Chicken Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuits

A pot pie is a mixture of meat pie ingredients made in a pot, hence the name "pot pie". It usually consists of flat square noodles and other ingredients such as meat and vegetables. Chicken is a common type. A pot pie is commonly served as a main dish.

Often confused with pie, a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape, a pot pie is stewed in a pot on top of the stove rather than baked. It lacks a crust. More rarely, some types of pot pies are baked in a deep casserole dish lined with crust but the more common traditional type is crustless. Many food manufacturers and restaurants mistakenly mislabel meat and vegetable pie (e.g., chicken) as "pot pie" for marketing purposes to evoke a homemade feel for their food products. An American pot pie typically consists meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas).

This is one of my favorite things to make when I have left over chicken.  I rarely cook a chicken to make a pot pie, but if I do I cook legs and thighs, since when it is in the sauce you cant really tell the difference and its the tastiest meat.  This meal is super fast and easy, perfect for a Monday night.  If you don't have time to make the biscuits, you can cheat and use Pillsbury instant one, but I have a biscuit recipe further down this blog just in case you want to go all out on a Sunday.  I start my biscuits first and while they are in the freezer, yes the freezer, I make the pot pie. 

Ingredients - Pot Pie Filling

• 2 cups of shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup of sliced carrots
• 2 cups of potatoes in 1" cubes
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1 cup of sweet kernel corn
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 3 TBSP of flour
• 3 TBSP butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme 
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F with rack on the bottom

In a medium size pot cook potatoes and carrots until tender, drain (reserve 1 cup of the water) and return to pot.  

Heat a large 12" deep sided pan on medium heat and saute onions and celery until tender, 8-10 minutes and add to potatoes and carrots.  Mix roux of 3 TBSP flour and 3 TBSP butter and add to skillet. Cook for 2- 3 minutes until lightly brown.  Slowly add chicken stock while whisking to prevent lumps.  Add chicken gravy to the pot with the potatoes and carrots.  Add cooked chicken, peas, corn, bay leaf, and thyme and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. if gravy is too thick add some of the reserved potato water to make thinner.  While filling simmers make biscuits.  If you are in a hurry and want to take a short cut - open the tube of Pillsbury Flaky Biscuits and  follow instructions below.

Place hot ingredients into a deep baking dish, (I used a souffle dish).  Line the top of the pot pie filling with  6-8 1 inch biscuit dough turned sideways, brush with melted butter and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Buttermilk Biscuits - Everyone has a "secret" to making biscuits, I don't keep it a secret I share it.  the trick to great flaky biscuits is keeping everything really really cold and not substituting any of the butter for margarine.  

Ingredients:

• 21/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 TBSP of vegetable shortening (I use Lard- yes lard) cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 8 TBSP of unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/8 sliced and lightly floured (this is really important if you want the layers)
• 1 1/8 -1 1/4 cups of cold buttermilk, (if you don't have buttermilk you can use whole milk only with 1 TBSP of vinegar added to it and let stand for 15 minutes)  
• 2 TBSP melted butter cooled

NOTE:

This dough is very sticky when it comes out of the bowl and the first couple of turns, so don't panic or over mix it, but you will use about a cup of flour for dusting the counter and rolling out.  

Directions:

Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 

1. Add shortening or lard to the flour mixture, break up chunks with your fingers until only small pea sized pieces remain.  
2. SECRET number one revealed-  working with only a few pieces of butter at a time drop butter pieces into flour mixture and toss to coat.  Pick up each slice of butter and press between well floured finger tips ( I squeeze it between my finger and thumb) into flat nickel/dime size pieces. Repeat this process until all butter pieces are are incorporated, then toss to combine.  I know this process is a bit tedious, but it is sooo worth it in the end.
3. SECRET number two reveled- place the bowl and flour mixture in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, you can't leave it in there too long but you can take it out too soon.
4. Sprinkle counter top with 1/3 cup of flour to form a very thin coating.  Remove flour from freezer.  Add 1 cup and two TBSP of milk to the flour mixture and stir briskly with a fork until a ball forms and no dry bits are visible it add the remaining two TBSP of buttermilk as needed.  dough should be stick but clear the sides of the bowl.  With a spatula remove the dough onto the center of the prepared counter, dust the surface lightly with flour and with floured hands, bring the dough together into a cohesive ball.
5. Pat the dough into a 18x14-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, dust the dough and rolling pin as needed.  Use a bench scrapper or a metal spatula to fold the dough into thirds.Brush away any excess flour from the surface of the dough.  you should now have a 6x14-inch rectangle.  Fold this into  thirds again to form approximately a 6x4-inch rectangle. Rotate 90 degrees. dusting counter underneath with flour, then roll and fold dough again two more times.  
6. after the last fold roll into a 10x10 square about 1/2 -3/4 inches thick.  I use a 4 inch biscuit cutter, I wouldn't go larger, but a 3 inch cutter is fine too.  Flour your cutter and cut out 9 biscuits.  flour your cutter after each biscuit.  DO NOT TWIST YOUR CUTTER!  Gather dough scraps into ball and roll and fold once.  you should get another three more biscuits.  
7. SECRET number three - place the biscuits on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Before you bake your biscuits place 6 on your sheet with an inch between each biscuit, and brush brush on  cooled melted butter, bake for 15 to 17 minutes in a  preheated 450F oven