Not your grandma's chicken and biscuits.
I hate opening canned biscuits.
You know, the type where you peel away the spiral of brown paper foil bit by bit, cringing as you wait for the can to explode with a bang so you nearly drop it and pee your pants all at once? I’ve been terrified of them since I was ten, helping my grandma Charlene make her signature chicken and biscuits. She always asked me to open the biscuit cans. I think she was scared too.
Grandma Charlene may have used canned biscuits, but her creamed chicken was completely from scratch: a luscious creamy white sauce speckled with black pepper, enveloping shreds of stewed chicken. It’s still one of my favorite grandma meals, and today I give you my version.
Creamy Corn and Chicken puts a modern twist on the classic dish while still holding onto that original comfort food vibe. Here I highlight fresh summer corn, pureeing it to make a creamy (non-dairy) corn stock as well as sauteing some of the kernels to add texture back to the dish. I enhance it by adding scallions, red pepper, and fresh ginger, giving it a slightly Asian twist. The shredded chicken is still there, but only as a final addition—and to be honest, you could leave it out and make this completely vegetarian!
I’ve also included a recipe for homemade buttermilk biscuits, laced with fresh green scallions. My grandma worked full-time and got married in the era of boxed and canned foods, so I completely understand why she used canned biscuits. If you choose to buy yours, I would never judge you either! That said, I chose to include a from-scratch recipe because—aside from STILL being scared of opening that can—I firmly believe that a homemade biscuit is always more delicious than anything store-bought. Even if you’ve never made biscuits before, I encourage you to give it a shot.
Sweet and creamy corn broth filled with shredded chicken and fresh corn kernels draped over fluffy scallion-studded buttermilk biscuits. It definitely isn’t my grandmother’s chicken and biscuits. But honestly, it might be even better.
Enjoy!
Creamy Corn and Chicken over Scallion Biscuits
Serves 6
For the creamy chicken and corn:
4 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen, divided
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced (about ¾ cup) and dark green parts sliced on a bias
1 ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided
1 small red pepper, chopped
1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
For the biscuits:
250 g flour (about 2 cups)
10 grams sugar (about 2 tsp)
15 grams baking powder (about 1 tbsp)
1 gram baking soda (about ¼ tsp)
4 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt (about 1 tsp
100 grams cold butter, cubed (about 7 tbsp)
180 mL cold buttermilk (3/4 cup)
40 grams dark and light green scallions, thinly sliced
Special equipment: blender, food processor (optional), baking sheet, parchment paper
Method
For the creamy corn and chicken:
Blend 3 cups corn kernels with 1 cup water in a blender until smooth. Strain and reserve the liquid. Discard the mash left in the bottom of the strainer.
In a large high-sided skillet or pot over medium heat, sweat sliced white and light green scallions with butter, vegetable oil, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add red pepper, remaining 1 cup corn kernels, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and saute until tender, about 2 more minutes. Add ginger and cook an additional minute, until fragrant.
Stir in the flour until it coats the vegetables and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Whisk in corn broth, stirring constantly to prevent clumping; whisk in chicken stock. Bring to a boil, whisking, until thickened. It should be the consistency of hot gravy.
Fold in the shredded chicken and heat through. Serve topped with green scallions.
For the biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Rub in the cold cubed butter by hand (or pulse in the food processor) until the mixture becomes a coarse meal (though a few pieces might be as large as peas still, and that’s okay). If using the food processor, transfer mixture to a bowl and toss in scallions. Drizzle buttermilk over gradually, mixing with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms. It’s alright if it’s still pretty wet in places and dry and in others at this point.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle that’s roughly 4 x 8 inches and about ¾-inch thick. The short side should be closest to you. Using a dough scraper, the bottom third of the dough and fold it up, then lift the top third and fold it down over that, as if you are folding a letter. Turn the dough 90 degrees, pat the dough out to a rectangle the same size, and then repeat the folding. Turn the dough 90 degrees again and pat out a third time into a 4 x 8 rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into six even pieces. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes.
Brush biscuits with melted butter. Place in oven and reduce oven heat to 400 degrees. Bake for 17-23 minutes, or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool at room temperature.
Originally posted September 5, 2021.
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