gardens. Progressing until there are no elves or reindeer in sight! Santa is almost never around, the poor thing. He’s hard at work from dawn ‘til dusk. Which leaves me home alone, but that’s unavoidable. As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder and I’ve been quite fond for a while now.

Obviously Christmas is always a hectic time for everyone, except me. Besides cooking and a little light cleaning (Santa isn’t the only one with help), I am practically bursting with time to fill. So with my annual block of free time between now and until the end of December, I’ve decided to do a little blogging. Just a few special recipes here and there, maybe some crafts I enjoy. I hope everyone enjoys my slice of the North Pole!

Mrs Claus Workshop Opens Soon!

Benard Elf, Northpole Chief of Staff — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:56:15 +0000

Greetings!

Mrs. Claus is hard at work doing her part to get ready for the holiday season. With centuries of experience with all things “Christmas” we are excited to announce that she will be sharing some of her best recipes, crafts, and decorating tips for young and old.

Christmas is a year-round job here at the North Pole so Mrs. Claus’s blog, Mrs Claus Workshop, will begin in the next few weeks.

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