This riff on a pot pie appears seasonally on the menu at Arable, my restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Inspired by Jacques’ Chicken Pot Pie in Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, it’s a customer favorite!

Green Chile-Chicken Shortcake

Category

Category name

Serves

4

I use roasted, bone-in thighs, but you can use any cooked chicken, roasted or poached. Hatch chiles grow in New Mexico but can be found frozen, depending on where you live, or you can purchase them online.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 cup thinly sliced leeks
  • 1 cup celery, minced
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on a bias
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade or store-bought organic
  • 1 cup of chopped Hatch green chiles
  • 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

For the Velouté Sauce

  • 1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
  • 2 ounces all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken, skin discarded
  • 4 large buttermilk biscuits
  • Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Method

  1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the oil and butter. Add the leeks, celery and carrots and toss together and cook until the leeks are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and cook until it has reduced to almost nothing. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the liquid has evaporated and the vegetables are tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the chiles and then stir in the peas.
  2. To prepare the sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter, add the flour and whisk together until smooth to make a blond roux. Cook, stirring until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, whisking until smooth. Bring to a boil, then simmer until slightly reduced. Add the cream and reduce again until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Add the chicken and the vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer to ensure that everything is heated through.
  3. To serve, slice the biscuits in half and place the base in the center of four warm plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over the biscuit. Place the biscuit on top, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.