Chef John's Revised Chicken & Biscuits

By Babycatgrandma

"This recipe is the best of three chicken dinner favorites--chicken and biscuits, chicken pot pie, and chicken and dumplings--all in one!" I revised Chef John's (all recipes) recipe to use a food network cooking technique that result in a richer stock when cooking the chicken. I would strongly recommend cooking your own organic chicken for best results! The time to make this is well worth the effort. My husband needs to have this throughout the winter season!

Ingredients

• INGREDIENTS:
• Stock: about 2 quarts
• 1 (2 3/4 - 3 lb) whole chicken, rinsed
• Water to cover (too much will result in a watered down stock)
• 2 carrots, cut in large chunks
• 3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
• 2 large white onions, quartered
• 1 head of garlic, halved
• 1 turnip, halved
• 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• Stew:
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 6 or more mushrooms, quartered
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (start with 1/4 and taste for heat)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c milk
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• Stewed chicken from above (about 4 cups)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated biscuit dough

Preparation

Step 1

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place chicken in large (9-quart) stock pot, pour in water, and drop in veggies & seasonings. Bring to simmer over medium-low heat. As foam rises to the top of the broth, skim and discard with a ladle. Add peeled garlic cloves, cover pot, and simmer on low for 1 hour or until chicken is done.
2. Remove chicken from pot, and allow to cool for a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove all meat from the bones, and set the chicken meat aside. Pour stock into a bowl and set aside.
3. In a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter, and cook and stir carrots, celery, onion,
and mushrooms until the vegetables start to become tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, thyme, rosemary and paprika. Mix in flour, stirring to coat vegetables with flour, about 3 minutes. Add half of reserved stock (1 quart) and stir with the vegetables and flour to form a very thick sauce. Stir in remaining stock until sauce is smooth; reduce heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 45 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5. Stir milk into the sauce, and gently mix in the reserved chicken meat, Bring stew back to a simmer, and cook for 10 more minutes. Add frozen peas. Pop open the can of biscuits, separate, and place biscuits on top of stew.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until the biscuits are golden brown and the stew is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Be sure to place on rack just below center and watch carefully. Place lid on the pot or Dutch oven, and return to oven; bake until biscuits are cooked through, about 15 more minutes. Test biscuits for doneness by pulling apart a biscuit near the middle of the stew to see if it's cooked through.
Private Recipe from Karen Brown Printed from Allrecipes.com 2/10/2013