When the brain fails to function properly, as mine is doing these days, I can always resort to a recipe of something yummy made recently and recommended for your tasting pleasure. I found this recipe here at Mel's Kitchen Cafe the other day and it just looked so perfect for a cold winter night here in blustery New England. So I had Paul pick up a block of cheddar cheese, for the biscuits, and off we went into culinary mode.



You can also get the details on the web site. This is like a chicken pot pie but the biscuit topping is different and very good.

CONFETTI CHICKEN BAKE W/CHEDDAR BISCUIT TOPPING

Ingredients:

Main portion:
2-3 c. Chicken cubed (boneless skinless breast meat)
1/2 c. carrots, diced (I used these rather than red pepper)
1-2 c. frozen peas (I used 2 cups when 1 cup looked puny)
1/2 onion diced
2 TBSP minced garlic
Olive oil
3 TBSP butter
1-1/2 c. milk
1-1/2 c. chicken (or other) stock low/no sodium
1/4 c. flour
Salt & Pepper

Cheddar Biscuits:
1 c. flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken, stirring every so often, until browned and cooked through, 5-6 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces to a plate.

Add the butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat.

Add the chopped onion, garlic, and carrots (or red pepper). Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until the veggies are crisp tender but not cooked through all the way (they'll cook longer in the oven).

Stir in the flour and whisk the mixture together, cooking over medium heat until the flour starts to turn golden, about 1-2 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, whisking vigorously to eliminate any lumps of flour on the vegetables. Continue adding the chicken broth and whisking and then do the same with the milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper (plus more to taste, if needed) and stir in the frozen peas and cooked chicken.

Immediately transfer the mixture to a 9X13-inch baking dish.

Biscuit mixture:

To make the biscuit mixture, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, milk and cheese, mixing just until evenly moistened.

Scoop (I used a small ice cream scoop that I use to make cookies) tablespoon-size portions of dough onto the top of the chicken/vegetable mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through. Serve immediately.



Yes, those two dinner plates are different sizes. The larger one is Paul's which is a normal inconsequential plate I got one year at T.J. Maxx in their gift section, and the little one is more of an antique that I found at a yard sale in upstate Vermont many years ago when I was there with my then-boyfriend, Steve. It's only recently that I've been using that plate for myself because less food will look like more, and for me that's a good thing!

Anyway, Paul totally made the biscuits himself, and that is quite a feat considering he does not cook at all. He helps me a lot more in the kitchen now-a-days since it's quite painful for me to be walking back and forth to get various things for a recipe. We put Leonard Cohen on the CD player and cranked it up... nothing like a toe-tapping Leonard Cohen tune to get one moving... and with his help, we got this made in about half the time it would have taken me to put it all together. I know it's only one dish but lately I cook as simply as possible due to the aforementioned body pain I have when moving around. So I want to give Paul a big shout out for being such a great "sous chef" for me.

This dish came out fabulous. Thanks to Mel at the web site, too. She always has great recipes. This was better tasting than any chicken pot pie I've ever had. The little bit of cheddar in the biscuits was the difference I think, but I might double it in the future as I do love cheddar and it might need a bit more than the 1 cup.

So there you have it. A good hot winter dish to warm the cockels of your tums.

Cheers,

Bex & Co.



From days gone by...a youthful Kippie & Em

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog...

He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world...

When all other friends desert, he remains."

~ George V. Vest ~

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