Homestyle Chicken and Biscuits

School starts in two weeks. The district is doing hybrid — two days in person, three days remote, alternating groups, the kind of logistics that makes military operations look simple. Tyler and Josie are in Group A (Monday/Tuesday in person, Wednesday through Friday remote). Justin is in Group B (Thursday/Friday in person). Amber is all remote — she chose it, because Amber chooses control over chaos, and remote learning is control, and the hallways are chaos, and the choice is pure Amber.

I spent the week organizing school supplies, schedules, masks (each kid has five cloth masks, labeled with their initials, hanging on hooks in the mudroom, the mudroom that Dave built last summer that has now become the decontamination chamber between the world and the house). The logistics of pandemic schooling for four children are: two different schedules, three different schools, four different sets of login credentials, infinite potential for confusion. I made a chart. The chart is on the refrigerator next to the school pictures and the Josie cursive and the Gayle birthday card and the twenty-seven other things the refrigerator holds. The chart is color-coded. I do not color-code things. The pandemic has made me a person who color-codes things, and I do not recognize this person, but this person is organized, and organized is what we need.

I hauled to Council Bluffs and back Thursday. The slow cooker had beef barley soup — stew meat, barley, vegetables, beef broth. A transition soup, a late-summer soup that knows autumn is coming and is dressing for the occasion. I ate it at a rest stop in Fremont and called Gayle. She is doing better — eating more, sleeping better, the isolation less crushing now that I visit twice a week. She said the barley soup sounds good. I said I will bring her some. She said do not go to trouble. I said it is not trouble. She said everything is trouble at my age. I said then let me be your trouble. She almost smiled. I heard the almost through the phone.

The beef barley soup was already gone by the time I got home from Council Bluffs, and I’d promised Gayle I’d bring her something warm — something that said I thought of you without requiring her to say thank you for a thing she already called trouble. Chicken and biscuits is what I made next: the same spirit as that slow cooker soup, thick and filling and the kind of dish that travels well in a covered pan. With four kids on two different schedules and a color-coded chart I still don’t recognize as my own handiwork, I needed a recipe that could feed the house and leave enough for a second visit to Council Bluffs. This one does exactly that.

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

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 medium carrots, sliced into coins
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and black pepper to taste
For the biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Sauté the vegetables. In a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5–6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the base. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to coat. Cook for 1–2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly, then add the milk. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Add the chicken. Stir in the chicken pieces, thyme, and rosemary. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the filling has thickened, about 12–15 minutes. Stir in the frozen peas. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Make the biscuit dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Add the cold cubed butter and use your fingertips or a pastry cutter to work it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overmix. Fold in parsley if using.
Top and bake. Drop the biscuit dough in heaping spoonfuls over the hot chicken filling, leaving a little space between each. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, about 18–22 minutes.
Rest and serve. Let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into bowls, making sure each portion gets a biscuit or two on top.

Nutrition (per serving)

Homestyle Chicken and Biscuits — The Soup I Promised Gayle