Braised Beef Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

2-½ to 3-pounds beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup all-purpose flour, to dredge the beef cubes
3 to 4 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp. butter
6 cups low sodium beef stock, feel free to replace 2 cups of stock with an equal amount of stout beer or red wine for an extra rich gravy
1-½ tbsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
½ cup orange juice

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F.
Trim the beef roast of excess fat; cut it into 1-½ inch cubes.
Season the cubes with salt and pepper; roll in plain flour to coat well.
In a cast iron skillet, heat the oil. over medium high heat, and brown the beef cubes well in small batches; do not crowd the pan with the beef or it will be harder to brown and could be drier when cooked.
Transfer the browned beef to a covered roasting pan or dutch oven.
Melt the butter in a sauté pan, over medium heat; add the onions and garlic; sauté until the onions have softened but not browned; add to the roasting pan with the beef.
Add the beef stock, thyme, nutmeg, salt, pepper, bay leaves and orange juice; stir and cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil before adding the lid.
Place in the pre-heated oven and cook for 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until the beef is fall apart tender.
Remove the cover and add the prepared biscuits to the top of the beef and gravy.
Increase the heat to 375°F and bake until the biscuits are baked through and golden brown on top.

In a food processor, blend together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; pulse in the cold butter; do not over incorporate the butter into the flour; similar to making a flaky pastry, small pieces of butter should be visible in the flour.
Transfer this mixture from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
Pour in the buttermilk; working very quickly with a wooden spoon, fold the dry mixture through the buttermilk, only until the flour disappears, then stop immediately.
Drop the sticky dough onto a well floured counter top or bread board; sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour and flour your hands to handle the dough.
Using a rolling pin for these biscuits is optional as the dough is soft enough to pat it out gently with floured hands to a thickness of about 1-½ -inches.
Using a sharp 3-inch to 4-inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits out and place them on top of the beef and gravy to bake as instructed above.
If a smaller biscuit cutter is used, baking time should be about 5 minutes less.