Chicken Stew with Honey Whole Wheat Biscuits

After my success with cornmeal biscuits last week I tried this variation.  Wow.  They rose even higher than the first batch.  Now I'm hooked.

Until recently I've been strictly a drop biscuit kind of person.  I tend to avoid rolling out dough.  But somewhere along the line I realized this isn't rolling dough, it's patting dough, and anybody can do that.  And here's the thing: drop biscuits just don't give you that nice rise and that natural break in the center that practically begs you to separate them into two flaky halves. These are worth going out and buying a biscuit cutter for.  And buy a nice big one while you're at it. 

Honey Whole Wheat Biscuits
oven to 450
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp honey
2 cups (10 ounces) flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 and 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut in pieces

• Be sure your oven is preheated.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a processor and pulse to combine.  Add the cold butter pieces and pulse about 10 or 12 times until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. (Of course you can do this the old fashioned way with a pastry cutter, or your fingers, but I like the processor because it's faster, cleaner, and the butter gets finely chopped while staying nice and cold.)
• Add the buttermilk and honey and pulse just enough to bring the dough together.  
• Turn out onto a floured board and pat into a 9 inch round disk.  Sprinkle on some extra flour if it's too wet and sticky. 
• Cut out about 8 biscuits with a 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter.  You'll need to reform the dough for the last 3.
• Bake for 5 minutes at 450, until they just start to rise, and then turn down the heat to 400, and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
• Cool on a rack. 

Chicken Stew
serves 4
1 lb cooked chicken breast, cut in bite sized pieces (or use a rotisserie chicken)
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 white potatoes, chopped
2 cups button mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 qt chicken stock
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh or dried thyme
salt and fresh pepper

• Put all the veggies in a soup or stew pot with a good drizzle of olive oil.  Saute until the onions are translucent.  
• Add the butter to the pot and when it's melted sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring for a minute.  
• Pour in the stock and stir well to combine.  Heat to a simmer while the stew thickens.
• Add the cooked chicken to the pot along with the heavy cream, and season with thyme, salt, and pepper to taste.
• Simmer on low for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with the biscuits over, under, or on the side.