Chicken Pot Pie Bake (for Turkey leftovers, too!)

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe. The inside of this pie bake tastes just like Midwest comfort food. You won’t even notice the potatoes are missing.

It has just enough carrots to remind you how sweet they are. Same for the peas. The onion, celery and the mushrooms give it the depth of flavor you’ll remember from childhood. The topping isn’t your average pie crust. This one is low carb. So it’s not like a biscuit either. I’m still trying to perfect low carb biscuits, so this is sort of a cross-breed.

You’ll have two choices. You can do the crust and it will qualify for Z3 or you can just make the filling and top it off with ONE small, favorite biscuit and live on the wild side. Or even a little ring of baked puffed pastry. But be careful! Be mindful of the carbs.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

  • 3 Tbl of butter
  • 1 cup of carrot coins. (I use baby carrots and cut them ¼” thick so I keep the carbs down)
  • 3 stalks of celery cut into ½” pieces
  • 1-2 cups of diced onion (your taste)
  • ½ pound of sliced mushrooms (you choose regular or baby bella)
  • 1 cup of organic chicken broth (set a little aside)
  • 2 tsp of corn starch (dissolve in the broth that you set aside)
  • 1 cup of heavy cream
  • 4 cups of cooked chicken or turkey. Shred or cube it.
  • 2 tsp of dried parsley (If you want to make Italian, use Italian seasoning or if you want a French pot pie, use tarragon)
  • a whisper of cayenne
  • ground sea salt to taste

For the crust on top (optional)

  • 2-1/2 cups of SUPER FINE GROUND almond meal/flour
  • 3 Tbl of coconut oil (be sure to use coconut and not any other oil)
  • 1-½ tsp of baking powder
  • ½ cup of powdered egg whites or 2 fresh egg whites
  • ¼ tsp of salt (sea salt)
  • ½ cup of heavy cream
  • ½ cup of half and half

This recipe was originally designed by Laura Dobson. I did some things to Zolafy it. But keep in mind these will not be biscuits; more of a low carb crust. I haven’t quite perfected this yet but it’s good.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large saute pan add the butter. Melt it with the mushrooms, carrots, celery and onions. Toss regularly and cook on medium til the mushrooms just barely begin to brown. In a separate bowl stir the corn starch into a bit (1/4 cup) of broth and set aside, so it dissolves. Bring the temperature up to medium-high. Add the broth and the cornstarch mixture as well as the cream to the pan. Stir to combine and keep stirring periodically until the sauce thickens to your liking. (The longer you boil the cornstarch mixture and cream the more it will thicken). Keep an eye on it though. You just want a light bubble and not a mess boiling over, so you might have to turn the heat back down a bit depending on how powerful your burner is. This only takes a few minutes. Add the chicken. Now seasoning is in order. I sprinkle a whisper of cayenne on to get a little brightness to the flavor. Then add sea salt and black pepper to your taste.

Pour the mixture into your casserole dish.

Now make your biscuit topping.

In a medium bowl add the almond flour and the coconut oil. (The oil will likely be almost solid. That’s just fine). Break up the mixture and toss it around with a fork or a pastry blender until it forms a course meal mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine.  Now let the batter sit for 3 – 4 minutes.

Take a soup spoon (a little larger than a regular teaspoon) and put blobs of the biscuit dough across the top of your chicken mixture. Leave a little space in-between because they will spread out as they bake.

Put the casserole (your masterpiece) into your 400 degree oven and bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the biscuit topping begins to brown.

Remove and let set for a few minutes and then serve. You just don’t want it so hot you burn your mouth.

Enjoy!

Cheers,