Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

It's been a long time since I have posted a recipe, but I hope this one will make up for it. There's two ways I make it, and one way is kid (or me, lol) friendly, and the other is husband (traditional) friendly.

Every once in a while David decides we need something hearty like Chicken and biscuits and starts pestering me to make something like that. This time I didn't mind at all because I had been thinking what he was thinking. You can't beat chicken and buttermilk biscuits. It is just one of those meals that feels extra appropriate to say the blessing over because you're truly thankful for all you have.

You'll need-
1 9" pie plate OR an 8x8 baking dish
3-4 chicken breasts
1 TBS Margarine (or butter if you light)
Self-rising flour
Pepper
Salt
Buttermilk
Shortening (Crisco)
1 can of English (green) peas
1 can of sliced carrots

First get a large boiling pot and set your chicken in some water to boil. Add butter, a dash of salt, and plenty plenty, plenty of pepper. When you think you've got enough, add a little more for my sake. I mean don't go crazy or anything, but maybe just shake it like a salt shaker - or I don't know. How 'bout a tablespoon? Keep an eye on your chicken while it's boiling and add more water as needed because you don't want it to boil out, you'll be needing it as a broth gravy. When the chicken starts to fall apart (you can hurry this along by grabbing a pair of tongs and twisting the well-cooked chicken apart, but be careful not to get burned by the steam!), add another tablespoon of margarine and three tablespoons of flour, whisking them in one at a time as you go to make sure they're evenly distributed and dissolving. If you have little bits of flour floating around, don't be too distressed, that sort of thing will work itself out before dinnertime. Lower heat gradually to let the sauce get thicker ONLY if you want one pie that has no vegetables. If that is the case, you'll let the sauce thicken on a lower heat and ladle your chicken and broth sauce into a sprayed pie plate or baking dish and set aside. Now, if you're not doing that or you're wanting to use what's leftover to make one with veggies, you'll grab a can of green peas and carrots and drain them before pouring them into the pot with your chicken and broth gravy. Let that bubble and cook for a bit before you add it to it's own baking dish. (Note: if you don't set one part of this aside to make one with no veggies, you'll be needing two pans to make it with vegetables.)

Now for the biscuits:

It's a beautiful day when you learn that biscuits only need three ingredients. I spent a lot of time pouring over recipes and trying things out before I realized why my grandmother has always favored self-rising flour over all-purpose for baking. Self-rising has all the extra powdery ingredients like baking soda and powder and what not so you don't have to fool with it! Oh happy day!

Homemade biscuits, I hear is a touchy subject with folks, so I'm going to adopt Christy Jordan's approach and say that your mama's way is the right way. This is how I make biscuits, and it's right on the back of White Lily Self-rising Flour.

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup of shortening
1/2 cup of buttermilk (I sometimes use more if my dough looks too dry)

I really love making biscuits for two reasons
1. I love biscuits (by birthright. My grandmother said she's never met a Childers that didn't love a biscuit and I was born a Childers, so you know...)
2. I love the taste of biscuit dough. (Gag away, more for me!)
Nanny used to have to leave me just a bite when she made them and let me clean the bowl like a NORMAL child would a cake bowl. I use this odd preference to my favor though when cooking biscuits. Just by tasting of them, I can tell if everything's just right for baking.

Any, I digress. Combine your three little ingredients into the bowl and stir well making sure all of the ingredients are incorporated. (Note: If you are not wanting to put in the elbow grease, you can use a pastry cutter to cut the shortening into the flour before adding buttermilk. I typically skip this step, but it's a good idea if you're nervous about getting the shortening mixed up). You want your dough to be slightly sticky, or at least that's how I like it. With your mixing spoon, gently drop the dough on top of your chicken and broth gravy in the pan. Do your best to to evenly distribute over the top.

If you make the full recipe above you'll need two batches of biscuit dough unless you want less biscuits, in which case you would simply divide this dough between your two pans.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes (or until the bread on top looks fully cooked) at 425 degrees. Please keep an eye on your biscuits. There's nothing worse than burning a pretty biscuit!

Here's mine done and served with bacon-wrapped asparagus, baked squash, and a sweet potato.

Hope you enjoy!

Love,
Casey