Chicken Pot-pie with Biscuit Topping

It was a cold and rainy Sunday last week and I wanted to make something that was warm and comforting.  I was originally going to attempt chicken and dumplings but I couldn't find a recipe that I liked and I didn't really want to call my husbands grandmother either.  So I looked around our pantry and freezer and decided on a pot-pie.

When I make things like casseroles, I like to make enough so I can freeze one for a later date, and with this I did just that.  I actually made three, I used an oval casserole dish that would serve 4-6 and two smaller rectangle dishes that would serve 2-3 good size portions. (As you can see in the pictures.)  You can use what ever vegetables you would like with this, use what you have on hand or in season, works well with out meat also.

The recipe is as follows:

For the Filling:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

4-5 medium red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 cups chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

1 – 10 oz bag of frozen shoe peg corn

3 cups frozen peas

2 ½ cups chicken broth

2/3 cup whole milk

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon thyme

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

For the topping:

Biscuit mix, enough for 6-8 biscuits

¼ cup Cheddar cheese

In a large pot, boil the potatoes until just tender. Drain and set aside.  In the same pot, cook the chicken until no longer pink (do not over cook the chicken will continue to cook in the sauce.) Remove the chicken from pot.

Add carrots, celery and garlic to the pot (you can add onion at this point if you would like, I did not since my husband doesn't eat onion.) Once the carrot is tender, add the frozen vegetables, potatoes, herbs and chicken broth.  Cook until all vegetables are cooked.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, temper the milk with a small amount of the broth.  Add to the mixture, along with the flour.  Stir/Whisk until smooth.  Add the chicken.

Simmer over low heat to allow the sauce to thicken.  Meanwhile, prepare biscuits as directed (or make your own from scratch if you have the time.)  Mix the cheese with the biscuit mixture.

Pour filling into baking dishes.** Top with the biscuit mixture, and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until topping is cooked.

**If you plan on freezing, allow the filling to cool completely.  Add the topping; refrigerated biscuit dough or pie crust also works well.  Wrap the container very well with plastic wrap and foil; try to get as much of the air out as possible. When you are ready to cook, thaw in the refrigerator completely, cook at 400 degrees for about 50-60 minutes.