Shortcut Chicken and Biscuits
We're coming into the season of comfort food guys, and there may be nothing quite so comforting as a warming bowl of chicken and biscuits. You know what's also comforting? Knowing that you can pull off this classic home cooked meal in under an hour! Ready yourself for the cheers!!
If you're like most of us, getting a delicious and nutritious dinner on the table every night (or at least 5 out of 7) is a real challenge. We're juggling work, school, dinner-interfering sports schedules and more. Enter the rotisserie chicken. Many of you probably buy them regularly, but how often do you do anything other than serve them as is? Well, I am here to tell you that with a little creativity, you can create special meals that come together with a minimum of time and effort...like this recipe for chicken and biscuits. Here's how--
You start by pulling off the chicken from the bones and chopping it up (you could use leftover chicken too) along with an onion, carrot and celery. Then you cook it with some butter, flour, broth etc. to make the traditional stew-like filling.
Meanwhile, you prepare and bake the biscuits which come together surprisingly quickly without the aid of any electric mixer and turn out exceptionally light and flaky. Any leftovers are great reheated with butter and jam for breakfast!!
When everything's done, you split the biscuits in half, place the bottom half in the bowl, top with the hot and immensely satisfying chicken and gravy and top with the other biscuit half. Dinner is served and everyone is happy! Take a bow!
Shortcut Chicken and Biscuits
Makes 6 servings
Prep Time: Under 1 hour
Ingredients
For the biscuits
- 2 cups self-rising flour (if you don't have any you can make your own by adding 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt per cup of regular flour and whisking well)
- 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1 cup whole milk
For the filling
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 celery rib, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Pinch or two black pepper
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour (not self rising)
- 1 ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- About 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken (from a 3-3 ½ pound rotisserie chicken or just use leftover chicken)
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 450º F.
2. To make the biscuits: blend the flour and butter together in a bowl with a pastry blender, two forks or your fingertips until it looks like coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps of butter. You really don't want to over mix or biscuits will be tough. Use a fork to stir in the milk just until a sticky dough forms.
3. Flour a board or countertop and turn the dough out onto it. Knead gently 7-8 times. Pat dough into a 9x6-inch rectangle and cut into 6 even squares. Transfer to a rimmed cookie sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cool a bit.
4. While the biscuits bake, make the filling. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the butter, onion, carrot, celery, salt and pepper and let cook about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until veggies are softened. Sprinkle over the flour and let cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour in broth, turn up the heat and bring to a boil, stirring. Then lower the heat to medium again and let boil another 2 minutes or so, stirring every now and then.
5. Add in the half-and-half and the chicken and cook another 5 minutes, allowing the chicken to heat all the way through. Stir in the lemon juice and remove from the heat.
6. Split the biscuits in half horizontally and place the bottoms in bowls. Top with chicken and gravy and then with the biscuit tops. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from an old issue of Gourmet Magazine.
