Off Balance

This guy has been rolling from back to side a lot. We seriously need to baby proof the house soon.


I caught some sort of stomach thing this past week. It only lasted for a day, it was swift and sooo unpleasant. So, I haven't thought about food much. Plus we made this huge Chicken and Biscuits recipe on Saturday and have been trying to finish that off. I'm starting to get that cooking bug again, much better than that other bug I had.
Chicken Stew with Biscuits
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes
1 10-ounce package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

For the biscuits:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley. Mix well. Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter.

Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.

Note: To make in advance, refrigerate the chicken stew and biscuits separately. Bake the stew for 25 minutes, then place the biscuits on top, and bake for another 30 minutes, until done.

Rating:This one definitely makes a lot of food. It will be good to have around on those busy weeks. Slightly salty, might be our own faults for not using homemade chicken stock. Definitely comfort food. We made more biscuits with the leftover dough. While Ina Garten maybe able to prepare this meal in 30 minutes with tv magic. The assistance of Kyle in the kitchen still made this a 2 hour process. It's an involved recipe, but still a yummy. I'm branching off from Rachel Ray. She's still my fav, but Ina can sure throw a party. I want to go see her in the Hamptons.

I think I'm off to go make this Amazon Cake I found. I discovered more things on the internet, like Yahoo groups, cooking websites....ack. I was reading Zach Braff's (kyle's twin - now if only he could get his share of movie/tv profits) website (which doesn't work with Mozilla) and he said Kevin Smith spends a 1/3 of his life online. I'm getting pretty bad. It's just my fingers won't stop clicking. The mouse is like crack for my fingers!