CREAMED CHICKEN AND BISCUITS

My Momma used to make this all the time for us growing up! It was probably one of my favorite meals. She would make a big pot of creamed chicken, then bake biscuits (I’m fairly certain she did what I did here and used a can)…who cares? She would then pour the creamy chicken over the hot, buttered biscuits…I decided to change things up just a bit.

I admit, I am not much of a baker. If you want to make your own biscuits, I am sure you have an amazing recipe, or can find one out there! Keep in mind, this is not a pot pie. I did not include a lot of vegetables. You can, if you wish. I added them only for flavor, then took most of them out at the end, except for the carrots. If you want to treat this like a deconstructed pot pie, you can add frozen peas and/or mixed vegetables to the creamed chicken prior to placing in oven.

This is a perfect comfort dish. It’s relatively simple to prepare…just may get a little messy when you are de-boning the chicken. I got you every step of the way! You need to use bone-in chicken…I used breasts, but you can use any part of the chicken you desire.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large stock pot. Season the chicken breasts with kosher salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Add to oil and allow to brown nicely on both sides. Pour in the chicken stock. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom. Whisk in about three-quarters of the cream of chicken soup. Add in the celery, carrots, onions, and bay leaves. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Turn up the heat to almost a boil. Reduce to a low simmer. Allow the chicken to fully cook. As everything is simmering in the pot, you will notice the sauce will thicken and have a gravy-like consistency.

When the chicken is fully cooked and tender…this is the kind of messy part. Remove from pot…try to shake off the excess gravy. Place on a plate. Pull chicken from the bone and shred with two forks. Because I do not like the vegetables in this dish, remove the celery stalks, onion, and bay leaves. If you like, you can dice the celery, onions and carrots when you first put them in the pot and leave them in the final dish. I only left the carrots. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot. The sauce should be thick enough at this point. Sorry about the blurry photo! Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cast iron skillet with a touch of olive oil. I used this 12″ skillet from Lodge…click here to purchase. Fill the pan with the creamed chicken. Top with the uncooked biscuits. Brush with melted butter.

Place cast iron skillet in oven and allow to bake until the biscuits are fully-cooked and brown. Remove from oven and brush a little extra melted butter on biscuits. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve and ENJOY!!!