Cuisine: American

Quick & Easy: Chicken Pot Pie by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

This is a recipe that uses leftover rotisserie chicken, a good quality store-bought cream of chicken soup and a sheet of ready-made puff pastry! In the words of a well-known TV Chef: “How easy is that” !
Choose any pie dish or baking dish, combine ingredients with the creamed soup, top with a pastry sheet and pop it in the oven.
It’s dinner, on the table, in under an hour, definitely.
(I used a 9” standard pie tin and 1 sheet of puff pastry and based the recipe on this.)

Naan Flatbread ‘Pizza’ (Vegetarian, Non-Dairy) By Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Many years ago, a working mother (mine) would make individual mini pizzas using split English muffins as the base.  They were buttered and toasted under the broiler first to crisp-up the surface and then the usual pizza toppings were piled on top and then back into the oven to melt and ooze.  The sauce was always a bit of leftover ‘red gravy’ (marinara sauce) from the weekend’s cooking; never sauce from a jar!

Fast forward to 2020 and we have a plethora of pizza crusts and substitutes readily available.    In this recipe I have used the ‘slipper-shaped’ naan bread, which is a traditional Indian flatbread.  At Foodies, we sell Stonefire Naan…there are two ‘slippers’ per package at 4.4 ounces each.   The naan bread comes in plain, whole wheat and garlic varieties.

It’s the base for this quickly made meal, using only vegetables and NO cheese!

And on the table in well under an hour!

Mac n’ Cheese with Roasted Cauliflower, Scallions and Bacon by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Cauliflower is now a mainstream vegetable!
At our Prepared Foods counter, I am surprised (and impressed) at our Millennial customers’ whole-hearted embrace of all kinds of vegetables. Their mothers were so successful at getting them to eat their vegetables that they continue to do so long after they have left the nest (and moved into South Boston).
This recipe ‘embraces’ roasted cauliflower. Roasting cauliflower is a game-changer; roasting expresses cauliflower’s hidden sweetness without the ‘cruciferous stink’ associated with boiling or steaming the vegetable. The cauliflower is then cooled, chopped into smaller pieces and folded into the
mac n’ cheese base, adding texture and earthiness to the finished dish.

Smoked Trout Dip with Pickles & Radishes by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Smoked Trout gets very little attention, unlike its attention-grabbing smoked salmon cousin. In an effort to ‘even-the-playing-fields’, I offer a quick cream cheese-based dip/spread ready in about 30 minutes, leaving you plenty of time to gather some crackers, radishes, cornichons, olives or other piquant and crunchy bites to complete your serving platter.

Pear Cherry Crisp by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

I had cherries and I had very, very, very ripe pears. 

I know that a cherry-plum or cherry-nectarine crisp is more common than a cherry-pear crisp, but I had these very ripe pears to use (as I have said…) and I knew that the pears would soften during baking and wrap their arms, as it were, around the firmer cherries.  It would be a compatible match.

I used a 12-inch ceramic, fluted quiche dish - a wide shallow baking dish, to ensure that the ratio of crisp topping and cooked fruit would provide equal bites of both in your mouth.

And finally, I replaced some of the all-purpose flour with almond flour, making the crust crumblier and crunchier, both desirable attributes.

CHEF CLAUDIA’S CLASSIC STUFFED PEPPERS

Claudia is our Deli Chef in the South Boston Foodie’s Market.  She has been in the Foodie’s family for a number of years; working first in the Duxbury store.  She is a master at producing large quantities of beautiful, tasty food.  She knows what the customers want and exceeds their expectations.

 These stuffed peppers ‘fly-out’ of the case; with some customers even calling ahead to ‘reserve’ their weekly portion.

“FRENCH ONION SOUP” Inspired PIZZA By Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

This recipe sprang from a desire to eat a glorious, steaming bowl of French Onion Soup with grilled crusty bread and gooey Swiss cheese.
But I was more than reluctant to invest the hours it would take to make an excellent beef broth; and anything less than an excellent broth would not be satisfying. Hence, this is how the ingredients of a classic French Onion Soup ‘shape-shifted’ their way into a pizza topping.

Salad for Supper by Chef Laura Brennan

I recently went to see a nutritionist and was told to eat more vegetables!

And here I was thinking that I’m a Chef, so of course I eat (enough) vegetables.  During an analysis of what I actually do eat…. well.…I actually do not eat enough vegetables after all !!

And I know that in order to incorporate more vegetables into my diet, I will have to have parts of my meal already prepared.  Luckily, we live in an era and area of readily available and very good quality prepared foods-- i.e.  Foodies’ Markets!

CHERRY BERRY TRIFLE By Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

It’s summer.…officially. And right now, there is a burst of fresh cherries and berries in the markets, just waiting to be turned into handsome desserts!
Trifle is a handsome, classic English summer dessert: it’s cake soaked with layers of cream and berries. You have probably seen this in food magazines in a giant, footed glass ‘trifle dish’ with alternating layers of berries, cake, custard and cream. It’s a very dramatic presentation.
Here, I have made 8 individual trifles in 10-12-ounce, flared cups. Mason jars would make a modern presentation. Whatever you use, be sure they are deep enough to show off the layers of fruits and creams. Spoon lots of cream on the top and don’t forget the stemmed- cherry garnish.
It should always be a dramatic presentation no matter the size.

Chickpea & Cauliflower Salad with Spiced Tahini Dressing by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Instead of taking last year’s pasta salad to your summer get-togethers …why not show-off with this show-stopper?   It’s very easy to make:  roast some seasoned cauliflower pieces and open a couple of cans of chickpeas!  (Well, OK, plus make a very simple and quick tahini dressing!)

Roasted cauliflower is ‘meaty’ and especially delicious with this tahini dressing.  And the recipe makes extra dressing that would be great with grilled lamb and/or beef in a pita bread and crunchy vegetable sandwich.