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.