Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday I was trying to think of something to make with my leftover chicken that I haven’t done in a while. With the chillier temps yesterday and today I wanted some warm comfort food. I looked at a few of my cookbooks and sort of combined a few recipes into one, as I wanted to use what I had on hand. Kris prefers his chicken pot pie to be topped with biscuits, so I made my own even though the frozen Pillsbury ones are the best!

Let me share with you real quick my latest method of cooking chicken for casseroles, etc. I have been buying the bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts at the grocery store as they are so much cheaper per pound (one day they were $0.44/lb!). I simply place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. I then sprinkle them with a little kosher salt, pepper, and Lawry’s seasoning salt (my new fav thing). Roast at 350 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool then pull off the bones, discarding the skin, and shred or chop up the chicken. This is super easy and makes a very delicious and juicy chicken breast – so much so that Kris requested them for dinner the other night.

Chicken Pot Pie (If making for more than 3 people you will want to double this to make sure there is enough for seconds!)

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or shredded (use leftovers!!)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup fat free half and half
• 1 onion, diced
• Celery – dice up a few sticks (I always keep it pre-diced in the freezer so never really measure)
• 1 to 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables – I didn’t have this on hand so I just diced up some baby carrots
• Biscuits – homemade or store bought

Directions:

• In small saucepan or microwaveable bowl, heat up chicken stock and add in bouillon cube to dissolve
• Saute onion and celery in butter until soft and translucent (about 10 min). I then added in my diced carrots the last 2 minutes or so since they weren’t pre-blanched. If using frozen vegetables don’t add them yet.
• Stir in flour and cook over low heat a few minutes.
• Pour in heated chicken stock and whisk over low heat until it thickens – about 2-3 minutes.
• Add in half and half and then frozen veggies (if using) and mix well. Taste and see if any salt/pepper is needed.
• Pour into a casserole dish.
• Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and then top with biscuits and bake another 20 to 30 minutes, or until biscuits are browned.
• If you want to make this in advance, refrigerate the chicken mixture in dish without the biscuits, and then bake for 20-25 minutes prior to adding the biscuits.
• Note: You could use this filling with a double pie crust if you prefer

Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 stick cold butter, diced
• 3 oz fat free half and half (I halved a recipe calling for 3/4c, so that is how I got 30z)

Directions:

• Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in bowl. Using electric mixer (paddle attachment if you have a stand mixer), mix until butter becomes the size of peas.
• Add the half and half and mix on low speed until combined. Will be sticky!!
• On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2″ thick. Cut with round cutter or use a drinking glass if you don’t have a cutter. Try to yield at least 6 biscuits, but I used a small cutter so got 9.