Chicken Potpie with Green Apples and Cheddar Biscuits | Tri-City Herald

The Tri-City Herald's Food & Wine section Nov. 24 will feature Menu Planner, a weekly feature giving seven days of dinner menus, shopping hints and tips on using leftovers from one meal in a new way later in the week. The section also includes more recipes plus buying, cooking and health tips on a variety of food-related subjects.

Chicken Potpie with Green Apples and Cheddar Biscuits

If including cream sherry in a dish bound for a family table causes concern, let the dish cook for a few additional minutes after adding to allow the alcohol to burn off, or skip it.

The author writes, "This recipe makes one big potpie, but to save time or simplify, make two potpies, using 9-inch pie plates or 8-inch square baking pans and top with refrigerated store-bought piecrust from a 15-ounce box, following the baking instructions in the recipe. Or, freeze the second pie for another occasion, and bake it (still frozen) at 400 degrees until golden and bubbly, about 1 hour."

Ingredients

For the chicken:

2 cups chicken broth

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter, divided

2 large leeks, dark green leaves trimmed away, washed thoroughly to remove grit, and light green and white parts chopped

2 large Granny Smith apples, quartered, cored and thinly sliced crosswise

1 large rotisserie chicken, shredded (5-6 cups)

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage

1/4 cup cream sherry

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

For the biscuits:

2 cups bleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, frozen solid

1 cup cold buttermilk, plus a few more teaspoons if necessary

Instructions

For the chicken, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Microwave chicken broth and evaporated milk in a microwave safe bowl until steamy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large (11 to 12-inch) deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks and apples and cook, stirring, until just tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer leeks and apples, along with chicken, to a large bowl; set aside.

Heat remaining 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter over medium heat in the empty skillet. When foaming subsides, whisk in flour and sage and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in hot-milk mixture and simmer, stirring, until sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute. Turn off heat, stir in sherry and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir sauce, along with parsley, into chicken mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings. Pour mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or divide between two 8-inch square baking pans or two 9-inch pie plates.

For the biscuits, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cheddar with fork in a medium bowl. Using a box grater, coarsely grate frozen butter into dry ingredients; mix quickly with fingertips to evenly blend. Mix buttermilk into dry ingredients with fork until dough just comes together. Pinch dough with fingers into small rough rounds and place over filling. Bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Serve.

Yield: 8 servings

From Perfect One-Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson