Chicken Pot Pie Recipe From Cecilia Light

Shows us how to make chicken pot pie

When Cecilia Light, sous chef at Chicago's Balsan restaurant, was 20 years old, she took a job working at a grill in her hometown of Bogalusa, Louisiana. "I was just a fry cook, a short-order cook," she recalls. "But when I was cooking, it felt like being at recess." She also deemed it superior to her previous job, working at the makeup counter at Walmart.

She decided to attend culinary school in Chicago,  interned with Paul Prudhomme in Louisiana, then returned to the Windy City to work at North Pond restaurant, picking up skills along the way. She shares some of these fundamentals in her recipe for chicken pot pie. Thickened with roux and topped with a cheddar biscuit crust, the recipe is one to master for winter.

Recipe adapted from Cecilia Light, Balsan, Chicago, IL

Chicken Pot Pie
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Prep Time
0
minutes
Cook Time
55
minutes
Servings
4
servings
Total time: 55 minutes
Ingredients
  • Biscuits
  • All-purpose flour, 1 cup
  • Baking powder, 1½ teaspoons
  • Fresh thyme, 1 sprig (leaves finely chopped, about ½ teaspoon)
  • Kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon
  • Unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons at room temperature
  • Grated cheddar cheese, ¼ cup
  • Cold whole milk, ¼ to ⅓ cup
  • Filling
  • Kosher salt, 1½ teaspoons (plus more for blanching vegetables and seasoning)
  • Medium carrot, 1 (chopped into ½-inch pieces)
  • Large celery stalk, 1 (chopped into ½-inch pieces)
  • Large yellow onion, ¼ (chopped into ½-inch pieces)
  • Small Yukon Gold potato, 1 (chopped into ½-inch cubes)
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon
  • Boneless and skinless chicken breast halves, 2 (chopped into ¾-inch cubes)
  • Fresh thyme, 1 small sprig
  • Unsalted butter, 1½ tablespoons
  • All-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons
  • Cold chicken broth, 1½ cups
Directions
  1. Make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour Baking powder Chopped thyme ¼ teaspoon kosher salt Use your fingers to rub in the Room temperature butter Once the butter is nearly incorporated, add the Grated cheddar cheese Use your fingers to toss the mixture together. Then add ¼ cup whole milk Using the wooden spoon, stir the mixture until it starts to come together in moistened yet shaggy clumps, adding the remaining milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed (you don't want the dough to look wet, but you don't want there to be powdery dry bits at the bottom of the bowl either). Pull away about 8 golf ball-sized pieces of dough and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits are just beginning to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven.
  2. Make the filling: Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add Kosher salt Chopped carrot Cook until the carrots are tender, about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a medium bowl. To the saucepan of boiling water, add the Chopped celery Cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer the celery to the bowl with the carrots. Repeat with the Chopped onion Cook until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the celery and carrots. Add the Chopped potato Cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain through a colander and add the potatoes to the bowl with the other blanched vegetables. Rinse the saucepan and set it back on the stove to use later.
  3. Heat a medium skillet set over medium-high heat for 1½ minutes. Add the Extra-virgin olive oil Chopped chicken breast Fresh thyme sprig Cook, using the wooden spoon to stir occasionally, until the chicken pieces are browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the vegetables (discard the thyme sprig).
  4. Set the rinsed saucepan over medium heat. Add 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter Once the butter is melted, use the wooden spoon to stir in 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is the consistency of dry sand, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup cold chicken broth Once the mixture is smooth, add more chicken broth, ½ cup at a time, until all of the chicken broth is used and the sauce is thick, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust flavor, if needed, with more Kosher salt Stir in the cooked vegetables and chicken.
  5. Break apart 4 biscuits into small pieces and place them in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Cover with the chicken and vegetable potpie filling and then place the remaining 4 biscuits on top. Place in the oven and bake until the filling is bubbling and the biscuits are warmed through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.
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