Chicken Pot Pie With Biscuit Topping

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping
from Cooks’ Illustrated

Ingredients:

For filling:
2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or about 6-7 boneless, skinless thighs)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 celery stalks, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 cup frozen baby peas (uncooked)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. each: fresh rosemary and thyme, chopped finely
freshly ground black pepper
salt (add last to adjust to taste)
3 cups (or so) chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour

For Buttermilk Biscuit Topping:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup buttermilk

Instructions:
For filling:
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, and onion to the stock. Cook the veggies until just tender. Strain the veggies from the stock with a colander over a large bowl (reserve the stock) and place them in a 9″ by 13″ baking dish. When the chicken is cooled enough to handle, shred with you hands–but don’t make the pieces too small. Evenly distribute the chicken over the veggies. Sprinkle the frozen peas over everything.

Add the butter to the saucepan and melt it until it foams. Add the flour and cook while stirring with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. Add the milk and the reserved stock. Switch to a whisk to remove any lumps. You may need to add more milk to get it to the right consistency. It should be a little thinner than gravy. Add the herbs and the pepper. Taste to see if it needs salt. Pour the gravy evenly over the chicken and vegetables.

For Buttermilk Biscuits:
Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, two butter knives, or your fingers.  Make a well in the center and pour the buttermilk into the well.  Using a fork, mix the buttermilk into the dry ingredients, adding more if necessary so it’s more of a stiff batter rather than a dough.
Drop evenly over the chicken and veggies. Place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and the filling is bubbling.

You may also like

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.