Now that Ward’s been cooking, I’ve gotten really used to home-cooked meals all the time. He wasn’t able to make us dinner tonight, because he had to go to a special Aikido seminar downtown - so I decided to whip up an old standby: Chicken Pot Pie.

The recipe that I use is from Art Smith’s KitchenLife. I’ve found KitchenLife to be a great cookbook as far as the kids are concerned; nearly everything I’ve tried out from the book has been a big hit with everyone.

I’ve always liked the idea of chicken pot pie - there’s something about the savory nature of this dish that’s very appealing. But before I tried the KitchenLife recipe, I had never eaten a Chicken Pot Pie that tasted as good as it smelled.

The Chicken Pot Pie recipe in KitchenLife, however, is a clear winner. It fills your entire house with that delicious scent of chicken pie, and when you dig into the dish itself, it doesn’t fail to please. Even though you’re baking chicken breast meat for 25 to 30 minutes, the morsels of chicken remain tender and moist and extremely flavorful. (Since we all prefer dark meat, I now prepare the pot pie with boneless chicken thighs rather than breasts, but you’ll have no problem with chicken breasts, which is what the recipe calls for.)

Rather than playing around with a crust, the recipe uses biscuit mix to top the pie, which makes the whole thing amazingly easy. I also vary things sometimes, such as adding mushrooms, which my kids love.

My house is filled right now with the scent of the best chicken pot pie ever right now. The pot pie is still in the oven, but I thought I’d just write up this post now, since I can’t take a picture (Ward took the camera to his seminar).

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust, from Art Smith’s KitchenLife (I’ve added my comments in italics):

2 tbsp vegetable oil
Three 6- to 7-ounce boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces*
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
One 10-ounce box frozen mixed vegetables (with corn, carrots, and green beans), thawed**
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth ***
1 cup regular or nonfat half-and-half
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 cups instant baking mix, such as Bisquick
2/3 cup buttermilk****

* If you prefer dark meat, you can use six to seven boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
** I like to stuff as much vegetables as I can into this, so I’ve used two cups plus of frozen mixed vegetables, with no problems. Also, I never seem to be organized enough to have the vegetables thawed ahead of time, so I’ve used them almost completely frozen, again with no problem - I cook them a bit longer in the sauce to compensate.
*** I don’t like to use reduced sodium chicken broth - I use organic, free range chicken broth instead
**** You can also make the biscuit topping with just regular milk (skim or otherwise)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook, stirring often, just until it turns opaque and loses its raw look, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

3. Add the butter to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixed vegetables and mix well. Add the broth and half-and-half, and bring to a boil, stirring up the browned bits in the pan with a wooden spatula. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved chicken, thawed mixed vegetables, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into an ungreased 2-1/2 to 3-quart round casserole.

4. Mix the baking mix and buttermilk to make a soft, sticky dough. Drop six large spoonfuls of the dough over the chicken mixture. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 25 minutes. (Note: My biscuit topping seems to take at least ten more minutes to bake to a golden brown, but this has never hurt the pot pie, even when I use chicken breast meat.)

Bookmark this: BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | reddit | Yahoo MyWeb