Cheddar Bay Biscuit Chicken Potpie

April 2022. The publication date is six weeks away and the book feels simultaneously too close and impossibly abstract. Susan has been sending me the marketing materials — the pre-order page, the early review quotes, an interview request from a regional magazine. One of the early reviews called the book "a quiet masterpiece of a life told through food." I read that phrase four times. I showed it to Gary. He said, "That's right." I said, "It seems like too much." He said, "Quiet masterpiece isn't too much. It's exactly right and you should believe it."

I'm learning to accept things said about my work without deflecting. My therapist calls this "receiving." It's harder than it sounds. Women especially, I think, are trained to deflect compliments as a form of social grace, and I've done it so long that receiving feels like something I have to practice.

Mason is preparing for the culinary intensive. It's six weeks this summer, full days, a cohort of fifteen high school students serious about cooking. He's been practicing knife work every day — not anxiously, with the calm focus that is his baseline. He sharpened all his knives on Saturday using a whetstone Gary got him, moving through the sequence with a patience I recognize as completely and specifically his.

I made strawberry rhubarb pie with the first rhubarb from the garden. Olivia did the lattice. Her lattice now surpasses mine, which I said out loud and she pretended was a surprise. She's known for a year. She was being polite.

The strawberry rhubarb pie was for the season, but this Cheddar Bay Biscuit Chicken Potpie is for the kind of evening that follows it — when the garden has been checked, the knives have been sharpened, and someone in your family has quietly surpassed you at something you love. I keep coming back to this recipe because the biscuit topping asks something of you without demanding perfection: it puffs and browns on its own terms, and that feels right. Olivia can have the lattice. I’ll take the biscuits.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed (rotisserie works well)
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Biscuit Topping:
1 box (11.36 oz) Cheddar Bay Biscuit mix (such as Red Lobster brand), plus seasoning packet
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (for topping)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
Build the filling base. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, carrots, and celery and cook another 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften.
Make the sauce. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir to coat. Cook for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the chicken broth while stirring, then add the milk. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add chicken and peas. Stir in the shredded chicken, frozen peas, thyme, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish.
Mix the biscuit topping. In a medium bowl, stir together the biscuit mix, 3/4 cup milk, and shredded cheddar cheese until just combined — do not overmix. Drop heaping spoonfuls evenly over the filling, leaving small gaps for steam to escape.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 30–35 minutes, until the biscuit topping is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.
Finish with seasoned butter. Stir the enclosed seasoning packet from the biscuit mix into the 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Brush generously over the hot biscuits as soon as the pan comes out of the oven.
Rest and serve. Let the potpie rest for 5 minutes before serving so the filling sets slightly. Serve directly from the baking dish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheddar Bay Biscuit Chicken Potpie — When Someone Else Does the Lattice Better Than You