Sometimes, well, usually when we have steak, we have one piece left over. Two days ago I cooked two club steaks. They were not the best steaks I’ve ever cooked but they were edible and as usual, we had a little less than 1/2 of a steak left over. Ok, I admit it was mine. I love steak but I just can’t seem to eat as much of it as I use to. And being the beef patriot that I am, I’m sure as hell not going to throw it out. So into a ziploc it went to await the addition of some diced potatoes, onions, and spices. Mmmm, is this stuff good.

Steak Hash

• 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• Leftover steak of course, whatever amount you have, cut into small cubes
• Two medium potatoes, peeled, washed, and diced into small cubes
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• Dash Liquid Smoke

Add the oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot enough, add the potatoes and onions to the skillet, cover and cook until the potatoes start to brown, stirring occasionally. Remember to make good potatoes you want the heat to be just high enough that they continually sizzle but not so high that they burn without cooking. (Wow, is that the most generic advice you’ve ever received??) Add the steak. Add salt to taste and pepper to taste. Add a couple splashes worcestershire sauce and Liquid Smoke. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are crispy and the steak is heated through. Serve with fried or poached eggs. Slap your granny cause this is too good for yo’ mama.

So simple. So delicious. So easy.

This recipe is probably not too original although I didn’t get it from anywhere. I just got tired of those little frozen pot pies and put this together one day to see if it would work. The hubby loved it and the kids will actually eat it. So its been a staple for the last 10 years or so. Here, in all its glory is my chicken pot pie.

Don’t hate me because my crust is beautiful. Seriously, don’t hate me. It’s not my crust. Well, not my usual recipe. I found one of those “never fail” crust recipes over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks and finally decided to try it. It does work beautifully, and the recipe makes enough dough for 3 double crust pies. Which means you can make this delicious pot pie and put two crusts in the freezer for later. Who can argue with crust that looks (and tastes) like this, especially when you just have to thaw and roll? It beats the hell out of Pillsbury.

Recipe and more pictures after the jump.

Ok, let’s gather our ingredients. (If you followed the link to The Pioneer Woman Cooks, you will realize that I am shamelessly stealing formatting… I can live with it.)

You will need

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (Yes I know mine is raw)
• Pie crust (feel free to use a purchased crust if you must… cretin)
• 1 can 15oz mixed vegetables (drained)
• 1 can 10.75oz cream of chicken soup
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Minced onion to taste
• Cheesy rooster cookie jar in a basket to somehow evoke “chicken in a basket” memories, even though you don’t really have any memories of “chicken in a basket” and sometimes wonder, “What the hell is “chicken in a basket” and why does it always have “quotes” around it?”

First things first

We must cook some chicken to get some cooked chicken. Now, if you already have some cooked chicken, move to the head of the class and get your gold star. You are the teacher’s pet today (look, everybody’s so jealous!). If you are using canned chicken, good for you… leave this blog. This author believes in saving all the time and money possible but even he will not eat two things – canned chicken and Spam. 

There are two reasons why I did not use cooked chicken this time. I wanted to talk to you about the lowly pressure cooker. But mostly, I just didn’t have any cooked chicken.

Pressure cookers are wonderful things. They cut your cooking time dramatically and they produce juicier, more tender meat. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but these breasts are still mostly frozen. However, unlike the rest of us, the pressure cooker doesn’t care how cold your meat is.

Did I really just type that?

One caveat you must keep in mind when using a pressure cooker – YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST, I MEAN MUST, USE A LIQUID. See the measuring cup with the water? That’s my liquid. You could use chicken broth if you want, it doesn’t matter as long as you have a liquid. A pressure cooker uses steam and pressure to cook foods at very high temperatures. Without a liquid your pressure cooker doesn’t work and may even break. Read your instruction manual for specific directions.

Ok, let’s put the chicken in and get started. First add your liquid (mine was about 1 1/2 cups water). Then put in the cooking rack – which of course I forgot to photograph. Then lay in your chicken in a nice, single layer if possible. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and dried, minced onion.

Here’s a tip: As soon as I add the liquid to the pot, I turn the burner on high so I can get it to a boil as soon as possible. Usually, by the time I’ve got the meat spiced and layered the liquid is boiling or very close to boiling. If you do this, your cooker will “pressure up” much quicker.

Now pop the lid on and place the weighted rocker on the vent. Leave your burner on high until the rocker starts to rock. Once the rocker is in motion, turn the burner down to about medium low heat and set your timer. You should read your manual for exact cooking times. My manual says to cook bone-in chicken for 8 minutes but since my breasts were frozen (let it go, let it go) I cooked mine for 15 minutes.

After the cooker has cooled and the pressure lock has released, this is what you will have – delicious cooked chicken, ready to pick.

I used chicken breast this time because Tom Thumb had them on sale for $0.99/pound. I bought 15 pounds and repackaged them in ziplock bags (3 breasts to a bag). You could make this recipe with any chicken that you like or have on hand. Leftover baked chicken is really good in this pie. Be creative.

Here’s the results of my chicken pickin’. 1 1/2 cups of chicken for the pie, which is equal to about one breast, and about 3 cups of chicken for future use. Later this week we will have Chicken Enchiladas. Me gusto enchiladas de pollo. And for lunch we’ll have chicken salad. I also got 2 cups of chicken broth.

a

Ok poppets, back to your regularly scheduled recipe. Put these things in a bowl

• Cream of chicken soup
• Can of mixed vegtables (drained)
• Cooked chicken
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of your fresh chicken broth or milk (use just enough to thin out the soup but don’t make it runny)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Mix it all up until it looks like this. Set it aside while we roll out the dough.

a

a

a

a

a

Sprinkle a generous handful of flour onto a smooth, dry surface. Divide your thawed dough into a top and bottom crust. I divided mine into 1/3 for the top and 2/3 for the bottom. Your division may be different depending on the pan you use.

x

x

x

Pat the dough into a small square. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough into a square, rectangle, or circle, depending on your pan. Roll the dough until it will cover the bottom and the sides of your dish. I used a 1 1/2 quart deep casserole so I rolled my dough until it was about 2″ bigger than the bottom of my dish.

x

x

x

Use your favorite method to transfer the dough to the dish. You can fold it into quarters, roll it onto the rolling pin, however you want. If you’re using a deep casserole like me, be aware, your crust will probably collapse and look like the picture at the right no matter which method you use. It’s ok. That’s why you have fingers. Look in the back right corner of your freezer and get the bottle of Bailey’s Irish Creme that you hide from your husband. Take a drink. Now isn’t that better?

x

x

a 

Ok hide the bottle before someone sees. Now just use your fingers to pat the dough into place.

a

a

a

Dump your bowl of filling into the pie dish. Roll your top crust until it will cover the pie and transfer to the pie dish. Crimp the edges of the crusts together. Now, take a knife and cut slits in the top crust so that the steam can escape. Stick this bad boy into a preheated, 350 degree oven until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Mine cooked for about an hour. Yours may take more or less time depending on the depth of your dish but an hour is a good estimate.

 a

a

This will make four servings. We like to add a little butter and grated cheddar cheese (just to make it healthier). Mm-mmm, that’s some good eatin’.