Roasted Chicken and Pumpkin Biscuit Sandwiches

 

My mother-in-law has been eating the same thing for lunch for more than a decade.  This statement is neither false nor remotely exaggerated.  Sure, she goes out to eat almost weekly, but when she does she dines at the same restaurant, and although I don't know for sure, I'm reasonably certain that she orders the same food every time.  The outings almost always take place on the same day of the week and to say that she is a creature of habit is a gross underestimation.

I think my boys have inherited this repetitive tendency from her gene pool.  They've only been back in school for three weeks and have already settled into the practice of asking for the same lunch items every day. For Jackson we've been packing apples and cucumbers; for Ben it has been carrots and plums. The main component has been a nice rotation of assorted goods.  Until this week.  This week they've decided to "pull a Grandma" and eat the same thing every day. Roasted chicken on pumpkin biscuit with romaine lettuce and sage mayo.

 

Definitely not your usual lunch-box fare, this has been the easiest thing we've made for the school day lunch, thus far. We almost always have leftover chicken lingering in the fridge and the biscuits can be prepared in ten minutes and baked in thirteen. Jackson told me today the he thinks the flavours of the sandwich "go really good together" and that's why he wants to eat it every day for his noon-hour nosh. I'm sure Grandma completely understands.

Pumpkin Biscuits

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (or a 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat)
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter, frozen and grated
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg together in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Add the grated butter to the  flour mixture and toss together with your hands until the texture is coarse and sandy.

Whisk the pumpkin and milk together until smooth.  Add to the flour mixture and stir together with a fork (or your hands, which I think works better).  

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and kneed until it comes together.  Pat the dough into a 1" thick circle and cut with biscuits with a 2" cookie cutter (or wine glass).

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12 - 13 minutes

Comments

[Pam]

I have a baking pumpkin still hanging around from late October. Thinking of getting my puree from it! I'm getting ambitious! : ) Any tips?