Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie
Not healthy, Not Vegetarian, Not Quick.
Heavy on the biscuit, Comfort Food.
Kid Favorite

Make Ahead Note: I usually make the meat and gravy one day (or use leftovers), the vegetables another day, and do the biscuits and assemble on a third day.  Especially as I might be serving a choice of chicken or lentil pot pie.

Meat (you can use leftover cooked chicken instead)
vegetable oil--not olive as you are sort of frying chicken.
spices--I like a Herbes De Provence mix.  Poultry Seasoning, or your favorite thyme/oregano/basil
8 chicken thighs, raw, cut into bite-sized pieces

Gravy
2TB butter
2TB flour
4 cups chicken broth (I use Better than Boullion)

Vegetables
1 Onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 pound mushrooms washed and sliced
1 parsnip or 1 fennel bulb, for interest

Biscuits
I used a store brand biscuit mix: 4 cups mix, 6 TB butter, 1 1/3 cup milk.  Mostly because it calls for melted butter and I felt too lazy to cut butter into flour without my food processor.

Cook Meat.
1. Heat oil in skillet and saute dried herbs for 30 seconds.
2. Add chicken and saute 5-8 minutes until cooked.
3. remove meat to large mixing bowl.

Prepare Gravy
4. heat chicken broth in microwave
5. In same skillet used for meat, melt butter.
6. whisk in flour, cook a minute or two while whisking.
7. whisk in hot broth, adding gradually.
8. let simmer 10 minutes.

Cook vegetables in LARGE skillet. (I used two large skillets)
9. Heat oil, saute dried herbs
10. saute vegetables.

Preheat Oven 450F
Assemble in 9x13 glass pan.
11. Mix vegetables and chicken together in glass pan.
12. Pour half the gravy over mix.
13. Bake for first 15 minutes while preparing biscuits--if the filling is piping hot, it helps cook the biscuits from below in later steps.

14. Mix biscuit dough according to package directions, not bothering to knead.
15. Take hot casserole out of oven
16. Drop spoonfuls of biscuit dough onto chicken/vegetable mix, it will be mostly covered.
17 Back in oven another 15 minutes or until biscuits are done.

Serve with reserved gravy.

Vegetable Pot Pies

Here's the recipe for the pot pie filling. Makes 8.5 cups.
1/2 pound lentils dry
2 medium potato
one vidalia onion
one fennel bulb
one leek
one red pepper
one pound mushrooms
two ribs celery

gravy recipe
pie crust recipe

Cook 1/2 pound of lentils (I boil them for ~30 minutes and drain).
Dice and cook two medium potatoes (I boil them ~12 minutes). 
Chop (I use a food processor) and SAUTE in butter or olive oil: one vidalia onion, one fennel bulb, one leek, one red bell pepper, pound of mushrooms, two ribs of celery.
The sauce is has a roux base: 2TB of butter (or olive oil) melted over heat, then 2TB of flour whisked in. I cook the paste less than a minute. Before or when it starts browning, I start gradually whisking in my mix of 4 cups of hot vegetable broth (better than boullion is great for this) with 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast.
—the nutritional yeast is NOT bread yeast or yucky brewer’s yeast, and it is the secret ingredient!—
Once all the broth/yeast is incorporated into the sauce, into whatever pot or pan will hold it all, I combine the cooked potatoes, cooked lentils, sautéed vegetables and sauce. I like to simmer it together ten minutes or more. If you want to add cream, this is when you do it. Then put the filling into whatever casserole dish, pie pans or ramekins (when I use cast Iron I like to heat it up first.) Top with pie crust. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes to brown the crust.