Rosemary Shrimp Scampi with Fettuccine Pasta

Hello everyone,

If there's one thing you should all know about me, it's that I can't stand seafood. I don't know if it's the fishy smell, or the... okay, I know it is the fishy smell. You know, they do say that smell makes up half of your taste perception so there's not much I can do about it.

All of my childhood though, my mom made sure to give me an extra large helping of fish. She would watch me eat it until I finished every last bit. The only part I could ever manage to sneak to my cats was the skin, and I'm sure that too was only because she allowed it. The only seafood my mom couldn't make me eat was shrimp. I think I was ten when my mom brought home a bag of fresh shrimp from the grocery store. She was going to make shrimp chow mein or something equally amazing I'm sure. She asked me to shell it and clean it. I remember asking her what the weird smelling black string that I pulled out of the shrimp was. Lemme just say that I didn't eat the shrimp
chow mein that night and I haven't touched shrimp since then.

Herbed Chicken Pot Pie

There's only one week of winter break left, and I am going to make the most of it- by spending more time in the kitchen.

Today, I was flipping through Sur La Table's book The Art and Soul of Baking when I came across a mouth-watering photo of chicken pot pie. I've never made this dish myself, so I decided to finally try it. The outcome was a success; my entire family approved (surprisingly) and I thought my pie crust tasted especially good with the savory pie filling.


Try this recipe out for yourself! You'll thank me.
Make sure you wear an apron though, because some of the whisking gets a little exciting ;) I found this apron that I decorated when I was younger. It doesn't really fit anymore, but it helped protect my awesome T-shirt from flyaway peas and flecks of butter.


Now you're ready for the recipe! I've made some changes, because my family members would never eat this if it wasn't spicier.

For the filling you will need:

1. 3/4 stick butter
2. 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
3. 4 cups chicken broth
4. 1 tbsp olive oil
5. 1 lb cooked chicken meat, diced
6. salt, black pepper, red pepper (1 teaspoon each)
7. chopped parsley, thyme, and chives (around 1 tbsp of each)
8. veggies:
   10 oz. sliced mushrooms
   1 cup frozen peas
   1/2 cup diced carrot
   1 cup diced onion
   1/2 cup diced celery

STEP 1:
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and celery, and stir occasionally until softened (5-7 min).
Remove pan from heat and whisk in the flour. Return to heat and cook for 3 minutes, whisking to keep the flour from turning brown.
Remove pan from heat and add 1 cup of broth. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and paste-like.
Make sure there are no lumps of flour, then whisk in the remaining 3 cups of stock.

STEP 2:
Return to heat and bring to a boil. Add carrots and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STEP 3:
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until deep golden brown (10-12 min).
Mix the mushrooms, chicken, peas, parsley, thyme, and chives into the filling. Add the seasonings.
Set the filling saucepan in a large bowl filled halfway with ice water. This is to chill the filling so that it doesn't melt the flaky pie dough when it is placed on top of the pie.

STEP 4
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Scrape all of the filling into a pie pan and cover it with pie dough. I made my own pie crust, but you can also buy it ready-made at a grocery store.



In a small bowl, beat an egg yolk with 2 tbsp of milk and use a pastry brush to brush this glaze across the surface of the pie.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is crisp and golden-brown. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot, spooning filling and crust into wide, shallow bowls. Enjoy your chicken pot pie!