Chicken Pot Pie

I may have mentioned earlier that we switch to Daylight Savings Timein a few weeks, but right now, we are still in the clutches of a snowy winter. Doesn’t that make you want to eat comforting, rich chicken stew, topped with some flaky, delicious biscuits? If so, then you have come to right place, because this is a fairly easy, from scratch recipe for that very thing. This is only partially an actual recipe. You know I would much rather demonstrate a method of cooking something, so that you can run with it and add your own twists and preferences. This recipe is similar to my Turkey and Dumplings, with the main exception seeming to be that I have a decent camera now and can actually take pretty good photos. There are also similarities to Turkey and Biscuits, so you may want to take a look at that post as well. I had a better camera then, but was still trying to take photos when the conditions were too dark. In both cases though, the food is good, so go check out the directions on those posts, if you want to get a little more grounding on preparing this kind of meal.

I started with 3 chicken thighs that had migrated to the bottom of the freezer and needed to be used up, pronto. I heated a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a 5 quart stainless steel soup pot. Wash and dry the thawed chicken and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Carefully set the thighs in the bottom of the pan, which is now nearly to the smoking point. Now – just leave them there over high heat for about 5 minutes. They should be audibly sizzling in the hot oil this whole time – that is how you know you are getting some browning on the skin and fat of the thighs, which will give you nice flavor in the next step. After the first side is nicely browned, carefully use tongs and turn them over, again not disturbing them until they are browned on the other side. Pour in 1/2 cup of dry white wine, and leaving on high heat, let that simmer until the wine is reduced by half. Carefully pour in 4 cups of water, along with a stalk of celery, a small onion, and a medium carrot – all cut into rough chunks. Cover and simmer until the thighs are completely cooked, but not yet falling off the bones. When the chicken is tender, remove it to a plate, to cool. Strain and discard all of the solids from the resulting broth, and return the broth to the pan.Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables. Use what ever veg you prefer, in this case about 3/4 of a cup each of celery and carrots, and 1 cup+ each of broccoli and cauliflower. Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano. Taste broth and add more salt if needed. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are getting done, but aren’t cooked through yet.

Remove the chicken from the bones, and chop into 3/4 inch or so pieces. Add chicken to pot and cook about 5 minutes. Mix together 1/4 cup of half and half and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, and slowly mix this into the vegetables, chicken and broth. Keep stirring and bring back up to temperature – it will thicken as it cooks.Pour into a 3 quart oven safe dish.Then, make 1/2 of a recipe of these Buttermilk Biscuits. Roll out to the same shape as the baking dish, and carefully place the rolled out dough on top of the chicken and vegetables in the baking dish.Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, brush top of crust with melted butter and return to oven for about another 5 minutes, until top is very browned and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.Allow to sit for about 5 minutes, and serve.Mmmmmmmm – it almost makes the snow worth it!