Comfort Food

While most people find themselves eating their way through a pint of Häagen Dazs in tough times, I head to the kitchen to work out my thoughts. It's the method of working the ingredients that eases my mind.

I had been thinking a lot about David Cross and how much I loved him in Just Shoot Me. There is one particular episode that never fails to cheer me up. And here is the excerpt that spawned tonights dinner. I heart David Cross. So I present you with a recipe adapted from Food Network Kitchens Cookbook

Chicken Pot Chicken Pot Chicken Pot Pie
(let's face it, you know you wanted to hear it again)

Stew
4 chicken breasts
4 cups chicken stock
4 medium potatoes, boiled and chopped into large chunks
2 carrots, sliced
handful of snow peas
4 tablespoons of butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, smushed and roughly chopped
couple sprigs of thyme
sprig of rosemary

Biscuit Dough
2 cups of flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold butter, chopped
3/4 cup milk
olive oil for brushing the tops

Stew Filling
Bring a pot of water to boil. Toss in your chopped potatoes and boil until soft, set aside. Drop in the sugar snap peas to blanch - this is mainly to keep the colour of the peas vibrant. Scoop them out after a few minutes and set aside.

Take your chicken breasts and put them into a pan. Cover completely with chicken stock and pop the lid on. Poach for 20 mins. Take off heat, let cool and then shred the chicken roughly with two forks, set aside. Reserve stock.

Melt butter in another pan and add the carrots, onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Make a roux by adding 1/3 cup of flour slowly. Once you've worked that in, whisk in the reserved stock. Once it's pulled together into a bit of a gravy, add the potatoes, sugar snap peas and chicken. Stir gently to combine. Season with herbs, salt and pepper. Pour into a ceramic baking dish.

Biscuit Dough
Whisk flour together with baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work small amounts of butter into the flour with your fingertips. You should be aiming for pea-sized pieces (this helps with the flakiness factor). Gently stir in the milk until it forms a loose dough. Flour a kneading board and pat the dough into a rough rectangle about 1/2 thick. Fold the dough into thirds. Then pat out into a disc. Place dough on top of stew and cut a few breathing holes. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the top has become golden brown. Let sit for a good 5 minutes to set.

Think of David Cross while you eat it.