Pumpkin and Spice

Chunks of chicken, savory veggies and a light gravy, nestled under a flaky, tender buttermilk biscuit crust... Sound good? Oh, trust me, it is! This is one of Kyle's favorite dishes that I make. He actually requests it, which is unusual, as generally, he's happy to eat whatever I whip up. It's a wonderful, soothing comfort dish. (I'm on a bit of a comfort food kick right now...)

Chicken in a Biscuit is kind of a cross between chicken pot pie and chicken and dumplings. It actually was born as a way to use up leftover cooked chicken and some buttermilk I had leftover from another recipe. Now, whenever we have a rotisserie chicken, I shred the leftovers and freeze them. Once I have enough saved, it's Chicken in a Biscuit night! (Although, sometimes, I cook chicken breasts just for this!) With Thanksgiving coming up, this would also be a great way to use up leftover turkey.

This is bound to become a favorite way to make leftover chicken something to get excited about. It's delicious, savory and warm, perfect for a cold winter night!

If you've never made biscuits before, don't be intimidated. I just tried a cool trick I saw on Good Eats the other day, and it worked perfectly- Instead of using a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture, use a cheese grater to shred your cold butter. Then you can simply toss the butter shreds in the dry ingredients, and add your buttermilk. It's so easy! (I love you, Alton Brown!)

Chicken in a Biscuit
Serves 6-8

For the "filling"~

• 2t canola oil
• 1c carrots, chopped
• 1c celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5-7c cooked chicken or turkey, chopped
• 3-4T cornstarch
• 2-3c chicken broth
• salt and pepper, to taste

The biscuit topping~

• 3 1/2c flour
• 1t salt
• 2T baking powder
• 1T sugar
• 5oz cold butter
• 8oz cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375F. In a saucepan, heat the oil. Cook the carrots, celery and onions with a pinch of salt until the onions are soft and transluscent. Once veggies are cooked, put into a 2.5-3qt casserole dish, along with the cooked chicken. Mix together. Combine 3T cornstarch and 2c broth, either by shaking together in a jar, or whisking together in a bowl. Pour over the chicken and veggies. If more gravy is desired, combine the extra 1T of cornstarch and 1c broth.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Using a cheese grater, shred the cold butter. Toss the shredded butter in the flour mixture to combine. Add the cold butter and knead lightly to form a dough. (Don't knead too much, or the biscuits will be tough.) Pat the dough into a disk the size of the casserole dish, and top the chicken with the biscuit. Brush the top of the biscuit with some buttermilk or melted butter to improve browning. Bake for 45-60min or until the biscuit is cooked and the internal temperature reaches 165F.

Oh! Guess what? My mama pumpkin (who sometimes comments as EJ) has a conference to attend here in Florida, so she's flying down here early, and she, Kyle and I are going to spend five days in the Florida Keys! She gets in tomorrow night. I'm so excited- we have so much fun stuff planned. It'll be like a last taste of the tropics for me before I leave next Saturday for my externship in the cold, snowy mountains of Utah!