Chicken Pot Pie

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
4 frozen pie crusts (2 packages of 2, enough to make 2 2-crusted pies)
3 red potatoes
3 carrots
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 lb. fresh green beans
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup butter
1 tbsp. sherry 
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. thyme
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk

Cut the potatoes, carrots, and green beans into small pieces.  Bring a medium sauce pan of water to  boil, cook cut veggies for 10 minutes to soften them a little. 

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, cook chicken in a little olive oil.  Remove cooked chicken and dice, retaining the leftover juices.  Dice the cooked chicken. 

To chicken juices, add sherry and butter, and let butter melt.  Once butter has melted, add onion and saute for 2 minutes.   Add salt, pepper, thyme and stir well.  Add flour a little at a time, mixing well.  Note that this recipe calls for 1 cup flour - I found that 1 cup makes the sauce a little thicker than I wanted - I will probably try it with 3/4 cup  next time.  Add milk and stock a little at a time, whisk thoroughly until smooth.

Add chicken and all veggies (carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas & corn) to the sauce mix. Stir well and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 425 and fill pie crusts per package directions for double-crusted pies.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

If you don't want to eat both pies right away, you can freeze one.  To freeze it, wrap it carefully using the pie tins for both the top and bottom crust.  I wrap mine in foil, and then two layers of plastic wrap.  To cook frozen pie, shield edge with foil and bake at 425 for 30 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 350, and bake for another 70-80 minutes until crust is golden brown.  

Tamale Pie

1 lb. chorizo
1 yellow onion, diced 
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 anahiem chili, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 can southwest style diced tomatoes
1 can el pato tomato sauce
1 can mexicorn
1 can black beans, drained
1 small can jalapenos, drained
1 package corn bread mix (preferably one that doesn't call for eggs)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a dutch oven, brown chorizo, then drain about half the grease.  Add garlic, bell pepper, anahiem chili, and onion.  Let cook for about 5 minutes until veggies begin to soften.  Add tomatoes, corn, beans, and tomato sauce.  Stir well.  Turn the oven on to the temperature indicated on the corn bread package, and let meat mixture cook for a few minutes while the oven heats.

Meanwhile, mix the corn bread batter per the package directions.  Add the jalapenos to the batter.

When the oven is heated, pour the batter over the top of the meat mixture.  Top with cheese.  Bake per directions on corn bread package.  It may take a little longer than the package directions - keep an eye on the top so it doesn't burn.  A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean, but there will be a small bit where the bread mixes with the meat and thus won't bake normally. 

Empanadas

Aunt Virginia ’s Empanadas Recipe Filling: Brown 3 lbs ground chuck, add 1 chopped bell pepper, 1 chopped onion. Add 1 tbsp. flour & mix well, add 1 tbsp. chili powder & mix again. Add 1 can tomato sauce & water to equal 2 cups. Stir and simmer 2 hours. (Mom said this was best made the day before) Dough: 5 cups flour, add 1 ½ tbsp. salt. Add 1 lb prepared masa and work in well. Add 3 tbsp. shortening, mix well. Add 1 cup warm water slowly and knead really well. Roll out dough. Add 1 large tbsp meat (or more) mix. Add 1 pitted olive, fold dough and fork edges closed. Deep fry.

Hawt Pinto Beans

I've been searching for the summer bbq bean recipe for a while.  I thought I'd found it when I stumbled upon this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks; alas, 'twas not to be - they were good, but for me there was  too much pepper, not enough spicy, and a mystery something was missing.  But, with a little tweaking, Ree's recipe became precisely what I wanted.  Awesome spicy beans (that actually still taste like beans) with a hint of sweet that aren't from a can. 

4 cups dried pinto beans, sorted & washed
1 ham hock 
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 jalapenos, sliced (into thin circles)
6 cloves garlic, diced
1.5 tsp kosher or sea salt
2 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp black pepper
1-2 tbsp brown sugar (I just grabbed a handful and threw it in, not entirely sure on the measurement.  It's the beer's fault)

Throw the beans and ham hock into a dutch oven or stock pot; cover with water.  Put the lid on, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for @ 2 hours.  Take a peek every now and then to make sure the beans are still covered in water and give them a little stir - don't let them dry out.  Don't fret about too much water, it'll be the basis of the "sauce" and you can always let it cook off a bit if they're too runny. 

After a couple hours, throw in the veggies and garlic and stir well.  Not sauteing them first freaked me out a bit, but don't worry, they'll be great.

After another hour, throw in the seasonings.  Stir it all up, being careful to get those few rogue beans that always get stuck to the ham hock, and let it cook for about a half hour.  Then taste, adjust seasonings to your liking, and serve.

This does make a lot of beans, so if you aren't feeding 10 people and/or don't want to eat musical fruit every meal for the next week, cut the recipe in half.  I haven't tried freezing these yet, although I imagine that would work fairly well.