Chicken Pillows

I was looking at some other food blogs recently and one of them was called Real Mom Kitchen. She had a recipe on her blog called Chicken Pillows and I had some leftover chicken, so I thought I'd try it. Of course, never being one to follow a recipe as it was written, this is my version.

If you would like to see the original post from Real Mom Kitchen click the link for
Chicken Pillows. Laura has some really wonderful recipes on her blog so be sure to check if out when you get the chance.

This was a great way to use up the leftover chicken. Sort of a cross between a chicken pot pie and a chicken croquette. I loved the sauce. I think if I make them again, I might use the regular size crescent rolls and make them a little smaller. I had enough filling left over to have done one more pillow, but the jumbo crescent rolls only come 6 to a package, so you can only get 3 instead of four pillows.

Here is my version of Laura's Chicken Pillows

2-3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
2 -3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 (4 ounce) can chopped mushrooms
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash of pepper
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
¼ cup milk
1 cans of crescent rolls (I used the new Premium size)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¾ cup Panko Crumbs
¼ cup grated cheese
1 stick melted butter


Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Add the red onions and sauté a few minutes until soft; add the scallions and mushrooms. Sauté for a few more minutes until nicely caramelized. Add in the other 2 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese and the milk with a fork. Add vegetable mix, additional salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Brush the top of each pillow with melted butter and then Panko/Breadcrumb mix, butter side down. Brush the other side and dip it into Panko/Breadcrumb mix. Place on baking sheet that has been Sprayed with PAM. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Milk (about ½ of the empty soup can)

¼-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Freshly ground black Pepper

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat, gently bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until heated thoroughly.

Here is what you will need for the recipe:

Laura's chicken Pillows:
2-3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
2 -3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 (4 ounce) can chopped mushrooms
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash of pepper
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
¼ cup milk
1 cans of crescent rolls (I used the new Premium size)
½ cup Bread crumbs
¾ cup Panko Crumbs
¼ cup grated cheese
1 stick melted butter


Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Add the red onions and sauté a few minutes until soft; add the scallions and mushrooms. Sauté for a few more minutes until nicely caramelized. Add in the other 2 tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese and the milk with a fork. Add vegetable mix, additional salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Brush the top of each pillow with melted butter and then Panko/Breadcrumb mix, butter side down. Brush the other side and dip it into Panko/Breadcrumb mix. Place on baking sheet that has been Sprayed with PAM. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Milk (about ½ of the empty soup can)

¼-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Freshly ground black Pepper

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat, gently bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until heated thoroughly.

Chicken Reuben - It's so easy to make!

This recipe was a recipe that my mother used to make when she went back to work. It is so easy to put together for a fast dinner. If you like Reuben sandwiches, you will probably like this.

CHICKEN REUBEN
Katherine Avella

2 packages boneless chicken breasts (about 3-4 breasts to a package)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (16 ounce) bottle of Thousand Island dressing
½ pound of Swiss cheese sliced
½ - ¾ (16 ounce) bottle of sauerkraut; squeezed dry
1 bag (2 cup size) Shredded Swiss Cheese (optional)

Spray a baking dish with PAM®. Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in the baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place the sauerkraut on top of the chicken breasts. Place the Swiss cheese slices on top of the sauerkraut. Pour the dressing on top of the cheese. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 375° for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes, add the shredded Swiss cheese, and raise the heat to 400° to let the top brown a little. Serves 4 to 6.

This is what you will need for the recipe:


2 packages boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (16 ounce) bottle of Thousand Island dressing
½ pound of Swiss cheese sliced
½ - ¾ (16 ounce) bottle of sauerkraut; squeezed dry
1 bag (2 cup size) Shredded Swiss Cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Spray a baking dish with PAM®.

Rinse the chicken breasts with cool water.
Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in the baking pan.
(You can cut the breasts in smaller pieces if you'd like to)

Sprinkle with salt

and freshly grated pepper to taste.


Open the sauerkraut and drain well
I actually squeeze it dry with my hands after I drain it

Place the sauerkraut on top of the chicken breasts.

Place the Swiss cheese slices on top of the sauerkraut.

Pour the Thousand Island dressing on top of the cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake 375° for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes,

add the shredded Swiss cheese,

and raise the heat to 400°
to let the top brown a little.

I ususally use a turkey baster and drain
most of the liquid out before serving the chicken

It can give off a lot of liquid

Serve and enjoy!

Disaster Pot Pie

I decided to clean out my refrigerator yesterday, and there was the remains on the beer can chicken, and a package of pie crusts...I thought I would throw together a quick chicken pot pie.

This is what I learned, never cook when you are tired, pay attention when you are cooking, wear your glasses, especially if you are a MAB (middle-aged broad) and never leave the kitchen for a minute.

Everything started out well, until I decided to take someone else's advice (I read somewhere on the internet that you should brush the pie crust bottom with egg white and bake for 2-3 minutes before putting a filling in it (of course, they neglected to say put pie weights in it first, and I was tired from this weeks pierogie party (more on that coming) and not paying attention. I put it in the oven, and I don't even know what made me check it, almost immediately and there it was , shrinking away!!!!! I immediately pulled it out of the oven and tried to push it back up the sides of the pie plate. I knew it was still usable, but I thought if I had another crust in the freezer, I would use that instead.

The sauce was finished and I had taken out the bowl I was going to use to combine everything and put it in the sink. I ran down to the freezer to find another pie crust, but alas, there was none. Ran back up to the kitchen and said, "The heck with it, (that's not exactly what I said) and decided to go with it. I start to pour the sauce mixture into the white mixing bowl and something sounds wrong...I mean really wrong!!!

Apparently, in my two minute absence, my housekeeper must have come into the kitchen and used the sink for something, and the bowl had water in it. Without my glasses on, and because I wasn't paying attention (I had just put the damn bowl there in the first place, lol) I just poured the sauce in. So, now, I was down about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, but the show must go on. I finished the filling, poured it in the shell and baked it.

You know what, it looked pretty good, and tasted pretty good too, lol...so the moral is, you never know. Go with the flow, I just had a piece of it for lunch again today and it was delicious, a little drier than I would have liked, but what are you going to do???

The reason I say have an extra box of pie crusts on hand, is that I think if I had all the liquid that was supposed to be in the recipe, (I used a deep 10 inch pie-plate) you could probably, easily get two (9-inch) pot pies out of the filling.

Chicken Pot PieElise Feiner

3-4 cups cooked chicken cubed
½ bag (16 ounce) baby carrots
1 small can (8 ounce) green peas, drained
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 stick butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
2/3 cup Wondra flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon McCormicks Season All Seasoned Salt
1 (32 ounce) box or can College Inn chicken broth
1 1/3 cups milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts (have 2 extra in reserve)
1 egg, separated

Preheat oven to 400° F. In a saucepan, combine carrots, celery, and potatoes. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside. Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, celery salt, garlic salt, and seasoned salt. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside. If the sauce doesn’t seem thick enough, take an additional tablespoon of Wondra and thin it in a little cold water, so it is watery (I use a little kitchen cup to do this) and rapidly whisk it in to the sauce. Put the sauce in a large bowl. Add the vegetables, and the chicken, mix well. Add in the peas, and stir gently to combine. Brush the bottom pie crust with the beaten egg white. Place the mixture in bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal and crimp the edges. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Brush with the egg yolk that has been beaten with a little water. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 55 minutes (check after 20 minutes, if getting too brown, cover with a piece of aluminum foil) or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Here is what you will need for this recipe:


As usual, let's get all the prep work done ahead, so we can just assemble esily when the time comes. Remember, as you use something, if yo won't need it again, put it away, makes clean-up nice and easy!

Spray your pie pan with PAM


Separate the egg white


and egg yolk (use a separator, use an eggshell,
use your fingers, whatever is easiest for you)


Beat the egg white


until frothy


Beat the egg yolk
Add about 1/2 an egg shell full
of water to the yolk


and beat again


Cube your chicken (you can also buy a
cooked chicken in the
grocery to use to make the pot pie)
if you haven't done that already, if I
am not being lazy, I sometimes do it before
I put away the leftovers so I can make
chicken salad


Peel the potatoes


Cut in half


turn 90 degrees and cut in half again


cut into cubes



cut off the tops of the celery


and bottoms


wash the celery


cut into thin slices (don't dice it small)


Put the carrots in a dish


Cut in half or thirds
by the way, if you only have
large carrots, that's fine too,
peel them, quarter them and then slice them


Peel the onion,



cut in half

Cut in thin slices


Turn 90 degrees and slice again


Cut into a small dice,


set aside


Place the carrots in a pot
add the celery


and the potatoes


Fill the pot with water


to cover the vegetables


Cover and bring to a boil )
Obviously I removed the cover to show you :)


boil for 15 minutes (don't forget to
set your timer once it comes to a boil)
When the timer goes off, strain and set aside


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Measure out your Wondra Flour, (I love Wondra
to thicken and make sauces, it's so fine)
set aside


Place the butter in a large skillet


Melt the butter
add the onions


saute until translucent
add the salt


seasoned salt


garlic salt


pepper


celery salt


stir well


add the flour

stir quickly to blend into
onion mixture


add the broth to the onion/flour mix


whisk quickly to incorporate the flour mixture or you will get lumps

add the milk


whisk well again

Bring to a boil to thicken, and turn off the heat


If you think it needs to be a little
thicken add a little Wondra (about a tablespoon, mixed
in cold water (I use a kitchen cup)

Whisk in quickly, the heat will thicken it, but continue to whisk
so you don't get lumps

Taste the sauce and reseason with salt
and/or pepper
if desired

Place one of the pie crusts into the pie place


Brush with the egg white
We are not, I repeat, not going to bake the crust
when you make it

Pour the sauce into a mixing bowl
(note the water in the bottom of the bowl,
am I dumb or what!!!
I will wear my glasses,
I will wear my glasses 100 x's)

Do not pour your sauce into the water, lol


Add in the chicken


and the vegetables


Blend well


Open the peas


Drain the liquid


Add the peas (I used half a can because
I didn't have a small can)
No need to cook or heat them, they will
cook in the oven as the pie bakes


Blend gently


Place mixture into the pie
shell that you didn't ruin :)

Put the top crust on


Now, if I hadn't ruined the bottom crust
I would have crimped the crust
so I will show you from another pie I did
how it should look

(just pinch between your finger
you can look at the Cuban Pie Recipe
to see it more clearly)



Make some slits (with a small, sharp, knife) in the crust


Brush on the egg yolk


Place some tin foil on the shelf
below because pot pies are notorious
for overflowing (easy clean-up :)


Bake in 400 degree oven for 40-55 minutes
(Check after 20 minutes and cover with
foil if getting too brown)
until golden brown and filling is boiling


Let it sit about 10-15 minutes before cutting


Enjoy...it really was good, if it had
had all the sauce, it would have been fabulous!!!