Town Meeting Chicken (or Turkey) Pie

[BakerAunt]

Town Meeting Chicken (or Turkey) Pie

King Arthur Flour used to send out emails with new recipes, and that is the origin of this one from perhaps ten to twelve years ago. It has not been posted on their recipe site. The original recipe used two rotisserie chickens, but I like it as a way to use up leftover turkey. I have modified the recipe over the years to use less butter in the filling. I deleted the salt in the filling and added the sherry as well as the flax meal. I changed the topping by substituting in 25% whole wheat pastry flour (and I may try increasing that amount) and using buttermilk rather than regular milk. On occasion, I've used frozen mixed vegetables rather than peas and carrots.

The full recipe bakes nicely in a 13x9 inch lasagna pan (3 inches deep). A half recipe bakes nicely in a 4-inch deep square 9-inch ceramic dish. I managed to bake a 3/4 recipe in a 13x9 inch Le Creuset baker with only slight overflow.

Filling:
3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
6 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups chicken or turkey broth
2 1/2 cups milk (I use 1%)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1-2 Tbs. sherry (can be omitted, but it really works nicely for flavor)
3 Tbs. ground flax meal (optional)
5 1/2 to 6 Cups cut-up chicken or turkey
12-16 oz. bag frozen peas and carrots, slightly thawed

Biscuit Topping:
3 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 tsp. Bakewell Cream (note: this is NOT the same as baking powder)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (that is 4 oz. or one stick, or 8 Tbs.)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or regular milk, if desired)

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray DEEP 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray (I use Pam). Set aside.

I usually stir together the dry ingredients for the topping, then set aside while I make the filling.

For the filling, melt butter in a 6-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the combined AP and whole wheat flour, and stir until combined and smoothed. Gradually add the broth, whisking constantly. Cook and stir the sauce over medium heat until it comes to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes. Slowly stir or whisk in milk. Add pepper, thyme, and sherry. Stir in flax meal. Stir in chicken and vegetables. Bring to a simmer.

Pour mixture into prepared pan, and put into the oven while you are preparing the biscuits.

For the biscuits: Combine dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl with a relatively flat bottom. (The flat bottom makes it easier to cut in the butter and to combine the dough.) As noted above, I usually do so before I make the filling.Cut 1/2 cup unsalted butter into 32 pieces. (I cut it into the 8 Tbs., and then each into 4 pieces.) Add the butter, a little at a time, and toss with the flour. You want to get all the pieces of butter coated with flour. Once all the butter is added, use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter to make small crumbly pieces. Add the buttermilk or regular milk all at once. Toss with fork until it begins to come together, then switch to a hand-held scraper and use it to bring the dough together. I fold it over itself in the bowl until it coheres.

On a piece of parchment paper, pat into a rectangle 3/4 of an inch thick. It's ok if the corners are rounded. Use a bench knife to cut into 12 pieces.

Carefully--there will be steam when you open the oven door--remove the pan with the filling from the oven. Carefully lay the biscuits evenly on top. Return pan to the oven and bake 15 minutes until filling is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown. (The original recipe says 15-18, but I find 15 sufficient.) Again, carefully--there will be steam when you open the oven door--remove the pan from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Note: when I make a half recipe in the deep 9-inch square dish, I pat the dough into a square and cut 9-biscuits for the topping.

The biscuit pie reheats beautifully in a microwave.

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• This topic was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Note: I made the biscuits with half whole wheat pastry flour and half unbleached AP flour. They are still a light biscuit, so you may want to try them this way.

I've also used leftover gravy as part of the sauce mixture, adjusting as I go. While we prefer frozen peas and carrots, mixed frozen vegetables work well.

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