AIP Chicken Pot Pie (“Chicken and Biscuits”)

• First, prepare *AIP Gravy* per recipe [below] (or make it ahead of time, and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to assemble this recipe).
• Grease a large casserole dish, 9" by 13" or larger.
• Add raw chicken thigh pieces, somewhat equally spaced apart. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
• Heat large skillet over high heat until pan is hot. Add fat. Add onions, optional celery and sea salt. Sauté 8-10 minutes.
• Add carrots and dried thyme. Sauté an additional 5 minutes.
• Ladle onions and carrots over raw chicken. Add optional (re-intro only) frozen peas.
• Add gravy, pouring it evenly over ingredients.
• Place casserole dish in preheated oven for 40 minutes, while you make the biscuit dough. [See Biscuit recipe below.]
• When biscuit dough is complete, choose to either use a cookie scoop or to cut biscuits into squares. Do not over-mix; follow biscuit guidelines for scooping or cutting.
• Remove hot casserole dish from oven. Increase oven temperature to 400°.
• Place portioned biscuit batter over the surface of casserole contents. There will be spaces between each biscuit.
• Bake in 400° oven 25-30 (additional) minutes, until edges are bubbly, center is very hot and a bit bubbly, and biscuits are tinged with brown and golden.
• Remove from heat, and garnish with fresh sage and fresh thyme. (Fresh sage begins to brown when heated, so garnish directly before serving.)

The secret to excellent Paleo AIP biscuits is COLD SHORTENING. Really cold. Be sure to mind the temperature of all your ingredients, and instructions that guide you to refrigerate or freeze at certain stages.

• If baking biscuits by themselves (not on top of a casserole): Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. (If using biscuits to top a casserole, follow casserole instructions for baking details.)
• Combine cold water (or cold coconut milk) and apple cider vinegar in small dish. Set aside. (The coconut milk should be mostly smooth, so whisk it a bit to be sure you don't have layers of oil or fat.)
• In large bowl whisk together dry ingredients: cassava flour, collagen, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
  
• Cut cold fat (see my photo down in Notes below) into flour using pastry cutter, food processor (or 2 knives), until largest fat pieces are pea-size. Don't cut fat too small.

  Food processor: Pulse to combine until largest fat pieces are pea-size.

  Place bowl in freezer for 5 minutes (and not more than 10).
  
• Pour cold water (or cold coconut milk) and ACV into flour mixture, and stir to just combine. Do not over-mix. (I use about 20 to 25 strokes with my rubber spatula.) Add more (of the reserved) water or milk, if needed to get the right dough texture. (Some variation in how the dough looks is fine. Slightly wetter is shown on the left [below], and slightly drier is shown on the right. Both turn out. If you make this recipe lots of times, you can decide what you like best and finesse.)
  
• Dump dough out onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Form into a 2" thick rough rectangle for 8 biscuits (or a square if you want 9 biscuits). Do not pat it down too much. (For casserole, dumping out dough is optional; a cookie scoop can also be used. See next step for details.)
  
• Using a sharp knife, cut straight down into dough. Dip knife in flour after each cut, until you have all biscuits cut. Spread out biscuits just slightly from each other, so they have room to cook and expand slightly. (For casserole, use either cut biscuits, or use large cookie scoop to portion dough. Spread separate biscuits evenly out over casserole surface. Follow baking instructions from casserole recipe.) If for any reason your oven isn't preheated yet, place cut biscuits in the fridge while you wait for it to preheat.
  
• Bake in preheated oven 25 to 30 minutes, until puffed, dark golden and cooked through.
  
• Enjoy! Cool slightly. Split open, and top with either sweets or savories!
  

• Place whole bacon slices into sauté pan over low heat, to begin rendering slowly, while you slice the onions.
• Add onions to the pan, with sea salt.
  
• Cook over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, until onions are beginning to soften and wilt.
  
• Add garlic and herbs, lower heat to low, and cook 10 more minutes, covered, until fragrant and softened.
  
• Pour in coconut milk and broth, with optional soaked mushrooms. Raise heat to medium to bring broth to a simmer, then reduce heat to maintain simmer once covered. Simmer 5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender.
  
• Purée until smooth, at medium to medium-high speed, about 35 seconds. Pour back into pan, and reheat, stirring occasionally, until steamy hot. Serve!