Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie

Yeah, this is yet another recipe... I like it. You like me (hopefully, otherwise, why are you here?). We're a happy family :)

I just really like making food. And I like it even more when it turns out to be edible. And then sometimes it's pretty on top of that. How can I resist?

This recipe is a sort of variation on the regular chicken pot pie recipe I posted a while back. Only I've refined my filling process, and it uses biscuits instead of pie crust.

SIDE NOTE: Do you guys have a hard time spelling "biscuits" like I do? EVERY time, I try to spell "buscuits," and it's driving me crazy.

This was delicious comfort food for dinner, plus made very reasonable leftovers for lunch. That right there is a huge factor in whether or not I consider a recipe a success. You know, whether they make good leftovers that make me WANT to not go out to lunch when I'm at work. This recipe = success in that department.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE FILLING:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 large onion (or half a small)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup (heaping) flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pepper
2 tsp onion powder
1-2 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves minced w/onions)
1 Tbls dried parsley
1-2 tsp dried rosemary
1-2 tsp dried italian seasoning
1 tsp rubbed sage (or some other sage equivalent)
2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
1 1/2 - 2 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots
optional: chopped celery cooked with the onions
optional: any other vegetable you want in your pie :) If frozen, add with peas; if not, cook with onions.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE BUSCUITES BISCUITS:
3 cups flour
1 Tbls baking powder
1 Tbls sugar
1 tsp table salt (or 2 tsp kosher salt)
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup cold butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

I started by getting my onions and chicken chopped, and cooking. Dice the chicken and onion in equal sizes, but doing it fairly small. Cook them in a saute pan with oil, salt, and pepper until the chicken is done. Remove  all the chicken to a warm plate (it's okay to leave a few onions in the pan for flavor).

While the chicken is cooking, combine all the dry ingredients for the biscuits in a bowl and set aside. This is just the Better Homes and Gardens buttermilk biscuit recipe. It's so simple, but it's actually the first biscuit recipe I've tried that I really like. It might be the buttermilk I used this time :)

Melt butter in the saute pan. Add salt, pepper, dried seasonings, and flour. Whisk till combined and thick. It will be like paste or a dough all on it's own. Cook this for a few minutes. The flavors of all the dry spices and butter will start to get really aromatic, and it's kind of amazing :)

Whisk in the broth. Once combined and thickened, whisk in the half-and-half. It will start to get all bubbly and thick again. This is when you add the chicken back in, and the frozen peas and carrots. Taste for seasonings. I had to add more garlic powder, salt, and rubbed sage till it was the intensity I wanted. With all the cream and biscuits, you kind of need a bolder sauce flavor.

Transfer the filling to a large 9x13 glass baking dish.

Cut in the butter and shortening to the biscuit dry ingredients. You can do this by hand with two butter knives, with a pastry blender, or by putting it all into your food processor. Cut it in until it's crumbly. Just don't use your hands or you'll melt the butter, and then your biscuits won't be good. I left a few larger chunks of butter and shortening (pea size) and those made the biscuits crispy but flaky.

Pour the milk and buttermilk into a well in the center of the dry ingredients; stir with a spoon until combined. I added a touch more milk because it was too dry to combine. Just use your own judgement. Finish mixing it with your hand, being gentle, but getting all the flour combined. Don't turn it with your hand more than 10 times. Pick off balls of dough and drop them into the filling baking pan. I got 12 large balls of dough. Next time I make it, I will probably use 3/4 of the dough for the pie, and just bake the rest by themselves. There wasn't QUITE enough filling compared to biscuits. But it was still really good. If you like a more liquidy pie, use all the dough.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are done, and golden on top. Rest for 5-10 minutes. EAT.

While you're here...

This is what it sounds/looks like right out of the oven :) SO HEAVENLY. I wish you could smell it!