Chicken Pot Pie with Peppery Chive Biscuits

 

So, back to our dinner party from the other night.  Yesterday I posted our dessert, Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Roll and today I will share with you our yummy fall dinner.  As I stated earlier, this meal is a perfect make ahead meal.  It's special enough to share with friends but easy enough to keep your sanity while entertaining, and we all know keeping our sanity is a good thing.  This recipe calls for a 9x13 pan but I think it would be really cute to cook up in individual crocks if you had them.  The ingredient list is fairly lengthy but most of it is stuff I already had in my pantry.  That said, this is definitely a meal you want to make when you have a little extra time to devote to your dinner, but trust me it will be worth the wait.  The biscuits alone are enough to send you right into a foodie frenzy!  

Chicken Pot Pie with Peppery Chive Biscuits
from Joy the Baker (<- pretty much the coolest chick on the internets)

For the Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (depending on how spicy you like your biscuits)

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

4 ounces (half of a brick) cream cheese, cold (I used low fat)

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

For the Filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups whole milk (I used skim)

4 ounces (half of a brick) cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

3 cups shredded chicken meat (I used a rotisserie chicken)

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil (I used olive oil)

1 small onion, diced

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 cup thinly diced carrots

1 cup diced zucchini (optional)

1 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Start by making the biscuits.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, black pepper, and chopped chives.

Add butter and cream cheese to the dry ingredients.  Use your fingers to quickly incorporate the fat into the flour.  Break up the butter and cream cheese with your fingers until some of the fat is the size of oat flakes and some of the fat is the size of small pebbles.  Always remember, less is more in these situations - if you over work your dough, the biscuits will turn out tough.

See the little chunks of butter?  That's good!

Make a small well in the center of the fat and flour mixture.  Add the buttermilk.  

Can I just go swimming in there?

Using a fork, combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Try to moisten all of the flour bits with the liquid.  

Dump the shaggy biscuit dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead together until dough forms a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Don't worry about making it look perfect, the less you handle it, the better!

Use a round, 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (I used a drinking glass that was about 2 1/2 inches and it made the perfect amount) to cut biscuits.  Gather the dough scraps, knead for a few turns, and cut out more biscuits until no dough remains.  I got 12 biscuits.  Refrigerate the biscuits until ready to bake.  

 

Next, make the filling.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Dice onion, garlic, carrots, zucchini (if using), and thaw the frozen peas.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk in the flour.  Mixture will be very thick.  Heat for 1 minute.  

Looks weird but stick with it.

Turn to low and add the chicken stock.  Whisk until no flour bits remain. Whisk in the milk and add the cream cheese.  Heat over medium low heat, stirring often, until cream cheese melts and the mixture is the consistency of warm, thick pudding (mine was a bit thinner, I'm assuming from the skim milk).  

Add chicken, lemon, and nutmeg.  Stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Remove mixture from heat and set aside.

 

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter (or olive oil, if using).  Add onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add minced garlic and saute for one minute more.  Add carrots, zucchini, and peas.  Cook for  about 3 minutes.  The vegetables will not be entirely cooked through but they will continue to cook in the oven.  

Remove from heat and add vegetable mixture to the creamy chicken mixture.  Stir to combine.

Spoon filling into a 9×13-inch pan.  Remove the biscuits from the fridge and place them on top of the filling.  Brush the tops of the biscuits with heavy cream, buttermilk, or egg wash.

 

Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until biscuits are puffed and golden, and the sides of the pot pie are bubbling.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

 

Enjoy the goodness that is chicken pot pie!

 

This recipe is definitely a keeper and one that I plan to repeat many times over the years, thank you Joy the Baker!

Hope you are all having a great week!