chicken pot pie potato chowder & rosemary drop biscuits.

boy howdy. welcome welcome, cozy fall meals.

i am in lurrrve with chicken pot pie. i reallllyy lurrve the goop inside a chicken pot pie. so i figured out a way to essentially eat the innards of a chicken pot pie without feeling like complete dooky about it. 

this is basically a hearty beef & potato stew, hold the beef. but i like to look at it as chicken pot pie chowder, cuz that's how i roll. 

the base of this chowder is made up of a little mashed potato, lots o onion, and chicken broth. add some chicken, peas & carrots, and some more chunky potatoes, and you've got yourself a decently healthy and hearty meal. 

nowww ya know i'm all aboot the texture. so i had to make some simple biscuits to go on the side. throw some fresh rosemary in there and this whole combination is FA BO LO US. holla back, young'n. woo woo.

lemme just tell yaaa, a little bit of butter and flour and rosemary and some other stuff baking in the oven is just... ta die for. instant cozy home. hmmmm i wonder if it would be the opposite of wise to just throw some sprigs of rosemary in the oven and let em smell up the joint. sounds like a dry brush fiyah hazard waiting to happen come to think of it..

i've got a bone to pick with grocery stores and their frozen crinkle carrot selection. i would've ideally used crinkle carrots here, because i love them!! but they are weirdly hard to find! what gives?! howeverrr, these peas & carrots come in the same bag, so ya win some ya lose some.

ok so this is mostly all the things you'll need for this chow chow. not too shabby, eh? make sure you keep half of the potato a bit firm and less cooked, for the stewy chunks. they're necessary. 

also, peas & carrots sure are cute. 

"from that day on we was always together - jenny and me was like peas and carrots."  got forrest gump on the brain because i just realized today that maybe i want to be him for halloweener. running-across-the-country version forrest with straggly hair, cool hat, nikes and smiley face tee. HAHAAA i just now realized that running-across-the-country forrest is basically my spirit animal/style icon. minus all that pesky running. 

this meal comes together fairly quickly once you have your tater and chicken cooked, and veggies chopped and ready. in fact, you can totally cook the chicken and potatoes in advance. like a day in advance. same with the biscuit dough! be sure to keep the dough chilled til just before you bake. you don't want the butter to get all melty. 

and theeere you have it! a super cozy, hearty, healthy-ish, comforting dish. that rhymes. 

Chicken Pot Pie Potato Chowder & Rosemary Drop Biscuits

Chowder Serves 4 // Makes 12 Biscuits

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Rosemary Drop Biscuits-

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 TB granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 6 TB unsalted butter (slightly cold)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 TB fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Pot Pie Potato Chowder-

• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut in half (reserve 3/4 cup of the boiled potato water)
• 2 TB olive oil
• 2 TB milk
• 1 cup cooked & cubed chicken (I used 1 medium chicken breast)
• 2 TB unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups mixed peas & carrots, thawed if frozen

Instructions-

To make the rosemary biscuits, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray and flour a baking sheet. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Cube the butter and cut through the dry ingredients with a fork until crumbly. Use your hands to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture. Add the milk and mix gently until a dough forms. Add either a TB of flour or a TB of milk if dough is too sticky or dry. Lastly, add the chopped rosemary and mix gently. 

Drop golfball sized spoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet. Bake for 22 minutes or until bottoms of biscuits are golden brown. I suggest putting the biscuits in the oven just as you start to prepare the chowder on the stove.

To make the potato chowder, peel and cut the potato in half (as shown in photos above). Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the potato in water, removing one half after 10 minutes, and the other half after 20 minutes. Allow the lesser cooked half to cool slightly, cut into cubes and set aside. Place the well boiled half of potato in a bowl with olive oil, milk, and salt and roughly mash with a potato masher or fork. Set aside.

Cook the chicken as desired. I usually cook a chicken breast on medium/low heat in olive oil for about 4 minutes per side, lightly seasoning each side with salt, pepper, and/or garlic powder. Cut the chicken into cubes.

In a large pot, melt butter on low heat. Add flour and chopped onion, stirring with a spoon. Add 3/4 cup of the reserved potato water from the boiled potato and stir until a thick roux forms. Add chicken broth and black pepper and increase heat to medium/high, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to boil (about 5 minutes).

Add the mashed potato, cubed chicken, peas & carrots, and slowly add the salt (different chicken broths can be more or less salty so beware of how much salt you add in addition). Simmer on medium/low for 5 more minutes. Lastly, add the cubed potato chunks and gently mix. 

Serve immediately with freshly baked rosemary drop biscuits! I plopped the biscuit right smack into the chowder. You should, too, yessiree Bob.

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