Two tasty chicken dishes! :)

Once a week we have friends over for some tabletop gaming, and I provide dinner — it is, in fact, one of the two meals a week which I make. They’re very sweet friends, too, in that they each toss $5 into the kitty for food. There are five of us total, and of course there are some specific food needs. For example, one of the people there is Jewish, and two are pre-diabetic, and two loathe fish, and two have digestive issues with a few particular kinds of food (such as onions or celery), and one has allergies, and all of us could stand to lose a little weight. Also the dinner that night must be the equivalent of six meals.

Hence the following recipe. The nice thing about it is that I realized the directions didn’t say what size or sort of pan to use. Consequently I decided to try for portion control, as per the request of two of the folks attending gaming night. I made the chicken mix up, spooned it evenly into five oven-safe glass ramekins, then stretched out the biscuits so they were the same size as the top of the ramekins and simply set them on top. I cooked them for the same amount of time too, though I kept a close eye on them to make sure it wasn’t too long. Worked beautifully, and everyone loved them — this one’s a keeper!

Other changes: instead of onion I used a Lipton’s powdered onion soup mix packet. I left out the celery entirely, but there were other veggies (corn and cauliflower) mixed into the frozen veggies I used, so that substituted nicely. I forgot the pepper, and I made up some poultry seasoning based on a recipe I found on-line, though I think it was just a little more salty than I usually like… so I’ll probably use less poultry seasoning next time. Enjoy!

Chicken & Biscuits Pot Pie

(4 to 6 servings)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 large rib celery, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
2-1/2 cups bite-sized pieces of rotisserie chicken (white and dark meat)
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon black ground pepper
1 16.3-ounce tube large, flaky refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
milk, for brushing

Directions

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, mushrooms and celery and cook until the celery begins to soften, about 4 minutes.
• Lower the heat to medium and stir in the chicken, broth, soup, peas and carrots and seasonings. Cook for another 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Arrange the biscuits over the filling, placing them so they are touching. Brush the tops with milk. Bake until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Also a few nights later I made the following in the crockpot, which I love so much! I’m starting to become a real fan of the ease of use of chicken breasts too. Simple & fast wins again: yum! :)

Chicken & Herbs

(4 servings)

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves, with bones
2 medium potatoes
2 carrots
1/3 cup water
1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix (1 oz.)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

• Cut the potatoes and carrots into thin slices.
• Mix oil, water, and soup mix. Place in slow cooker, add potatoes and carrots to soup mixture.
• Add chicken on top; cover. Cook on high 4 hours or on low 8 hours.

Notes

• Delicious! Not too overpowering a flavor. Could easily use twice the veggies, though.
• Be careful when turning the chicken breasts in the crockpot — the bones will fall right out, & then you have to pick them out individually. ;)

from Slow Cooker Comfort Foods by Bonnie Scott (Kindle, 2013), p. 83.