Welcome!

Welcome to Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. This is a place for me to post recipes of all kinds...along with other miscellaneous fodder from my so-called life here in the south. Who knows what you will find here. Could be anything from my husband...known as IT Guy...to my kids and beautiful grandbabies that are growing up way too fast right before my eyes. But...mostly this will be a place for food. I hope you'll see something you like and if you decide to try something from the list...leave me a comment and let me know!



Friday, April 22, 2011

My first attempt at Cake Pops. I thought this design looked pretty harmless and easy to do. I took my time and I thought they turned out pretty good. K helped me place the candy on top and I have to say, I think she did a GREAT job! Maybe someday, when I'm not so overwhlemed with cooking, I'll try my hand at something a little more involved. Oh yeah...and I only ate one!! Go me!!



This recipe can still use some tweaking. But hey...that's what cooking's all about right? The overall concept is good, I just need to fine tune it. I decided it would be fun to use mugs to serve this dish, but of course the filling can be used in a regular 9x13 casserole, as well. In fact...this recipe is one that I've used for years but never in this way. But I think it's a unique way to serve it. Just different, I guess. I'm always searching for ways to mix things up. IT Guy loves it when I do that. Not.


The Triple "C" ~ aka Chicken Casserole in a Cup


1 sheet puff pastry or 1 can refrigerated Country Style Biscuits

3 cups cooked chicken – cut up in chunks
1 14 ounce bag frozen mixed veggies
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream sour cream
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Chunk chicken and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in a skillet until soft. Add the soup and sour cream, salt & pepper. Add the chicken.  Stir to combine and heat through.

Spray the insides of 5 - 6  large oven proof coffee mugs. Fill 2/3 full with chicken mixture. Cut rounds of puff pastry to fit the coffee mug or place 1 biscuit onto the top of the filling.

In a small bowl, beat one egg with a little water then brush mixture over the top crust.

Bake at 350 until bubbly and hot and pastry is puffed and golden about 20 - 30 minutes. Allow cups to cool before handling. 

To make in a 9x13 casserole dish, place chicken filling in the bottom of the dish, then place 1 sheet of puff pastry or the biscuits on top. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until topping is lightly browned.

Here's whatcha need. I used puffed pastry but canned, 
refrigerated biscuits would work well.
Saute the onion and garlic. Then add the soup and 
sour cream, salt & pepper.
Add the chicken and veggies.....
...mix well and heat through.

Okay...so a little sidenote here. The mugs I used were the Starbucks city mugs. Too big. They would have worked really well had I used only 4 mugs. I started with 6 then pared it down to 5...still not what I wanted in the end. I wanted the crust to come up to the top of the mug. I think one thing that prevented my puffed pastry from puffing as much, was the fact that I had to roll it out to get 6 crusts. I think. Everything tasted great, just not what I'd pictured for the end result.



Fill your cups 1/2 to 2/3 full with the chicken mixture, 
depending on the size of your mugs.
Cut your puffed pastry rounds. 
(Or your biscuits...whatevah.)
Place on top of the chicken mixture. Brush with egg 
mixture to ensure a nice golden crust.
Bake it up! MAKE SURE TO LET THE HANDLES 
COOL BEFORE PICKING THEM UP!!!