What is autumn like where you live? Here in New York this beautiful season always seems to go by too fast. Maybe I feel that way because it’s my favorite time of year. The fall colors are breathtaking with the trees ablaze in bright orange, red, and yellow leaves. Nicole and I decided to take a drive up north to admire the fall foliage and spend the afternoon in Cold Spring. It’s a charming village on the Hudson River with many antique stores, small boutiques, and a variety of restaurants: a perfect weekend getaway for many New Yorkers and even international travelers.
Nicole and I had lunch in a cozy, little French bistro, who very nicely accommodated our gluten free requests. The food was wonderful, although unfortunately we had to pass on the French bread. Afterwards we strolled around town a little bit, and then we decided to stop in a cafe that offered free wi-fi. I am writing this post while sipping a delicious coffee.
Can you guess another thing I love about autumn besides the changing colors? The food! Autumn recipes always are so warm and hearty: the tastiest comfort foods. Today, I have a lovely, fall casserole for you to enjoy. Creamy chicken with sweet carrots and delicate mushrooms covered in a tender potato topping. The perfect welcome to fall.
This casserole is a twist on chicken pot-pie and scalloped potatoes. Basically, it is a chicken pot-pie style filling (using potato flour for a luscious gravy) topped with golden, scalloped potatoes instead of a crust. That makes it gluten-free and paleo friendly!
I recommend prepping all your ingredients before you start because the cooking is pretty fast. First, peel and slice your potatoes. For the quickest way, I use a slicing attachment on my food processor or you can use a mandoline. The slices should be about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, dice the onions and carrots, mince the garlic, and slice the mushrooms. Now preheat your oven. While the oven preheats, start cooking your chicken in melted butter in a large skillet on the stove. This only takes about 3 minutes because the pieces are small. Transfer the chicken to a dish with a slotted spoon and cover the dish.
Now add onions to the butter in the skillet where you cooked the chicken and sauté the onions. When they are tender, add the garlic and cook for another minute. Next stir in your potato flour. Bob’s Red Mill has a certified gluten free potato flour. Cook the potato flour in the skillet for a few minutes until it forms a pale paste (this is referred to as the roux). The roux will be the thickener for your sauce. The longer you cook the roux, the darker your sauce will be. That’s why my sauce is a little dark. If you’d like it lighter, don’t cook it more than a minute or two.
Next add your chicken stock and stir. It will start to thicken. Now toss your chicken back into the skillet along with the carrots and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Let the chicken simmer for about 20 minutes. Then for extra velvety creaminess, add the coconut milk. I recommend Native Forest that is organic, certified gluten-free, and canned with non-BPA packaging. Native Forest doesn’t add any extra sugar or sweeteners, just pure coconut goodness.
Go ahead and taste a piece of chicken now. Isn’t that delicious?
Finally transfer the chicken mixture to your baking dish and arrange the potatoes around the top, starting on the outside and working your way in, overlapping around and around as you go. Dot with butter, cover and bake for 45 minutes, and then uncover and bake for 20-30 minutes more until the potatoes on top are slightly browned.
That’s it. Just a half hour of prep time and then popped into the oven and your casserole is ready to serve in a little more than an hour. A satisfying meal for busy fall days: rich on flavor, healthy, and easy to make. Enjoy, friends!
- 2-3 lbs thin sliced chicken
- ½ cup butter + 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced;
- ¼ cup gluten free potato flour
- 1 cup gluten free chicken stock, homemade or Kitchen Basics
- 2 carrots, diced
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper
- 3-4 organic russet potatoes
- Preheat oven to 400℉
- Peel and thinly slice your potatoes on a mandoline or as I do in my food processor with the slicing attachment (about ⅛-inch-thick slices). Cover and set aside.
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces
- Melt ½ cup of butter in a large skillet. Add chicken, stir and cook about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon, cover and set aside.
- Add onions to the butter in the skillet and sauté about 4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for one more minute.
- Stir in potato flour, cooking for a few minutes until it forms a pale paste (this is referred to as the roux). The roux will be the thickener for your sauce.
- Add chicken stock and stir.
- Add chicken, carrots and mushrooms, salt and a few dashes of pepper.
- Simmer for 20 minutes while gravy thickens.
- Then add coconut milk and stir to combine.
- Transfer creamy chicken mixture to a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Arrange potato slices on top overlapping as you go.
- Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more until top is browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
I brought Creamy Chicken Potato Casserole to Tasty Tuesdays and Two Cup Tuesdays.
The post Creamy Chicken Potato Casserole appeared first on The Gluten Free Homestead.
