I made this for dinner tonight and wrote up a post on it, so I thought I’d share here, since we haven’t had a recipe post in a while.
We ended up with about 24 inches of snow, not counting the impressive drifts. Everything was closed again today while we clean up. As it’s Colorado, it’s already melting and the sidewalks, driveways and patio are already dry. The four-foot drifts/snow piles from shoveling will take a bit more time. But it will be in the sixties by the end of the week.
In less than good news, two of my plum trees lost huge branches, and my 10-15 foot bushes’ health is still to be determined. Most will probably survive.
The big ducks demanded access to the yard, so I shoveled a path and they hung out on the patio, quickly understanding that those snow walls were unscalable. Although Maddie gave it a good try. That duck is small enough to fly short distances and uses it to scale any obstacle I put in her way. She gave me two eggs this morning, so spring can’t be far away.
Anyway, the weather just cried out for comfort food. So tonight it’s chicken and biscuits.
Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuit Pot Pie
- 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Salt & pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cups sliced carrots (frozen ok)
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 large Yukon Gold Potatoes, scrubbed and diced
- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1/2 cup peas (frozen ok)
Set a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat
In a large bowl, combine the chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil. Sear chicken in pan, stirring occasionally until the chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside in a separate bowl. Add butter to the pan and, when melted, add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the stock, browned chicken, potatoes, and spices.
Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat so that the sauce just simmers, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and potatoes are tender…about 25-35 minutes.
While it simmers, prepare Buttermilk Biscuits, below.
Just before adding biscuits, fold peas into chicken mixture and then remove the pan from the heat.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place the biscuits on top of the chicken and gravy, with 6 biscuits around the edge of the pan and the remaining 4 biscuits in the center (if you have a leftover biscuit or two, bake on a separate baking sheet). Be sure the biscuits do not touch, so they cook thoroughly. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and flaky…14 to 15 minutes. Allow the pot pie to cool briefly before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.
Buttermilk Biscuits:
- 2 cups flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup shortening
- ¾ cup milk
- 4 tbsp powdered buttermilk
- 2 tbsp melted butter to brush on formed biscuits
Mix dry ingredients, make a center hole in the dry ingredients and add in shortening and milk. Blend together, then knead 10-12 strokes on a floured surface, roll out to ½” thick, cut into 8-10 biscuits.
What’s on your plate tonight? I’m going to try and get some actual work done, since today seemed to be about recovering from shoveling, time change and accessing yard damage.
Open thread
BruceFromOhio
So little time, so many open threads! Delicious!
Starboard Tack
Oh, man, after shoveling out all day, that looks soooo good
ETA:I’ve been using that powdered buttermilk for years. It’s great stuff to have on hand when I just want pancakes. Dried malt extract is also great in baked goods sometimes instead of sugar.
ETA2: Is scenod a thing now?
NotMax
Just for a change (not!) it began raining to beat the band about an hour ago. Quick check online shows the rains again rolled in, but earlier in the day, at other spots on the island. And the bonus for today is a spectral mixture of fog and vog.
Recipe brings up toothsome memories of something which I like a lot yet haven’t made in a long time – tuna pie.
Just Some Fuckhead
Here’s my gluten-free biscuit recipe for those of us who wheat is trying to kill.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups gluten-free Cup4Cup flour (this shit is the bomb)
1 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup ginger ale
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°.
1. Melt 1/3 cup butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. Begin with 10 seconds, remove and stir. Butter should be barely melted.
2. Whisk buttermilk and sugar into melted butter until smooth.
3. Add gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar and stir with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add ginger ale and stir until mixture comes together. It should be fairly sticky. (We actually put it in the mixer with the hook attachment.)
5. Lightly flour (gluten-free) counter top with about 2 tablespoons more flour mix and turn dough onto counter, turning to fully coat. Be careful not to mix the flour into the dough.
6. Flatten with your hands into a circle about 3/4″ thick.
7. Fold in half to form a half circle, then in half again to form a triangular shape, and pat to 3/4″ thickness again.
8. Repeat the last step. This folding is what creates the flaky, layered effect.
9. Cut into circles with biscuit cutter or large cup and arrange in a round cake pan so the biscuits are so close they are almost touching.
10. Bake biscuits for 7-10 minutes. Remove biscuits just as edges begin to turn a golden brown and be sure not to overcook or they won’t turn out so flaky and soft.
BruceFromOhio
Woops, edit timed out. Sought to add, this is perfect recipe timing as MrsFromOhio occasionally goes on strike (the working conditions at Chez FromOhio can be challenging) and it is within my ability to produce comfort food. It may be Spring Break! Covid SuperSpreader!! Event!!! weather elsewhere, here it is still winter. Though without the snowdrifts at the moment. Glad you are safe at home!
Also, what do you do with Maddie’s eggs? I regret if this is a repeat question.
Also, duckling update maybe perhaps yes?
When the time comes, may all our obits emote such joy in life.
BruceFromOhio
@Starboard Tack:
You are henceforth known as scenod Tack, though only in whispers.
TaMara (HFG)
@BruceFromOhio: I will have a duckling update maybe tomorrow, for sure on Wednesday. They are growing, learning to swim and learning to find their way around the house (not that I want them finding their way around the house, but it’s enrichment until they move outside)
ETA: Duck eggs go to the dogs for excellent coat and some to friends when I’m overrun. Maddie will probably lay once a week now, Mabel is probably done, as they are both middle-aged* now.
counting on the new ducks to be girls and prolific in egg laying come fall.
*middle-aged being 4 this month.
Starboard Tack
I think I have a recipe somewhere for chicken and waffles, but I bet I don’t even need one. I’m considerin’ it mightily.
I figure we got about 16″ – 18″ in W. Wash Park. I managed to get enough shoveled out so if there’s another few inches tomorrow night I won’t have to deal with it. The blue sky and sunshine helped a lot. Colorado’s mostly a nice place to live. If you plan to move here, might want to bring your own water.
John Revolta
That not only looks good, it even sounds good!
I can just hear Scarlett O’Hara exclaiming, “Buttermilk biscuit pah!”
Starboard Tack
@TaMara (HFG):
How does cooking with duck eggs compare to chicken eggs?
persistentillusion
@Starboard Tack: Well said, in agreement in slightly soggy COS, so to be bone-dry.
TaMara (HFG)
@Starboard Tack: For baking, they are supposed to be awesome. But I’m not a fan. I tell people it’s like eating butter, they are so rich (and HUGE).
But the dogs love them and a little goes a long way to enrich their meals.
TaMara (HFG)
@persistentillusion:
@Starboard Tack:
I killed most of my front lawn in the fall and am so excited to start adding butterfly and hummingbird attracting bushes and plants this spring. Also looking forward to the low water bills.
Part two of killing my lawn is here
Steeplejack
We might get a whiff of snow here in NoVA tomorrow, but I doubt it. Big Weather overhyped every snow event we had this winter, so their credibility is damaged. . . . Just checked, and they’ve backed off already. The temp will be in the low 40s when we’re supposed to get precipitation tomorrow afternoon, so I don’t see how that will be snow. I have no plans to be out and about anyway, so it’s all academic.
Starboard Tack
@TaMara (HFG): Any idea how duck eggs would be for custard?
Spanky
@Just Some Fuckhead: This makes me happy, for Mrs. Spanky the celiac sufferer
ETA I’ll have to use substitutes for the dairy, yet another one of her issues.
TaMara (HFG)
@Starboard Tack: Probably good, but I’d definitely taste them first and make sure you like the flavor, but it’s different than chicken egg and might affect the flavor.
Spanky
@Steeplejack: NWS sez slight
equal chance of rainorchance of snow midnight to dawn. Lows in the mid-30s.Edited (Bastards updated it recently.)
KrackenJack
@Starboard Tack:
I’d opt for “cosend” myself…I mean if I could ever reach that exalted position.
Mary G
Oooh, that sounds good. I bought some buttermilk powder back in the early Covid days when you posted about it and I was obsessing over getting flour, which I have a ton of now and have done no baking. Every bread recipe I read said if you use buttermilk powder you have to use a Kitchen Aid to knead the dough as it is very wet, so I obsessed about Kitchen Aids for a while, but managed not to buy one. I’ll get some chicken and peas in the next grocery order and hopefully make this.
Wyatt Salamanca
OT
RIP Sally Grossman, Bob Dylan Cover Icon and Wife of Manager Albert, Dead at 81
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sally-grossman-bob-dylan-cover-153723044.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJHbfkROow
TaMara (HFG)
@Spanky: You can use water and up the shortening amount (might need to play with amounts) and that should get you the same results.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Spanky: Long term untreated celiac disease does lead to other issues like lactose intolerance and fructose intolerance. Have you looked at the lactose-free milk options? (Of course, dairy intolerance could also be an allergic reaction to a protein in milk which is a whole ‘nother nightmare. Check out A2 milk. Doesn’t have the offending protein and as a side benefit, it lasts for fuckingever in the refrigerator.)
You can “make” buttermilk with lactose-free milk. From the internet:
” if you have a very low tolerance for lactose, you can make a buttermilk substitute with lactose–free milk — though it may taste a bit on the sweet side (4). Simply add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of lemon juice or vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add lactose–free milk to the 1-cup line (237 ml) and stir.
(One of the things I missed the most when I went gluten-free a few years ago was homemade biscuits with bacon gravy. I’m happy to report you can use gluten-free Cup4Cup flour to make good bacon gravy.)
Starboard Tack
@TaMara (HFG):
That sounds great. Gardens are really important to feed pollinators, including insects. Birds in the southwest are in bad shape, too. I read an article that some have fallen out of the air, dead from starvation. The drought is a large part of it.
brendancalling
It’s so cold I’ve left the house twice, and only for the convenience store across the street. Nothing on hand appealed to me, so I ordered a pizza. The hell with it.
Steeplejack
@Spanky:
Huh. My microclimate (Falls Church) forecast for tonight is high 30s, 10% chance of precipitation.
Sure Lurkalot
We got about the same amount of snow in SE Denver and our patios, sidewalk and street are pretty much dry. I live in a duplex community so our snow removal is done by others, but my dear one went out a couple of times in the blizzard yesterday to beat the trees. So far, looks like no damage. We strapped on snowshoes and walked to and around our pocket park for about and hour. Hard enough work that I’m making sausages, cabbage and tater tots for dinner. Yeah, it’s a weird combo.
Starboard Tack
@Mary G:
By my experience, if you’re using buttermilk powder for muffins, biscuits, pancakes or other quick breads, mixing the powder with the dry ingredients should be just fine. If you want to use it in a yeast bread, you can reconstitute the powder in the basic liquid before you add it. You should be able to hand knead after that.
Starboard Tack
@KrackenJack:
I must be lysdexic.
Feathers
Put this link in yesterday’s recommend thread, but I’ll put it here again, because it is a cooking channel on YouTube.
Aaron and Claire That’s their website (which I just found). I came across him on YouTube: Aaron and Claire YouTube Channel They are in Seoul, Korea and give recipes for cheap and easy versions of Asian (Korea centric) dishes. It’s just what I was looking for to mix up my quarantine cooking for one. I like being able to just throw stuff together. He starts with the easiest version of whatever he’s doing (often an ingredient, like tomatoes) working his way through 4 or 5 variations. He always suggests just using what you have on had and often gives multiple suggestions for substitutions.
Here’s the easiest of his Five Lazy Fried Rice Recipes:
Dumpling Fried Rice
I had some Trader Joe’s dumplings, but not enough for a meal. I like them, but I don’t always have a meal to work around them. This was a very tasty way to use them up.
Weatherwise, it was 70 degrees a few days ago here in Boston. Woke up this morning to 8 degrees, 0 with wind chill. If I were going outside, I’d be getting a bad cold. I don’t take temperature shifts well.
Edit to fix formatting.
Dorothy A. Winsor
That looks scrumptious. I love biscuits with anything
TaMara (HFG)
@Feathers: Make sure Cole sees this as he just bought a new wok and was looking for recipes.
StringOnAStick
@TaMara (HFG): Good point in your post about keeping some grass as a selling point. The house we sold in Golden last fall had no grass, and that turned off some potential buyers. At the time I did it, I thought that was our last home.
Here we have a huge Ponderosa pine in the front yard, and as I’ve been working on getting the neglected flower beds free of grass it became obvious to me that the prodigious rate of needle drop means we need grass under the needle drop perimeter, just like your plum tree. I’m going to get the grass taken out by a service and then go with a blue gramma developed for turf applications. That’s what is native under a Ponderosa around here and it doesn’t invade like buffalo grass does. High Country Gardens sells a version but I bet I can get seed locally.
Maybe I’ll do the lasagne method to kill the backyard grass this summer, because it’s on the hit list too. I just can not water blue grass in a desert environment!
RSA
I’d love to see more TaMara recipe posts.
I’m a latecomer to the pandemic baking craze. My accomplishment? Banana bread. Easy, I know, but it’s the very first loaf I’ve made on my own from scratch.
geg6
My evening is being spent feeding John Tylenol and saying “Poor baby!” when he complains about the vicious side effects he is experiencing from his second jab. He’s got chills and muscle aches all over and his jabbed arm is super sore. He is not feeling well at all. He’ll be in bed soon, no doubt.
Steeplejack
@RSA:
Congratulations! ? Or ? I guess.
Starboard Tack
@geg6:
Mazel Tov!! That all means it’s working.
NotMax
@RSA
Yay! Magic 8-ball foresees further baking ahead.
RSA
@Steeplejack:
@NotMax:
LOL. And thanks!
Benw
We did pasta tonight. Macaroni & cheese for some, (frozen) ravioli for others!
This sounds delicious. I’d throw in some fake chicken and veggie broth instead. The biscuits look amazing! If I happen to have some fresh buttermilk on hand, can I sub it in for the milk/buttermilk powder?
Cowgirl in the Sandi
If you don’t have buttermilk powder, but you DO have buttermilk, what would be the proportion for adding liquid buttermilk? I just happened to have some!
Starboard Tack
I think subbing the liquid buttermilk for the milk would be fine. Adding the powdered buttermilk increases the milk solids which might make the biscuits brown a bit better, but the baking soda helps browning, too. Both the liquid and powder buttermilk are a little acidic and will react with the baking soda for leavening.
ETA: In any case, you’d want to adjust the liquid/flour to get the proper dough consistency, and not overknead it. From the recipe, it looks like the dough shouldn’t be too shaggy.
TaMara (HFG)
@RSA: If you like strawberries, you can substitute them for the bananas to make strawberry bread that’s out of this world. Recipe here
Gluten Free here
NotMax
@NotMax
Suspected I had shared the recipe previously. Tracked it down: Tuna pie.
mrmoshpotato
I don’t care what’s underneath the biscuits! Yummo!
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Wondering if any of the Brits here saw that as a casserole consisting of chicken and cookies.
:)
RSA
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks! I’ve stored the recipe away. And if I see frozen strawberries before they come into season, I’ll do it.