| Total: | 1 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | about 4 to 6 main course servi |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 celery stalk (with leaves), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 5 button mushrooms, quartered
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
- 4 cups 3/4 inch diced POACHED CHICKEN,recipe follows, or other cooked chicken
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter,sliced
- 3/4 cup milk, plus for brushing the top
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 10 sprigs parsley
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 small onion, halved
- 1 small carrot, halved
- 1 stalk celery, halved
- 3 pounds chicken breasts halves, on the bone and fat trimmed
- 5 to 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
Instructions
- To make the stew: Heat the butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, celery, mushrooms, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until browned, about 1 minute more. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken broth, bring the stew to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer until the mixture is very thick, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and return to a boil. Remove from the heat. Season with pepper to taste and stir in the parsley, chives, and dill. Set aside while you make the biscuit topping.
- To make the biscuit dough: In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until evenly combined. Rub 2 tablespoons of the butter into the flour with your fingertips, until it is completely absorbed. Work the remaining butter into the flour until it is in even pieces about the size of a pea. Add the lemon zest to the milk. Gently stir the milk into the flour mixture to make a loose dough.
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Pat the dough by hand into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. After folding the biscuit dough into thirds, pat into a 10-inch wide disc.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Bring the chicken and vegetable mixture to a boil and place the biscuit dough on top. Using a paring knife, make a small hole in the center of the dough. Using a pastry brush, brush the biscuit top lightly with milk. Transfer the skillet to a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let the pie rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.
- Put the parsley, thyme, onion, carrot, celery, and chicken breasts in a medium saucepan. Cover with the broth, and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat to very low and cover. Poach the chicken for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, and cool the chicken in the liquid for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Bone and skin the chicken and cut the meat into 3/4 inch cubes. Discard the bones and skin.
- Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using.
Reviews
The crust and gravy are fabulous. I used a 10-inch skillet and only about 3 cups of the broth. Good, versatile recipe.
I gave this 4 stars as it is very time consuming but very good. A little too salty, I would add less salt to it. I did use the broth from the stewed chicken & it gave a very rich flavor to the gravy.I didn’t have pearl onions & just chopped some onion & omitted the mushrooms, my family is picky about mushrooms. I made the biscuits separate and served the stew over top of biscuits. I will be making this again.
Anyone who is considering using store bought biscuit dough for this recipe: DON’T! The topping in the recipe is the best part and it only takes 5 minutes to make! I plan on saving that part of the recipe just for regular biscuits.
Every recipe I make that calls for low-sodium broth I always use regular because, let’s face it, low-sodium anything is disgusting! This recipe was a little puzzling because even though you are instructed to use low-sodium broth, they tell you to throw in a tablespoon of salt! But if you’re going to follow this recipe to the letter make sure to stick to low-sodium broth or it will turn out much too salty.
Lastly, it took much more than 3 minutes for the gravy to become “very thick,” and by the time it reduced to the proper thickness and I added the chicken, there wasn’t enough gravy left in the pan. So I’d suggest using more broth/roux for more gravy to get that true Chicken Pot Pie consistency.
To sum up, I will definitely make this recipe again because it is packed with flavor (the dill really rounds it out), it is wholesome, filling, and cheap!
Funny, I had store bought chicken broth standing by for this recipe, then realized I had fresh chicken broth on the stove right in front of me after poaching the breasts! And it was soo tastey. I did use 1/3 cup of flour, but I just ladeled in the broth as needed to make the desired consistency; no measuring, I don’t know how much I added. Thats probably the best way to go. I omitted the mushrooms, but added frozen peas which to me was a MUST have. I coursely chopped a small sweet onion because I couldn’t find frozen pearls. I didn’t use any of the herbs. Also, I used store bought biscuits, and baked the whole thing in the same cast iron skillet I made the stew in. It was really really REALLY good, I highly recommend it!!
Great dish & a great use of leftover chicken or probably even turkey. I agree with previous reviews that using 1/2 cup flour and less chicken broth (I used 3 1/2 cups) makes for a nice thick pot pie (like you would imagine it should be). I also added some thyme and used a typical white onion instead of pearl (because this is what I had on hand). I used packaged biscuits which tasted good, but will likely make the dough myself next time just to try it. Husband loved it as well.
This is a 10 STAR pot pie biscuit dough!
I used my own filling recipe for the pie – so I am only able to rate the biscuit dough… and it is fabulous! This is the only way to top a pot pie!
Place the pie in a fancy bowl, and it is VERY IMPRESSIVE! I will serve this to company, for holidays and etc. It is a great dish to impress.
Don’t forget to freeze the butter; it makes a big difference.
I followed the stew recipe very closely but I used packaged biscuits. The flavors were very good, even with dried herbs. I was surprised at how quick and easy it was. Not as thick as I would like; will use less broth and more flour next time… maybe because I didn’t bake it (put right into bowls with baked biscuits), but I can’t imagine that baking with a crust would allow that much water to evaporate. I used bouillon and canned mushrooms, so I wish I would have left out the salt until I tasted it at the end. My 3 year old daughter LOVED it and my husband wants it again.
I left out the mushrooms just because I didn’t have any, and I used dried herbs. This was amazingly good! The biscuit crust was perfect. It was soft and soggy where it meets the chicken mix, it was perfect. I will be making this again and again.
This actually made 8 servings in my opinion. I added another stalk of celery to the filling. I also used half chicken stock and half water when poaching the chicken, and then used the liquid from poaching for the chicken stock in the filling. It probably would have been a little richer if we had used all stock, but I still found it plenty flavorful. I also used skim milk without a problem. It helped to put the biscuit dough in the freezer for 5 minutes to keep it from breaking.
I also had trouble with the pan. Ended up using a pot. Came out great.