(Or a way to kick it with rotisserie chicken... leftover turkey works it too.)
Pot Pie Biscuit Starter Kit - leftover chicken and the basics for drop biscuits.
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| Fannie Farmer - one of the earliest compilers of 20th century American home cookery |
1st thing - pot pie filling is a stew. It just is. The trick is making it a good stew. No... a GREAT stew. Cook your aromatics and hard veggies. The onions, celery and carrots.
Add salt and pepper - bring out the flavors of the veg. Cook them until they are softened, but way before they are mushy.
Then add in the softer veg (leaves and/or already cooked leftover veg).
Go ahead and add the chopped, leftover poultry.
Now to make this a stew! It needs the gravy that makes it into a thick, hearty stew. And gravy is best when it starts with a roux. Since I had just made some chicken stock, I had chicken fat - so chicken fat roux.
Melt the fat, whisk in the flour and keep it cooking until the flour smells toasty. (I'm not making a dark roux, but want to make sure the flour doesn't taste raw). Once the flour is cooked slowly whisk in the broth. And THEN let make it BBQ sauce flavored!
Add some of the sauce, stir in, taste for salt and pepper (if you want it spicier - you could add tabasco, sriracha or other hotness to the gravy). You'll have about 2 cups of gravy with this recipe. It can be easily doubled if you have more leftovers.
Add the gravy to the chicken and veg mixture - add the gravy until you get the right consistency. Well moistened, but not too goopy.
Now for the biscuits!
Drop biscuits - when I'm working with hard flour (pretty much all AP flour) rather than the soft flour that exists in the southern US, drop biscuits are the way to go. That way you keep a fluffy texture, don't develop long gluten strands, and don't make a ROLL!
(You can always make a crust for your pot pie too - but biscuits are great!) Feel free to make cut out biscuits if that's what you know and love, but for biscuit beginners - or if you're in a rush, drops are your friend.
Ingredients:
The gravy
2 Tbs butter (or chicken fat/any fat)
3 Tbs flour (or 2 Tbs rice flour + 1 Tbs cornstarch)
2 C chicken stock
salt, pepper, BBQ sauce - to taste
(optional - hot sauce if it needs it)
[This amount of roux can easily absorb another cup of liquid. But if you need a quart+ of gravy double the amount of roux]
The filling
2 tsp oil
1 medium onion - medium dice
2 carrots - sliced
2 ribs celery - sliced
1 handful bunch chard/leafy green - roughly chopped
1 C or so bonus veggies - (optional)
salt and pepper - top taste (and taste lots to check!)
2 C (approx.) roughly chopped leftover chicken
[If you have more chicken - add more vegetables, if you have less poultry - cut down on the veg. You can make more gravy too.]
The biscuits (Baking Powder Biscuits from Fannie Farmer)
1 C AP flour (or gluten free baking mix)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs fat (butter, shortening, etc.)
1/2 + milk (or buttermilk, cream etc.)
(optional - 1/2 tsp tasty/fancy vinegar - I have beer vinegar, cider or sherry is good too)
butter for the pan/cookie sheet
Equipment:
knife
cutting board
skillet
sauce pan
measuring cups & spoons
bowl
9x12 pan or cookie sheet
fork/pastry cutter
spoon
whisk
Prep:
Measure out the ingredients, cut up vegetables and chicken. The vegetables should be similar sizes. Including any leftover vegetable. E.g. if you are using green beans, cut them into approx. 1 in. lengths. And chop any leaves so they are no bigger than 2in x 2in. They'll cook down to a nice bit size and not disappear.
Preheat oven to 450˚F for biscuits
Grease the pan/cookie sheet with the butter
You can make the biscuits and the stew at the same time - or the stew 1st and hold it or freeze it. Since it's stew, it reheats really well... possibly even better.
Cook:
The Stew
Heat the oil in the skillet. Add the onion and a some salt. Stir for a minute or two, then add the carrots and celery. Let this cook over medium high heat for 5 - 8 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper, and find when the carrots lose their raw crunch.
Add in the leaves and any leftover veg you want to add.
Add the cut up chicken - stir to warm everything up. Taste again for salt and pepper. Once the seasoning is right, set the skillet aside, and leave on very, very low heat.
Make the roux.
In the sauce pan heat the fat, and use the whisk to stir in the flour. Cook it until the flour smells toasty, and no longer tastes like raw flour. (You can cook roux for longer to make it darker, but that's not important for this recipe.) Then stir in the chicken broth. It should make a cream colored, smooth gravy. Add BBQ sauce and any hot sauce to flavor the gravy to your taste. Adjust salt if it needs it.
Stir the gravy into the chicken and vegetable mixture - add until it's well coated, but not goopy. A spoonful should be delicious and velvety and well seasoned. There's still time to get the flavor right here!
When the stew is ready - you can keep it warm while you biscuit, or if you are meal-prepping, divide into the right portions for your crowd and fridge or freeze.
The Biscuits - Make These Fresh!
Put the flour, baking soda, and salt in the bowl. Stir together. Chop the butter into smallish chunks. Chop that into the flour mixture with the fork or pastry cutter or your fingers.
(Add optional vinegar to your milk)
Stir in about 2/3 of the liquid. Keep adding until the flour is all wet (do not stir until totally smooth). It should still hold its shape when you drop it on the pan.
Make about 4 large biscuits or 6 - 8 small ones.
Bake at 450˚F for 12 - 15 minutes (try 8 minutes for small biscuits)
Spoon up your chicken stew, top with a biscuit and add a little more BBQ sauce.
Alternately reheat the chicken stew in a casserole dish and top with the biscuits and server family style.
