Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

Pot pie filling

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts	1 large sweet potato
2 cups brussels sprouts	2 cups fresh green beans
1 cup frozen corn	1 small onion
2 stalks of celery	2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp rosemary	1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano	1 tsp thyme
1 tsp cumin	1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp smoked paprika	2 TBS lemon juice
1/3 c flour	1/2 stick of butter
2 TBS of olive oil	Salt and pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg	2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup milk	1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp or cube of chicken bouillon

Cheddar Biscuit topping

2 cups all-purpose flour	1 heaped tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt	1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano	1 tsp thyme
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese	1 cup water
1 tsp garlic powder	1 TBS of Crisco shortening

Directions:

Note: This will be an involved recipe, lots of prep work and that will take you the most time, the actually cooking time is fairly quickly.

1. Preheat your oven to 380 F. You want to start with making the dough for the crust of the pot pie. In a bowl measure out all the dry ingredients into a bowl, stir the dry ingredients together.  Work the cold shortening into the flour mixture, it will end up looking like loose sand, this is normal. The dough will not come together until you add the water. Once you have added the shortening, add in the shredded cheese and mix in. Then add the water and mix with your hands (they are washable) until dough is formed (this will be extremely sticky and clump around your fingers until the dough is completely formed. You may want to add a bit more flour if it continues to be sticky. Then set aside, covered with a towel to rest.
2. Next you will want to prep all the vegetables and chicken. Start by peeling and cutting the sweet potato into small cubed pieces, put them in a pot with enough water to cover them and about an inch over them, add salt and boil them for about 8 minutes. This stage is called parboiling. Finely dice the onions and celery, chop the green beans into bite size pieces, trim the ends of the Brussels sprouts and remove any outside leaves that look dark green and/or dirty, quarter the sprouts. Mince your garlic. Keep your Brussels sprouts and green beans separate from the onions, garlic and celery. Set them aside while you cut your chicken into small bite sized chucks.  Once the chicken is cut into chunks, coat it in the cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and a tsp of baking powder, make sure all of the chicken is coated in those spices and baking powder.
3. Now onto cooking, you want to start with a large frying pan with raised sides, heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in your pan, start by browning your chicken (you may need to do this in batches to make sure that you don't overcrowd your pan and the chicken browns on all sides). Once your chicken is browned and mostly cooked through (it's alright if it's still a little pink it will finish cooking in the oven), remove all the chicken from the pan, add another tablespoon of olive oil, let your pan come back up to temperature and then add in your onions, celery, and garlic, add some salt, and a tablespoon of lemon juice, sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes until onions and celery is softened and the garlic is fragrant. Then add the green beans and the brussels sprouts along with the other tablespoon of lemon juice, check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. By this time your sweet potatoes should be done parboiling, drain them and add them to a bowl along with the browned chicken, stir them to combine. The veggies should take about 10 minutes to soften (you don't want them mushy because they are going to cook more in the oven. Once they are, add them to the bowl with the sweet potatoes and the chicken, stir again and then add the frozen corn (that will cook in the oven, you don't need to cook it beforehand)
4. Now onto the roux and making the bechamel sauce! You will need the flour, butter and another tablespoon of olive oil. The first step in a good bechamel sauce is the roux. You want to add your butter and olive oil (this keeps the butter from burning) into the pan and let the butter melt completely. Then add in your flour, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper flakes (depending on the amount of heat you want), nutmeg, and chicken bouillon powder or cube. Cook out the rawness of the flour until you have a paste, this will be your roux. With a whisk in hand, gradually add the milk and heavy cream about a quarter cup at a time, whisking until completely incorporated after each addition, so that your bechamel will continue to thicken. Do this until you have all the milk and heavy cream incorporated, cook for a few minutes, continually whisking until sauce is thickened, then do the same thing with your water. Once all the water is incorporated, you should have a thick, creamy bechamel sauce.
5. Rolling out the crust and assembly of the sauce, chicken and veggies.  Now you want a deep sided rectangular baking dish, about a 9x13 dish ought to do it. You want to take out your rested dough onto a floured surface and roll it out to about the side of the baking dish, pour in the chicken and vegies into the baking dish then cover with the bechamel sauce. Top with the dough and use a paring knife to cut small slits (air vents) into the dough so that the filling won't leak out the sides. Bake your pot pie for 20 minutes at 380 F, then turn up the temp to 415 F and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until crust browns.