Good old fashioned (Paleo) chicken pot pie. It’s the Southern food I grew up on and am most comforted by. I grew up in a household where momma made just about everything from scratch. Her cooking was pretty good (love ya mom), but she was (and still is) an especially great baker. I still remember watching her boil the bagel dough for the crunchy cinnamon & sugar bagels I’d get to devour for my after school snack. Anyway….
Here is our rendition of chicken pot pie, the baking person’s savory dish…
Ingredients
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 parsnips, peeled and diced
- 1Â red onion, diced
- 1 small bunch fresh collards, any other green will work too (4-5 cups chopped, stems removed)
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 1-2 T fresh thyme
- 1 lb chicken breasts (or thighs or a mix)
- 4 T FOC (fat of choice)
- 3 c chicken stock
- 1 T potato starch**
- s&p
For the Crust
- 4 egg whites
- 1 c almond flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- â…“ c butter (we used butter, but think non-hydrogenated palm shortening or coconut oil would work well too)
Method
In a large soup pot with a lid, heat your FOC over medium-high heat, then add your diced chicken. You want your pot to be pretty hot…you should hear a good sizzle when you add the chicken. Now…resist the urge to mess with it for a few minutes. You need to leave it down for a bit to get it a little brown. Test by peeking under a piece. When you’ve reached the desired brown-ness, go ahead and stir and finish cooking the chicken until done. This should take 4-6 minutes. Remove the chicken from your pot and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 T FOC and all of your peeled, diced veg (carrot, parsnip, onion, collards, mushrooms, thyme) to your pot and cover. Trapping the steam will help cook down your vegetables. Stir occasionally until all vegetables are cooked through and collards are almost finished cooking. Your collards should be wilted down and soft with a slight bite still to them. This will take 10-15 minutes. Now add the stock. Bring this up to a simmer and let the veg and collards cook a little longer, about 5 minutes. Add your chicken back in. The potato starch is going to be your thickener. To prevent it from clumping, add 1 T of starch to a small bowl along with 1-2 T water. Whisk or stir with fork until all lumps are gone and then add to the pot. Stir this through and reduce the heat until the mixture reaches a thickness that looks right for pot pie filling.
Remove this from the heat and add to any oven save bakeware (pyrex, stoneware, etc.). You could use ramekins and make individual pot pies here. Try to choose a size that will be filled to the brim by your mixture. However, this is not essential.
For your biscuit topping…
Let the butter (or palm shortening/coconut oil) get slightly softened and add it to your mixer bowl with the almond flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until evenly distributed. If you don’t have a mixer, do this with a fork. Now add your egg whites to the mix and stir to combine. Keep this mixture in the fridge if you make it ahead. When you’re ready to bake just top your pot pie veggie mixture (ramekins or other) with the dough. Bake at 400 F for 12-15 minutes until the top(s) is/are golden brown.
*Standard American Diet
**If you have issues with potato (though it’s been stated that, digestively speaking, you shouldn’t), I’m sure arrowroot powder would suffice as a thickener, but can’t estimate, off-hand, the quantity that would be needed…
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