I don’t eat raw vegetables. It sounds weird, but I’m allergic and I get itchy and blotchy all over. It happens with red wine sometimes too. It’s more annoying than dangerous, but I stay away from them whenever I can. One of the problems with cooking a lot is that it’s only economical to buy raw vegetables in bulk. I’ve recently made gumbo and meatloaf for Sunday meals. Each time, I had half a bag of carrots and celery left over. Since crudités is off the table, so to speak, I usually just make a chicken pot pie to get rid of the leftovers.

Chicken pot pie sounds intimidating, but it’s really not. It’s especially easy if you have a food processor or a stand mixer. Think of it as a super-thick version of chicken soup. Who’s afraid of making chicken soup? This is another Sunday recipe of mine, meaning it’s good to throw on the stove before church and then plan on finishing it a few hours later for lunch.

Chad Chandler’s Chicken Pot Pie

Crust

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (or lard)
• 2 eggs, beaten, divided

Filling

• 3 chicken breasts, poached and shredded
• 3½ cups low sodium chicken stock, divided
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 1 lb)
• 1 cup diced celery (about 1 lb)
• 1 cup diced russet potato (about 1 lb)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 leeks, cleaned and diced (light green parts only)
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup (1 stick) plus two tablespoons butter, divided
• ½ cup frozen peas
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

I think I learned how to make the crust from this recipe at Epicurious. Ideally, the crust should be made at least a few hours before baking the pie. If you can do it the night before, then that’s even better. I’ve made it two hours before baking (without refrigerating it at all) and no one was the wiser, so don’t stress too much over it.

If you have a stand mixer, pour the dry ingredients into the bowl and stir everything slowly (on 2) with the paddle attachment. Next, add the butter (a little at a time), the egg, and the shortening. Mix (on 4) until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to form it into a tight ball and smash it into a one-inch-thick disc. Wrap the disc tightly in plastic wrap and toss it into the fridge. If the dough looks mealy and doesn’t really come together, add cold water a tablespoon at a time until it does. Leave the mixer out on the counter.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, just pulse the dough with a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, then buy some pre-made dough from the freezer section of your grocery store. I’ve kneaded the dough by hand before, but it’s pretty labor-intensive and I don’t recommend it.

Put the chicken breasts in a casserole dish, pour in 1½ cups of chicken stock into the pan, and slide it uncovered into a 375° oven. It’s the same thing we do when we make creamy chicken salad. Flip them after about 20 minutes and take them out after around 40 minutes when cooked through. I used to shred boneless meat with two forks, but it’s painful and takes forever. Now I just toss all of the chicken into the stand mixer and let the paddle (on 2 at first and then I turn up to 4) shred it for me.

Peel and chop all of the vegetables into 1/4 inch cubes (ignore the peas until later). You want the pieces to be about the same size. Leeks are notoriously dirty, so you need to follow the directions here to clean them. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat and add the vegetables. Sprinkle a big pinch of kosher salt over everything. The vegetables should release their moisture over the next 20 minutes or so. When it evaporates, the starch from the potato might start to stick and burn. Just pour a tiny bit of chicken stock or whatever you’re drinking into the pan to deglaze it occasionally.

As the vegetables are simmering, it’s time to make the roux. Melt the stick of butter over medium heat. Once it’s foaming, slowly add the flour and whisk constantly. You’ll need to cook the roux until it’s the color of light peanut butter. It’ll only take 5-10 minutes and then you add the remaining two cups of chicken stock as you continue to whisk. This is the base for the chicken pot pie. When the mixture comes to a boil, it’ll thicken up nicely.

Once it’s bubbling, pour the base into the pot with the chicken and the vegetables. Add the shredded chicken, peas, sage, salt, pepper, and stir. Turn the heat down to very low and cover. Simmer for at least one hour and up to four, stirring occasionally. I like to cook the pie filling until the potato is starting to fall apart, about three hours.

Let the dough come to room temperature before rolling (about 30 minutes). Preheat the oven to 400°. Season the filling to taste with salt and pepper before pouring as much as you can into a 9 x 13 (4 quart) baking dish. Lightly flour a work surface and take the dough out of the plastic wrap. Roll the dough as uniformly as you can until it’s the size of the dish. Roll the dough over the roller and unroll it onto the casserole dish.

If you’re like me, you’ll tear it in a dozen places and it’ll be shaped like a salamander. Just pick up the flattened, deformed dough and lay it over the top of the casserole dish as best you can. Use scraps to fill any holes. It doesn’t matter how patchwork it looks. The dough pieces will meld together as they cook. Cut off the excess dough and brush the top of the dough with the other beaten egg.

Poke a few slits around the top of the crust to allow the steam to vent. There’s a good chance the pie will rise and boil over, so place the casserole dish onto a rimmed baking sheet. Gently slide it into the oven and bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour. Take it out when it looks like the crust is about to burn, if that makes sense. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

I should note that this recipe makes more crust than you need, but you need a lot of crust to be able to roll it big enough to cover a rectangular dish. So be aware that you’ll waste a good 25¢ of all-purpose flour. Tragic, I know.

Some people find it annoying that I’m not specific about the amount of vegetables, but it doesn’t really matter. You can load it up or skimp and the dish will come out the same as long as you make the roux correctly. So if you don’t want to add leeks, then leave them out. If you like mushrooms, add them in. I usually throw whatever I have in the “crisper” drawer into the pot.

On a side not, why do they call it a “crisper?” Have you ever put anything in there that didn’t come out more limp than it was going in? If there was truth in advertising, wouldn’t it be called the “rotter?”

It’s taken me a long time, but I’ve finally perfected gumbo. I’ve gone through countless over-complicated recipes over the years and have systematically thrown out the steps and ingredients that were superfluous. This recipe is what remained. It’s the best gumbo I’ve ever had.

I usually do a shrimp and sausage gumbo, but you could add crab, fish, chicken thighs, smoked turkey, or anything else you like. But you have to use one pound of hot andouille sausage or it won’t come out the same. That’s where the spices come from in this version.

Here’s pretty much everything you need:

Chad Chandler’s Perfect Gumbo

• 1 lb jumbo shrimp, halved (shells reserved)
• 1 lb hot andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
• 2 large (or 3 medium) onions, diced
• 4 large bell peppers, chopped
• 5 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 lb fresh okra, sliced, divided
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes, crushed
• 7 cups water
• 1 14.5 oz can chicken stock (1 3/4 cups)
• 14 tablespoons butter (just get two sticks), divided
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

It’s easy to looked at this lengthy ingredient list and get intimidated, but it’s not really as complicated as it seems. There’s a lot of chopping and stirring at first, but once the gumbo is on the stove, you can walk away. Plus, you end up with six quarts of gourmet food for around $25.

You’re going to need a dutch oven or a large pan for the roux, a large pan for the sausage, and a small pot for the shrimp stock. So make room on the stove. I usually pour everything into a stock pot after it’s all mixed together and clean the other pots and pans.

To begin, slice the andouille sausage into 1/4 inch rounds and cut the smoked sausage into 1/4 inch half-moons. I do that so the wife knows which sausage is spicy and which is not. I throw the sausage into a large pan over medium heat while I’m chopping all of the onions, peppers, celery (known as the Holy Trinity in Cajun cooking) and garlic. You want to render the fat and let it crisp around the edges.

Once the veggies are all chopped (but not the okra), I pour the water and the chicken stock into a small pot and put it on the back burner. I bring out the shrimp and leave them on the counter by the stove.

Next, it’s time to make the roux. A roux isn’t difficult, but it is labor-intensive. And since gumbo gets its taste, color and texture from the roux, you can’t cheat. You melt a stick and half (12 tablespoons) of butter over medium heat until it foams. Then you gradually mix in 3/4 cups of flour. This process takes about twenty minutes, so be prepared to whisk almost constantly the entire time.

If the roux burns, it’s ruined; you have to start all over. So stir it constantly until it darkens to the color of peanut butter. Then it should get a little more watery and you can go about 20 seconds between stirring sessions. This is when I take the opportunity to peel the shrimp. I peel one, toss the peel into the pot of water, put the shrimp in a bowl, and then whisk the roux. Then another shrimp in hand, peel into the water, shrimp into a bowl, and whisk the roux. Over and over again until they’re all peeled and the shrimp are back in the fridge.

It can be a little daunting managing all of these pans at the same time, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Or better yet, get a helper. The wife was busy making new pillows for our den furniture, so I was on my own as usual.

Turn the heat up to medium-high on the shrimp stock. You want it to simmer (so turn it to low once it’s boiling) until the roux is finished cooking. If it starts to foam on top, slide it off the heat and blow on it or it’ll spill over and your house will smell like burnt marine exoskeleton for a few days.

Meanwhile, you should still be stirring the roux and shaking the sausage pan to make sure it’s not burning. If the suasage does start to stick to the bottom, just pour a little water into the pan to deglaze it.

When the roux gets to be the color of a Hershey’s chocolate bar, you’re done.

Place a colander over your roux pot and slowly pour in the stock. Once it’s all incorporated, whisk vigorously to combine. This is the base of your gumbo. Most of the work is done.

Turn the heat to medium-low and turn your focus to the sausage. By now, the sausage should have rendered a lot of orange-colored fat. You want to remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and toss it into the gumbo pot. Pour out all of the fat except for about three tablespoons. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter and pour in as much of the Trinity as you can get into the pan. Sprinkle a big pinch of salt over the vegetables. This will purge the water into the pan. If you can’t fit all of the Trinity into the pan, then just toss the rest into the gumbo pot.

You’re really just using the Trinity to deglaze the sausage pan and absorb all of the sausage flavor. While the vegetables render and eventually cook off their water, open the cans of tomatoes. Shake out the excess liquid over the sink, but it’s not a big deal if some remains. Pour the stewed tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze the chunks through your fingers until it’s all crushed uniformly. Then pour it into the gumbo pot.

When the trinity is starting to sizzle and brown, toss in the minced garlic, stir well, and let it all cook for a few more minutes. Then toss it all into the gumbo pot. You might have to use a bigger pot, and you might not.

Cut half of the okra into 1/2 inch rounds and toss it into the gumbo pot with the worcestershire, thyme, salt, and pepper. You’ll add the rest later. Bring the gumbo to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. If you taste the gumbo now, it’ll seem watery and off-tasting because of the worcestershire. That’s normal. Just trust me. Don’t add any more seasonings. Cover and simmer for at least four hours and up to six and it’ll turn out great.

After a few hours, slice and add the remaining okra. When there’s an hour left until you’re planning to serve the gumbo, take the lid off the pot and turn up the heat a little. You want to evaporate about a half-inch of the liquid. Just stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom and look at the waterline in the pot. When you’re fifteen minutes away from serving, cut the shrimp in half with some kitchen shears and add them to the gumbo. They’ll cook almost instantly.

Season to taste with a little salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Serve with white rice, hot sauce, and filé powder if you like it. I love filé in dark stews. It’s just dried and pounded sassafras leaves. But you should know that it gets gummy if it boils, so you never add it to the pot. Just sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon over your bowl.

This gumbo demands a good amount of prep work, but the payout is huge. The taste should be amazing, the texture should be thick and smooth, and you should have meat in every bite.

Last weekend, the wife and I used the holiday to squeeze in two hikes; Jones Gap Falls at Jones Gap State Park and Pinnacle Mountain Falls at Table Rock State Park.

Pinnacle Falls is off the Palmetto Trail behind the conference building near the Table Rock State Park campgrounds (get directions here).

You park at the trailhead and it’s a pretty easy hike until the abandoned dirt road near the ridge. From there, it gets a little more challenging as you make your way down the hill and parallel to a dilapidated church camp that looks like the abandoned set of a teen horror film. A little while later, you cross a little creek on what looks like an old stone cross-vane. After fording the creek, and I use that term loosely, the turn-off for the falls is maybe about a hundred yards ahead on the right. It’s demarcated by a tree with yellow paint on the trunk. A fallen tree blocks the unofficial trail to the falls, but it’s a well-worn path, as you can see from the picture below.

The trail up to the falls is tough. Really tough. The first two hundred yards or so are easy, but then you hit a boulder field that goes all the way up the mountain. It’s like climbing the stairs of a thirty-story building. As soon as your legs turn to jelly and you think it’s time give up and turn around, you’ll be about to see the falls. Climb a little higher and you can rest for a while in the waterfall’s cool mist.

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Spectators of such southern treasures might remark, “oh, look what they did,” but what they really mean is, “look what they did considering…” I’ve seen this with crafts like The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, with paintings like those of Andrew Wyeth, and with Appalachian mountain music in general. This mindset is annoying at best and bigoted at worst.

This issue of Bon Appétit is not like that at all. It maintains a sincere appreciation for southerners’ contributions to culinary Americana and to the region’s leading role in the preservation of heritage techniques and community-centric commerce.

But some southern cooking secrets are only passed onto the initiated, which is in and of itself a southern tradition of exclusivity that northerners probably perceive as southern arrogance. They’re probably right. One trick of the trade didn’t seem to get passed on to the test cooks at Bon Appétit, and it’s apparent in the picture below.

When you’re making deviled eggs, you need to turn the egg carton on its side for at least four hours before hard-boiling them. That makes the yolks rest in the center of the eggs. If you don’t do this, you end up with an egg yolk that is off-balance to the thicker end. You can see many instances here where they did it wrong.

It’s not a big deal, and I’m sure these eggs tasted great, but it’s one of those things southern cooks notice that reveals the imposters.

I have a bunch of recipes that I’ve been meaning to blog for a while, and this is one of the better ones. I can’t remember where I originally got this idea; I think it was from some blogger’s variation that was a few degrees removed from an Ina Garten concoction. I’ve been roasting cauliflower for years, and I grill a lot of vegetables, but I think the best way to cook broccoli (and keep the meal healthy) is under the broiler.

Here’s everything you need:

Roasted Broccoli

• 4 crowns of broccoli, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

This is a simple recipe. Start by preheating the oven to 425° (broil) and placing the rack in the second-highest position. Cut the florets into manageable-sized chunks. The broccoli caramelizes where it sticks to the roasting pan, so you want relatively small chunks that have a lot of surface area. I save the woodier parts of the stems for stock, but sometimes I slice the more tender parts near the top into thin rounds and roast them along with the florets.

Slice a few cloves of garlic. The thinner they are, the more likely they are to dry out and burn, so leave them a little thick. While you have the cutting board out, use a grater or a microprobe to zest half of a lemon.

Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil over the florets and season with salt and pepper. Maybe 1/2 teaspoon each of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper? Next, place the sliced garlic on top of the florets.

Place the pan under the broiler for about 20-25 minutes until the stalks soften and the florets darken at the edge. Rotate the pan 180° halfway through the cooking process. When the broccoli is finished cooking, sprinkle the lemon zest over the broccoli and squeeze half of the juice from half of the lemon over everything. Does that make sense? You want 1/4 of the lemon’s juice in all. Finally, taste the broccoli. Feel free to season with more salt and pepper and add a little more olive oil if you think it needs it. Serve the broccoli with a little grated Parmesan cheese on top.

The wife loves this dish. It’s really more of a cooking method than a recipe, and I rarely make it the exact same way twice. You just need raw vegetables, oil, seasonings, and direct heat. Whenever we have a homemade vinaigrette languishing in the fridge, I’ll drizzle it over broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, etc and cook them this way. You can even cook whole carrots like this with a little butter, honey and lemon and it comes out great.

I should point out that this will not work with frozen, chopped vegetables. I don’t know how the science works, but once the vegetables have been frozen, they never roast or saute properly. They just seem to steam and wilt in their own water. I’m not knocking the convenience and nutritional value in the frozen stuff, I’m just pointing out that it doesn’t mesh well with this kind of preparation. Save that stuff for casseroles.

If you’re wondering what else is on the plate in the picture above, it’s one of my rosemary grilled pork chops.

Most people think that DIY is always cheaper. It’s been my experience that the reverse is usually true. Almost all of the furniture I make costs double what I’d pay at a big box store. The same holds true for most of the clothes the wife makes at home. The only way DIY saves money is in bulk production. When you make a dozen or more of the same gift, the per-item cost is usually lower than anything you’d pay at a store.

We made a dozen of these chalkboards (click here to learn more):

And we made a dozen of these spice rub jars (click here to learn more):

I also made this guitar stand for my brother-in-law:

Oh, and the wife made this sock animal dinosaur for our youngest nephew. She got the pattern from a book called Stray Sock Sewing, Too: More Super-Cute Sock Softies To Make & Love.

And she made a bunch of these Christmas tree ornaments for family and friends. The pottery kiln can churn out cheap and easy gifts.

I should also mention that we buried a cat (Jasmine) over Thanksgiving and the wife didn’t want to look at my old cat food station for two anymore. So I made this smaller cat food station for Crew, the wife’s 12 year old cat who got grandfathered into our marriage:

This spice rub is a based on a recipe developed by America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated to mimic the taste of the ribs at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous in Memphis, TN.

The label on top of the jars is a custom QR code. When you scan the code with your smartphone, it links to this post of mine explaining the easiest way I know to cook ribs. The webpage is optimized for mobile devices, so you can take the recipe and instructions out to the grill with you.

For the best deal on spices, look in the Hispanic section of your grocery store. Just mix everything together in the biggest bowl you have. This rub recipe will fill 12 pint jars. Each jar is enough to coat four slabs of ribs. Of course, you can put the rub on anything you like. I sometimes mix a little canola oil with some rub and use it to marinate grilled chicken.

Here’s what you need:

• 3 cups paprika (24 oz)
• 3 cups brown sugar (24 oz)
• 1 1/2 cups table salt (12 oz)
• 1 1/4 cups chili powder (10 oz)
• 1 cup garlic powder (8 oz)
• 1 cup onion powder (8 oz)
• 1 cup black pepper (8 oz)
• 1/2 cup cayenne (4 oz)
• 1/4 cup dried thyme (2 oz)
• 12 (pint-sized) mason jars

I paid $37 for the spices and $11 for the jars.

Cost breakdown: $48/12 = $4 per jar

Not bad, right? If you’d like to make this yourself to give as gifts, you can copy the scan code above and print it onto labels for your own jars.

The wife also made a couple of aprons to go with the spice rub for two guys on her side of the family.

As a way to cut down on the amount of money spent at Christmastime (and to limit the amount of useless crap we each accumulated), my family decided to start making gifts a few years ago. It was touch and go for a while, but thanks to creative online showcases like Pinterest, the quality of gifts has dramatically increased lately. This year, we made these chalkboards for some of the ladies on both sides of our families.

About a month ago, the wife saw this page in a magazine:

She pointed to the chalkboard and suggested that we make something similar for our homemade Christmas gifts. I’m not sure if she really liked this idea or just wanted to outsource most of the gift-making to me this year, but they came out great. The best part is that they were pretty cheap to make. The project only requires some basic carpentry skills and a little patience.

Here’s what you need:

• 2 1/4″ x 2′ x 4′ sheets of oak plywood ($32)
• 1 quart of tinted Zinsser primer ($13)
• 1 quart of chalkboard paint ($13.50)
• 150′ of rustic-looking rope (from Ace Hardware, $7)
• 1 ball of twine ($2.50)
• 12 pieces of chalk ($2)

Each sheet of plywood gets cut into six rectangles that measure 12 x 18 inches each. I used a table saw, but a hand-held circular saw would work just as well. I pre-primed the wood to speed the process along.

Next, I used my miter saw to cut some angles for decoration, and then ran a router around the top edge. You can omit this step, but it adds a nice touch. I routed a 45-degree angle on half of them and cut a simple quarter-round on the rest. Here’s a closer look.

Next, you drill two holes in each chalkboard. Make sure you drill through the board and into a piece of scrap wood or the back will splinter. I used a 5/8″ forstner bit because I wanted the holes to be big (and clean), but you could use a smaller-diameter twist bit if that’s all you have.

Finally, you prime the boards and then paint them with the chalkboard paint. I remembered to brand the back of each chalkboard.

Knot some rope through the holes and tie a piece of chalk to some twine and you’re done.

I was worried that the chalk would be hard to erase from the valleys in the grain of the wood, but it comes right off.

Cost breakdown: $60/12 = $5 per chalkboard.

You actually have enough paint to more than double the scope of the project. Even if you bought two of everything besides the paint, the per-unit price would drop to around $4. That means you would have two dozen go-to gifts in your closet that are good for any occasion. Plus, you don’t need to buy a card because you can write a greeting right on the gift. How easy is that?

For instance, one time I picked up eight steel folding chairs for $4 a piece. Those are always good to have in the garage. Another time, I bought some brand new Timberland hiking boots for $3. I’ve bought everything from picture frames to audio speakers to specialty barware. The best things to buy are steel products like a boxspring frame for my homemade guest bedroom set and non-electro-mechanical garden tools like a grass seed spreader. You can tell right away if the products are in good shape, they last forever, and you end up saving a ton of money.

A few years ago, I bought a used bike. I had been looking for one that would be useful to ride to work, meaning it needed fenders to block water spray and a rack to hold my laptop bag. After a lot of fruitless searching, I found the perfect one at a consignment store for $60. It’s an old 10-Speed Raleigh Sprite Mixte (circa 1978).

I just learned Raleigh rolled out a new line of single-gear (non-”fixie”) urban bicycles aimed at the yuppy/hipster demographic. It’s called the Raleigh One Way, and it retails for $750.

The One Way: ($750)

My Bike: ($60)

Thrift stores are the best. Of course, you have to be willing to make five fruitless trips before you find something you really like. But when you do buy something, it’s usually a steal. The fact that your money goes into the coffers of a charity is just icing on the cake.

For more information about cycling in Greenville, click here.

Late fall through early spring is my the favorite time to hike in the mountains. The foliage has changed and fallen, there aren’t many people out on the trails, and you can see for miles from the mountain peaks. We got out early on Saturday and drove to Triple Falls at Dupont State Park just over the North Carolina line.

We’ve seen the 120 foot high cascade from the bottom before. This time, we thought we’d hike up to the covered bridge at the top and work our way down to the river below. Triple Falls is a popular area for parties and company outings. There’s a pavilion at the top that people rent, so the trails are actually gravel roads. We should have brought our bikes. Afterward, we stopped at a roadside barbecue stand on US 276 near Traveler’s Rest, SC. It’s always crowded, so we figured it had to be good. It was.

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