Chicken & Biscuits Bake

80. The traditional Chicken & Biscuits is fluffy biscuits split and placed on a plate, then topped with a chicken gravy. Some recipes include vegetables in the chicken gravy, some do not. Epicurious has a Chicken and Biscuits recipe that is great!

My slight variation of Chicken & Biscuits was easy, quick and tasted just as great.

Chicken & Biscuits Bake

1 Tblsp olive oil

2 Tblsp butter

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 cob of corn, uncooked, cut from cob

1 cup peas, frozen or fresh

2 shallots, chopped

salt and pepper

parsley, chopped

Place oil and butter in pan and heat. Add shallots and saute 3 minutes. Add the vegetables, stir and add the remaining seasonings. Cover and simmer till vegetables are just about cooked.

4 chicken breasts

3 cups chicken stock

small shallot, peel and leave whole

salt and pepper

1 Tblsp corn starch

½ cup cold water

Place chicken, shallot and chicken stock in a saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Bring chicken to a boil. Allow chicken to cook till tender. Remove chicken, cut or tear into pieces. Bring the stock back to a boil. Mix the corn starch and cold water in a small bowl. Pour slowly into the boiling stock till it thickens to a gravy consistency. Check for seasoning.

Mix chicken back into the gravy and discard the whole shallot. Combine the vegetables with the chicken and gravy and stir all together. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Make a batch of your favorite biscuits. Here is my Biscuit recipe. Cut biscuits and place

on top of the chicken and vegetables.

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter and brush over top of the biscuits and sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Bake in a 350º oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or till the biscuits are light brown on the edges. Serve extra gravy on the side.

"There are many wonderful things that will never be done if you do not do them."

~Charles D. Gill

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

302.  Hi Y'all!  While vacationing in the South, we enjoyed several Southern comfort foods. BBQ Ribs, Southern Fried Chicken and of course Biscuits.  I found a wonderful biscuit flour mix that we fell in love with.

You just add milk and work the dough as usual following the directions.  They were beautiful! And delicious!

Many years ago a dear sweet southern lady taught me the basics of a good sausage gravy.  I have not forgotten. So in Katie Rudisill's honor, Sausage Gravy was on our breakfast menu.

SAUSAGE GRAVY 

2 lbs original pork sausage, Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans (The better the brand the less fat content)

2 - 3 Tablespoons flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 - 3 cups whole milk, start with 2 and add more to stretch the recipe or make it thinner

Optional: Original Tabasco sauce couple splashes

Sauté the sausage in a large deep skillet till brown.  Drain the sausage and place in a bowl.  Set aside. In the frying pan of reserved fat drippings heat till sizzling.  Add the flour one tablespoon at a time and whisk the flour to avoid lumps forming.  Continue to simmer till flour begins to lightly brown and bits on the bottom of pan are loosened.  Slowly add the milk and continue to whisk.

Lower heat and whisk till a light boil and beginning to thicken. Then introduce the reserved cooked sausage back into the skillet.

Stir together.  Test for seasoning and continue to cook for 5 more minutes or till gravy has come to just about a boil.  Place in a serving bowl or tureen.

Serve with fresh hot biscuits. 

Break open a hot biscuit. Place open sides up on your plate and pour the sausage gravy over the biscuit.  Now that is good eatin'!

"I'm good at anything that's country - biscuits, gravy, chicken-fried steak. Look at me, for God's sake.  I cook what I like to eat."

~Blake Shelton

" There's nothin' worse than sausage gravy that is white as a sheet and you can barely find a trace of meat, or was that a lump o' flour?"

~Anonymous Southerner 

Homemade Biscuits

 6. Biscuits are on my list of comfort food.  I'm talking about the homemade biscuits not the ones that pop out of a cardboard tube.  I tried quite a few biscuit recipes in the past but have finally found the best!  Some recipes call for shortening but the flavor isn't as rich. 

Homemade Biscuits

3 cups flour, sift

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tblsp cold butter cut in pieces

1 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk

(Opt ingredients:  1/2 cup chedder cheese, 1/4 cup chopped chives, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese - add before the butter)

In large mixing bowl add flour, baking powder and salt. Cut butter pieces into the flour till it resembles course meal.  Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in milk.  Using a fork, stir together till liquid is incorporated in flour.  Drop onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough till smooth, about one minute.  Use as little flour as possible and handle quickly.  Roll dough till 1/2 inch thick.  Cut 3" circles of dough and place on baking sheet.  Bake 450 degrees for 12 minutes.  To test if done, biscuit should be doubled in size and the bottoms will be lightly browned. . 

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

420.  So let's talk about biscuits; hot, flakey, buttery.  But, add cheese and garlic and you have elevated them to a brand new flavor profile.  If you have a favorite recipe, simply add a cup of shredded cheddar and garlic salt.  Or you may add chives, parsley, Parmesan Cheese, Old Bay Seasoning, or any dried spice you desire.  A simple cheese biscuit is perfectly paired with a hot bowl of soup.

Here is my recipe:

Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits are similar and there are so many knock-off recipes.  But making your own biscuits is so very simple and you know what the ingredients are.  And that makes them even better.

Enjoy!

"Baking is Life.  So when you describe what you're making, you must describe life.  Do you see?  It's not just recipes."

~ J Colgan

Biscuits

346.  My search continues for the absolutely perfect biscuit recipe.  I've tried quite a few and have taken every suggestion and method seriously, i.e. ice cold butter, ice cold milk, buttermilk, cold seltzer, no baking powder, vinegar, crisco, sifted flour, mixer, food processor or hand mixed, rolling pin, no rolling pin, and the list trails on .  

In my search there have been a few recipes that have been notable.  Here is a recipe that has come through every time and is 5 star in my book.

To save recipe select, drag and drop onto your desktop.  Print as a photo.

“In the Virginia of the olden time no breakfast or tea-table was thought to be properly furnished without a plate of these indispensable biscuits.....Let one spend the night at some gentleman-farmer's home, and the first sound heard in the morning, after the crowing of the cock, was the heavy, regular fall of the cook's axe, as she beat and beat her biscuit dough.....Nowadays beaten biscuits are a rarity, found here and there, but soda and modern institutions have caused them to be sadly out of vogue.”
~ Virginia Cookery Book  (1885)

Tennessee Fixin's

163. Our recent trip to Tennessee was so enjoyable and relaxing. The southern hospitality was the first thing we noticed. Everyone calling you "Honey", "Sweetheart" and "Darlin'". We realized we weren't in NY any more. And patient...everyone is so patient and accommodating. Even when we couldn't get our order straight at the Dunkin Donut Drive-Thru. "That's two medium black coffee's, no, no cream, no, no sugar...yes, a medium black ice coffee with sugar, no, no cream...but cream on the side." And we ended up with a medium cream and sugar coffee...but, we were called "Sweethearts" and told that "We can fix that!" (With a very deep southern drawl.) I really got use to it.

Along with the beautiful mountains and scenery all around, we were sure to taste what Tennessee is famous for. Delicious food, sweet tea, biscuits, fried chicken, bbq and so much more.

While driving through the Great Smokies Arts and Crafts Community, we came across Glades Homemade Candies in Gatlinburg.

Their small sign that said "Homemade Ice Cream" made us stop.

The ice cream was delicious, and homemade peanut butter fudge was fantastic.

Another gem of a candy store was on the main street in Gatlinburg. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the shops, stores and attractions, The Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen had the best taffy I've ever eaten. It's not too sweet and the flavor is so subtle.

They were making peanut butter taffy and we were able to sample it. So soft, chewy and light.

It started with this large log of pulled taffy mixed with a peanut butter strip.

Then it was placed on a fantastic taffy machine

that pulled and stretched the candy

eventually pulling it into a small log, wrapped it in paper, twisted the end and then dropped it into a basket.

Each flavor was so light and delicious. We purchased a 1/2 pound of mixed flavors and enjoyed it so much, we stopped back for another box before leaving town.

Besides sweets, we really enjoyed the barbecue.

Several years ago, while passing through Tennessee we had eaten at Bennetts and couldn't wait to have their ribs once more. And we were not disappointed!

The smokey flavor went right down to the bone.

One of the best meals we had that week!

Not only did we enjoy wonderful fried chicken and biscuits at Bojangles', and gallons of sweet tea, we also enjoyed another local favorite. Grown wild throughout the area, wild blackberries were in season and seemed to be along every roadside. While we were exploring we came across a large patch, and I just had to jump out of the car and pick some.

The blackberries were sweet and juicy and so delicious.

When we got back to our cabin, I whipped up a blackberry cobbler. What a treat!

Thanks to Tennessee, we had a very "Taste"ful time!

"Do Southerners laugh at different things than Northerners do?

Yes--Northerners."

~ Southern Quotes

"In the South, the breeze blows softer... neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do). This is a different place."

~Southern Quotes