Toronto weather can be pretty bipolar. We just had a sudden 10-degree (or 50f) swing from near 30c (86f) back down to more seasonal temperatures. I guess Summer wanted a last hurrah. I was okay with that!
Now that it is Fall, for real, it's time to embrace all the upsides it brings including pumpkin things, crisp air fragranced by wood-burning fires, over-the-knee boots and cozy meals exactly like this Chicken Stew with Almond Flour Biscuits.
But in reality I was testing this recipe in the middle of summer and my family sure didn't seem to mind. Actually, they were pretty obsessed with this meal, especially the biscuits! So much so that I decided to double the original dough recipe so that there is a generous amount of biscuits to go around. You may love me a little bit more for that ;)
You will bake as many biscuits as will fit atop the stew in your casserole dish. The remaining biscuit circles will be baked directly on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Depending on who you are, you may prefer the biscuits straight from the pan, all crispy like that. Or you may dunk them into your stew to suck up all the goodness as you consume them. Your call!
Either way, this meal is like a warm cozy hug on a crisp Autumn day.
MAKE IN ADVANCE:
The almond flour biscuit dough can be made in advance and chilled in the refrigerated one hour or up to overnight.
The chicken stew freezes very well if you want to make it in advance, or double-batch it and freeze an extra meal. Store in freezer-safe container up to a month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Transfer into a pot and warm up on the stovetop, making sure to bring everything to a nice boil. You may opt to leave out the frozen peas until after the defrost and reboil, if you want the peas to retain its bright green color.
Chicken Stew with Almond Flour Biscuits
Serves 4 { gluten free, Paleo }
INGREDIENTS
For the almond biscuits:
(makes ~ 38 x 2.5" round biscuits which is generous but so necessary!)
3 C almond flour
1 C tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch)
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
12 tbsp cold grass-fed butter, cubed into 1/2" pieces
2 large eggs, cold
Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp water)
Coarse salt like Maldon sea salt for sprinkling
For the chicken stew:
1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken (thigh or breast meat, your choice), cut into 1/2" cubes
4 medium carrots, diced small (~2C)
2 stalks celery, diced small (~1C)
1 medium white onion, diced small (~1 1/2C)
2 C chicken broth, homemade or low sodium store-bought
3 tbsp arrowroot flour (can sub corn starch for non-Paleo)
2 tbsp coconut milk or cashew cream
1 1/2 C frozen peas (omit for strict paleo)
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
Kosher salt and black pepper
METHOD
Make the almond biscuits by combining almond flour, tapioca flour, oregano and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix the dry ingredients well. Add the butter pieces and pulse until you get the texture of a coarse meal. Add the 2 cold eggs and pulse a few times - you will see it begin to come together. Dump it out of the food processor onto a large piece of plastic wrap (large enough to wrap the dough for chilling) and knead it a few times if necessary to evenly combine, but don't overdo it as you do want to have spots of butter visible in the dough. Divide roughly into two balls and flatten into discs. Wrap up the two dough discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or up to overnight whichever is more convenient.
Prepare the chicken stew. Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and get ready to brown the chicken pieces in batches. Once fully heated through, add the 1 tbsp of ghee, 1/3 of the chicken pieces and about 1/4 tsp kosher salt to sauté and brown, about 3 minutes or until pieces are just barely cooked (do not over cook). Set aside. Continue with the remaining 2 batches of chicken pieces along with 1/4 tsp per batch. There should be enough fat from the chicken but if needed, add a bit more ghee. Set aside all the chicken.
Lower the heat down to medium. Add the chopped carrots, celery, onion, oregano along with 1 tsp of kosher salt. Sauté about 2 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Set aside.
Pour the chicken broth into the pot, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Hold a fine sieve over the pot, place the arrowroot starch in (you may need to do this in batches depending how large your sieve is) and sprinkle the arrowroot starch into the broth all the while whisking vigorously to minimize clumping. Allow the broth to come to a boil. Place all chicken and vegetables back into the pot and give it a stir. Bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes to thicken. Add the frozen peas and stir. The consistency should be saucy and thick. Taste the stew and add more kosher salt as needed. Add fresh cracked black peppercorn. Pour the stew into a casserole dish that will comfortably hold all the stew - I use either an 8"x 11" oblong or 8"x 8" square.
Preheat the oven to 375f. Take out one of the almond biscuit dough discs and roll to 1/2" thickness using a rolling pin, between two large pieces of parchment paper. Cut into approx 2.5" circles with a round biscuit / cookie cutter or similarly sized drinking glass. Arrange the dough circles, slightly spaced apart, on a parchment-lined baking sheet and stick it back into the fridge while you roll out the second dough disc. Again cut into 2.5" circles and first arrange as many rounds as can fit atop the stew in the casserole dish. Then arrange the remaining dough circles, slightly spaced apart, on the parchment-lined baking sheet with the first batch of dough circles. Brush the biscuit tops with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Place the casserole dish and the sheet pan of biscuits into the preheated oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.
Enjoy and thank you for reading! xx
Biscuit dough recipe adapted from Bakerita.com.
