Chicken And Fennel Pie With Bacon Biscuit Crust Food

MOM'S FABULOUS CHICKEN POT PIE WITH BISCUIT CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, celery, and carrots until the celery and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, parsley, thyme and flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and half-and-half, and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the chicken meat.
• Transfer the chicken, vegetables, and sauce into a 2-quart baking dish. Arrange biscuits on top of the filling. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with water; brush egg yolk on the biscuits.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the biscuits are golden brown and the pie filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

CHICKEN WITH FENNEL-CREAM SAUCE AND PENNE

Steps:

• For the chicken: Place the chicken in a pot and add the bay leaves, carrots, celery, lemons, onions, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and some salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and poach the chicken for 1 hour. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and separate the meat into bite-size pieces. Strain the stock and reserve.
• For the pasta: Meanwhile, heat the butter and EVOO in a saucepan over medium-low to medium heat. Add the fennel, garlic and onions and cook very slowly until they are very sweet and soft, 20 to 25 minutes (do not let the onions brown). Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon.
• Transfer the fennel mixture to a blender or food processor and add the heavy cream and 1 cup reserved poaching liquid (or chicken stock). Puree until smooth, then return the mixture to the pot, season with salt and white pepper and simmer over low heat to thicken the sauce a little, 10 to 15 minutes. Add one-third of the chicken to the sauce and reserve the remaining chicken for another use.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta and season with salt. Cook the pasta until al dente. Scoop out a bit of the cooking liquid and add it to the sauce to thin it slightly. Drain the pasta, then add it to the sauce and toss to combine. Garnish the pasta with the pine nuts, cheese, fennel fronds and tarragon.

CHICKEN BISCUIT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
• In a large saucepan, saute chopped onion in the butter. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Add frozen peas and carrots and cooked chicken. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
• In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in milk just until dough is moistened, then drop by spoonfuls onto chicken mixture.
• Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown, and cooked on the bottom. This tends to bubble over so I place a piece of aluminum foil under the pan to catch the drips.

CHICKEN AND FENNEL PIE WITH BACON-BISCUIT CRUST

Steps:

• Make filling:
• In a 4- to 5-quart heavy kettle combine water, broth, chicken breast and leg, peppercorns, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Simmer mixture, covered, until breast is just cooked through, about 12 minutes, and transfer breast with tongs to a bowl. Simmer mixture 5 minutes more, or until leg is just cooked through, and transfer leg with tongs to bowl. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat in large pieces, discarding skin and bones, and put in a large bowl. Pour broth through a fine sieve into a bowl and return to cleaned kettle. Trim fennel stalks flush with bulbs, discarding stalks, and halve bulbs lengthwise. Thinly slice fennel crosswise and cut carrots into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Peel potato and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Thinly slice onion. Simmer vegetables in broth until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes, and with a slotted spoon add to chicken. Measure out 2 cups stock and reserve remainder for another use. Mince garlic and finely chop parsley. Add garlic, parsley, and fennel seeds to chicken mixture.
• In a heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes and whisk in 2 cups stock in a stream. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking, and simmer sauce, whisking, 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over chicken mixture, stirring gently to combine. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely before being chilled, covered. Reheat filling before proceeding. Spoon filling into a 12-inch (10-cup) round baking dish.
• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Make crust:
• Chop bacon and in a heavy skillet cook over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, reserving 1 tablespoon bacon fat, and mince.
• Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add cream, bacon, and reserved fat and with a fork stir until mixture just forms a dough. Gather dough into a ball and on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out into a 12 1/2-inch round (about 1/2 inch thick). Trim dough to create a 12-inch round and with a large knife cut dough into 12 wedges. Arrange wedges on filling in overlapping pairs. In a small bowl whisk together yolk and milk and lightly brush onto crust.
• Bake pie in middle of oven until crust is puffed and golden and filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve pie warm.