Chicken Pot Pie Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Beer-Brined & Tenderized Chicken Breast, Potatoes, Vegetables, with a Buttermilk Biscuit Crust all cooked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. We high-society now!
4Boneless, skinless chicken breast halvesAny chicken meat will work A-OK
½PoundThick-Cut Bacon (or another cooking oil). Or another cooking oil
2CansCream of Chicken SoupTwo 10-Ounce Cans
4 4-6 Cloves of Garlic (more if you’re like me)Or More
1LargeYellow or White Onion
2Bags10-ounce Bags of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
Worcestershire Sauce to Taste
1TablespoonPoultry Seasoning
½CupEvaporated Milk5 Ounce Can will Work Fine)
Any other Seasonings like rubbed sage, pepper, and the like (Optional)Like rubbed sage, pepper, and the like (Optional)
Flour to Dust the Cut Chicken Pieces with (Optional)Optional
Instructions
Searing and Browning the Chicken / Sauté the Onions and Garlic
Tenderize 3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. Brine them in a beer/salt brine for about 1 hour then pat dry. You could pre-prepare the chicken at home and carry it to camp in a doubled-up zipper bag or other container.
Pull out the frozen veggies and let them start warming up to “room” temperature. Or, rather, “the great outdoor’s” temperature.
Cut the chicken breast meat into bite-sized pieces. Pat dry the chicken breast meat. Place the cut, pat-dried chicken meat into the 1/2 cup of flour and coat the pieces.
Cut up the onion and the garlic. Set aside.
With the cast iron camp Dutch oven over 30 (or more) briquettes, render the fat from some of the fatty bacon.
While the bacon fat is rendering, wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks.
Brown the chicken pieces up until they are no longer pink.
Once the chicken is browned, remove the chicken from the pot and then sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are clear.
Adding The Other Ingredients
After you've sautéed the onions and garlic, return the chicken to the pot. Then, mix in the veggies, evaporated milk, cans of soup, potatoes, Worcestershire Sauce, and Poultry Seasoning. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Mix all the ingredients in the pot all about and smooth out the top. The mixture should not be too runny nor should it “set” like pudding either. If the mixture is too thick (more than likely), add some of the reserved beer.
Bring the mixture to a bubbling boil. Don't let it stick to the bottom. If it's sticking, add some beer to thin it out. Once the mixture is bubbling, set the camp Dutch oven to bake.
While the mixture is heating up to a "bubble," prepare the dry ingredients for the biscuits.
Preparing the Biscuit Crust
Blend all the biscuit ingredients together. Then, cut in the butter with the pastry cutter. You want a cornmeal consistency. DON'T ADD THE BUTTERMILK YET.
Once the potatoes are cooked (and the chicken is at least 165°F / 74°C), prepare the biscuits by adding the Buttermilk
Using the rubber / silicone spatula, mix the biscuit ingredients until you have a sticky dough mixture.
Remove the dough and set on a floured surface. Don't knead the dough. Just flatten the dough and then fold over a few times. Dust with flour if it's too sticky. Coat with a bit of flour so the dough does not stick to the surface nor your hands.
Cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter.
Place the cut biscuits on the top of the cooked pot pie mixture.
Scramble the raw egg. Using the basting brush, "paint" the top of the biscuits with the raw egg.
Finishing Up
The hot pot pie mixture is our biscuit's "bottom heat." We need to heat the top of the Dutch oven. Place any of the remaining briquettes from the bottom of the Dutch oven to the top of the Dutch oven. Add the equivalent of about 20-30 briquettes to the top and let the biscuits bake.
After about 10 minutes, check on the biscuits. How do they look? Turn the lid 1/3rd turn. Let the biscuits cook until they are nice and golden brown.
Once the biscuits have brown up nicely, your meal is ready to eat!!
Notes
Take your time and create this recipe for the first time. The second time will be much easier. ENJOY!