Chicken Pot Pie Biscuits

 

I happen to be one of those people who appreciate comfort food.  Chicken pot pie is right up there with hugs and snuggly blankets.  However, I don't always want to make a full-on pie and this version goes together pretty quickly.  My daughter ate hers in less than 3 minutes - it was like watching a Hoover commercial.

The biscuit recipe comes from my friend Michelle.  She made them for us over a month or so ago and I had to have the recipe.  Thankfully, she was willing to share!  You can cut them out with a biscuit cutter, but I find it's easiest/fastest to pat the dough into a square or rectangle and just cut the biscuits with a pizza cutter.  They won't be round, but they'll bake and taste the same - tender and delicious.

CHICKEN POT PIE FILLING
adapted from Chicken Pot Pie IX on Allrecipes.com

2 1/2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup diced onions
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. celery seed
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup frozen peas

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until carrots begin to soften.  Stir in flour and cook for one minute.  Slowly stir in chicken broth, milk, and celery seed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and carrots are tender.  Stir in chicken and peas and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

SKY HIGH BISCUITS
courtesy of Michelle H.

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cold!
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together first 5 ingredients.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.*  Stir in beaten egg and milk; dough will be sticky.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, adding more flour as needed.  Pat dough out to 3/4" thickness and cut as desired.  Place on greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until fluffy and lightly golden.  Makes 8-9 biscuits.


TO ASSEMBLE CHICKEN POT PIE BISCUITS:

Cut biscuits in half and place bottom half on plate.  Spoon pot pie filling over biscuit and top with remaining half.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

I've already shared a family recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad.  This one is a little different.  It uses Napa cabbage instead of lettuce and has a great crunchy topping made up of ramen noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds.  In case you were wondering, Napa cabbage (or Chinese cabbage) looks like this:

 image source

Most grocery stores carry it, but if you can't find it for some reason, you can substitute a head of green cabbage.

There are lots of variations of this cabbage salad.  Some include peanuts or peanut oil, others don't add chicken.  This is my favorite version so far and it comes from Your Homebased Mom.  I've only adapted it slightly.  Leigh Anne recommends using the leftovers of a rotisserie chicken (good flavor that way), but I had some diced cooked chicken already on hand.

CHINESE CABBAGE SALAD
slightly adapted from Your Homebased Mom

Topping:
1 pkg. chicken flavored ramen noodles
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Salad:
1 large head Napa cabbage (about 2 1/2 lbs.), chopped
6 green onions, chopped
2 1/2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 can mandarin oranges, drained; optional

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil

Break up the ramen noodles into small pieces, reserve the flavor packet.  Melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet; add the noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown.  Watch it carefully so the sesame seeds don't burn.  Stir in the flavor packet and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine chopped cabbage, green onions, mandarin oranges (if using) and chicken.  In a jar or resealable container, add dressing ingredients and shake to combine.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with crunchy topping.

Alternately, you can serve the dressing on the side.

Easy Chocolate Toffee Cookies

I first shared this recipe back in October of 2011.  I love how quick they are to make and the fact that there's only 4 ingredients. They stay soft a long time and the bits of toffee studded throughout add a great crunch.

EASY CHOCOLATE TOFFEE COOKIES
slightly adapted from Chocolate Toffee Cookies on Allrecipes.com

1 box devil's food cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 (8 oz) package Heath Bits o' Toffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Fold in toffee bits. Drop by tablespoonfuls (I used a medium cookie scoop) two inches apart on cookies sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are firm. Let cool 5 minutes on sheet before removing to a wire rack.  Makes about 26 cookies.