Chicken Pot Pie: The Topic

[Mabelline]

You might also think about making enough copies that we could buy it ...

[Rhea_S]

My absolute favourite chicken pot pie recipe is from Fine Cooking: Chicken Pot Pie. The vegetables and the chicken are roasted in at 375F until the chicken is falling-apart tender. The drippings are then used to make the gravy. The roasting caramelizes the veggies and that's what I think makes this dish terrific.

[Mayhaw Man]

I should also add that much like fried fish tails, sausage out of Jambalaya, and crunchberries out of a box of Captain Crunch, the crust on this stuff seems to magically dissappear in amounts that are much greater than the rate that the rest of the pie. Crust thieves are ferreted out and prosecuted to the fullest extent of culinary justice at my house-I hope that you will do the same. Crust thieves should be branded on their right shoulder with a big C to warn others of their weakness.

This thing is also a beautiful looking dish. All of that golden crust on top of the chicken, rice and dumplings. A study in shades of gold, brown, and white.

[Marlene]

The worst part is that she wrote it on some bizarre and useless word processing program in the early 90's that translated into nothing else. She should have used cookbook software but she didn't.

Brooks, this is just a suggestion in regards to redoing the cookbook in a useful software format...You could use an OCR program to turn the scanned cookbook into something editable. It might save having to re-type the entire cookbook.

How about a cut and paste into Microsoft Publisher?

[Toliver]

The worst part is that she wrote it on some bizarre and useless word processing program in the early 90's that translated into nothing else. She should have used cookbook software but she didn't.

Brooks, this is just a suggestion in regards to redoing the cookbook in a useful software format...You could use an OCR program to turn the scanned cookbook into something editable. It might save having to re-type the entire cookbook.

How about a cut and paste into Microsoft Publisher?

I was assuming he had only the cookbook itself on hand, not the computer files.

[sabg]

I should also add that much like fried fish tails, sausage out of Jambalaya, and crunchberries out of a box of Captain Crunch, the crust on this stuff seems to magically dissappear in amounts that are much greater than the rate that the rest of the pie. Crust thieves are ferreted out and prosecuted to the fullest extent of culinary justice at my house-I hope that you will do the same. Crust thieves should be branded on their right shoulder with a big C to warn others of their weakness.

This thing is also a beautiful looking dish. All of that golden crust on top of the chicken, rice and dumplings. A study in shades of gold, brown, and white.

i have the entire evening to focus on pot pies...i am going to make 3...one for me ...one fo rthe friend and another to freez...this will be my first time working with lard...a bit sacry but i have high expectations

[Mayhaw Man]

this will be my first time working with lard

Pork and it's many delicious by-products rarely leave the user wanting. The Mighty Pig is a gift from a wiser and Higher Power.

[fifi]

I am embarking on this project. The chicken is just starting to stew as we type. Brooks is a little vague about some quantities so I am winging it on some things. I am using the tarragon, basil, parsley suggestion. Man... It is starting to smell good in here!

This will not be completed until tomorrow as I am getting a late start with the chicken. In all respects, I will be following the recipe. That is, with one exception. I can't find my 9x16 to save me so I will be using a 9x9 Pyrex pan. I will have excess chicken, dumplings and pastry strips but I am sure I can figure out what to do with that. I may try to do the lattice business just because I think it will look cool. Now I have to go find the book where I saw the directions on how to do that.

I am taking pictures and will post them when it is finished. That is... As long as everyone PROMISES not to make fun of my "pastry skills".

sabg... lard is not scary. It is the best food in the world, as long as it is fresh. I couldn't find any fresh so I will probably go with all Crisco. I don't care for the hydrogenated stuff just on principle but it is good stuff for pastry. I know. That makes no sense because Crisco is a hydrogenated fat. It is just that I make my own but I am out right now and don't have time to make it and the pie, too.

Please post along with us on this journey to the best (and weirdest sounding) pot pie in the universe.

[Mayhaw Man]

I Brooks is a little vague about some quantities so I am winging it on some things.

I'm not vague at all. I am verbose and rediculously specific when the need arises!

My mama, on the other hand, thinks that everyone can cook like her. COnsequently her instructions in "The Cookbook" are vague at best, mainly because my brothers and I have watched her do all of this stuff our entire lives and just know how. She should make a video series just to interpret the thing. It would be hysterical. She hates cameras and hates repeating herself. SHe would not make it on FoodTV.

[fifi]

Hmm... For the chicken, how much of the herbs? How much salt? Now that I am snacking on the chicken, I would have probably added the herbs near the end of the stewing. I think some of the aromatics cooked off. I will recover by adding tarragon and basil to the final assembly unless MM says that is a travesty. I also think I undersalted the whole thing. Oh well, I guess that can be corrected in the final assembly. When I chunk the chicken tomorrow I will add some salt and let it sit.

Details, Brooks. DETAILS!

edit to add: BTW... Do you defat the broth before doing the dumplings?

[Mayhaw Man]

Hmm... For the chicken, how much of the herbs? How much salt? Now that I am snacking on the chicken, I would have probably added the herbs near the end of the stewing. I think some of the aromatics cooked off. I will recover by adding tarragon and basil to the final assembly unless MM says that is a travesty. I also think I undersalted the whole thing. Oh well, I guess that can be corrected in the final assembly. When I chunk the chicken tomorrow I will add some salt and let it sit.

Details, Brooks. DETAILS!

edit to add: BTW... Do you defat the broth before doing the dumplings?

Fifi,

Add what ever you like. You can certainly make it more interesting according to your personal taste. This is one of those dishes that is dependent on the blend of the ingredients as much as it is on the main part (the chicken). The pastry is important and the rice is important and so are the dumplings. I have done this, just for kicks of course, I am not advising you to do it that way, with Saffron Rice and it was pretty swell-just not the same thing. I do, however, regularly use Texmati as I really like that nutty flavor. Knock yourself out. The thing is time consuming and kind of a pain in the ass to make, but the results speak for themselves and part of the fun is learning how to do it so that you can change it the next time around. You will do it again if you come EVEN close the first time.

I don't defat the broth unless there is just a giant pad of the stuff after refrigeration. Chicken Fat is good. Ask the Good Rabbi Ribeye. He'll tell you the same.

[fifi]

Ah Ha! I will gleefully submerge my dumplings through the sacred bath of chicken fat. I just strained off the broth and there is not an obscene amount of fat even though this hen was a bit of a porker.

To be continued...

[fifi]

The great Chicken Pot Pie project has been concluded, :burp: and boy is it good. Be advised, however, that you are going to be in for some serious dishwashing. But, what the hell, that is what makes for a good project.

One thing I would do differently is make tougher dumplings. I like chewy sinkers in my chicken and dumplings. These were the light variety and didn't seem to hold together in the finished product. Of course, there is the possibility that I screwed it up. I said I wasn't that good with pastry. And I don't have a lot of experience with self rising flour, either. When I do this again (and I will) I will revert to my sneaky trick that I have developed for producing Aunt Minnie's sinkers... you get really cheap, grocery store brand, canned bicuits and roll them out on a well floured board.

I do have to say that my pastry strips came out better than any of my usual attempts at things of the pie crust persuasion. The "dots" were a last minute inspiration from reading about dotting with butter. I was too lazy to do the lattice.

Here are the pictures. Hopefully, Brooks will show up and critique.

Brooks didn't say how much veggies to use for the chicken so I winged it. I tried to have as much or a bit more than I would normally use for eGCI style chicken stock.

This is the chicken in the pot snuggling up to the veggies. The lovely creature was about a 5 pounder and I snacked a bit while boning it so the amount of chicken for the pie worked out. There are handfuls of basil, tarragon and parsley added as well. I had no idea how much worchestershire or Tabasco to add so I just guessed at about 4 "glugs" each.

Now the :expletive deleted: dumplings. I have no idea what Brooks means by "very thin" so I was just guessing.

Now the dumplings are being baptized in this marvelous broth. That was when I knew I was probably in trouble dumpling-wise.

Now for layering it in the pan. I think you can see the dumpling problem. I added some fresh chopped parsley and tarragon to the top of the first layer. I am glad I did. That tarragon was a knockout. I would have added some more basil if I had had any.

Ready for the oven.

And it is DONE! This took about 50 minutes at 350F.

And now for a taste. If I had let it cool a bit more, I think it would have held its shape a bit better but, by this time, I was tired of just smelling this thing and lost patience.

This reminds me of a very good batch of chicken and dumplings masquerading as a pie. I suppose that is fittin' in the land of Mardi Gras.

Get thee behind me, Atkins.

[Mayhaw Man]

It's gorgeous. Absolutely wonderful. I feel like I am looking at pictures of Grandchilden (hopefully I am about 15 years away from that event, so this will have to do ).

It looks great. If I had anything to say it would probably be it looks like you went a little heavy on the rice, but that's just a matter of taste. The dumplings usually hold together pretty well.

Sorry about the dishes. I think that part of the history of this dish is that all of the women in my life who cook this thing have help or kids to wash. My mama does not wash dishes unless there is literally no one else to do it. She cooks, you wash.

Fifi, I feel strangely honored. I hope that you enjoyed it. It really is my favorite old dish in the world. It takes some serious skills to make right and is delicious when you get it right.

Brooks

[Mayhaw Man]

The dumplings usually hold together quite well. I'm not sure what is up with that.

OTOH- you could cheat and use squared flour tortillas. They actually make damn good dumplings in a pinch, and I know the difference between a good one and a bad one so you 'll just have to trust me on that until you try it for yourself.

[fifi]

As I reflect on it, I probably should have kneaded the dumpling dough a bit more. I think I was more in "a biscuit state of mind" when handling the dough.

I have never tried the flour tortilla trick. Don't discount the canned biscuit trick. They really do taste like my Aunt Minnie's.

[Mabelline]

fifi, what truly scrumptious pictures. Have not been able to make mine, but that came out purty as a new calf!

[Cynthia G]

Wow, Fifi, that looks pretty darn fine for someone who claims to be pastry-impaired. If I drive really fast maybe I can get there before it's all gone!

[Richard Kilgore]

That look wonderful, Fifi. Save a bowl for me!

[sabg]

I should also add that much like fried fish tails, sausage out of Jambalaya, and crunchberries out of a box of Captain Crunch, the crust on this stuff seems to magically dissappear in amounts that are much greater than the rate that the rest of the pie. Crust thieves are ferreted out and prosecuted to the fullest extent of culinary justice at my house-I hope that you will do the same. Crust thieves should be branded on their right shoulder with a big C to warn others of their weakness.

This thing is also a beautiful looking dish. All of that golden crust on top of the chicken, rice and dumplings. A study in shades of gold, brown, and white.

i have the entire evening to focus on pot pies...i am going to make 3...one for me ...one fo rthe friend and another to freez...this will be my first time working with lard...a bit sacry but i have high expectations

wow-whee, accoridng to the 5 people that sampled these pot pies...this is the best ever...my b-day friend that started me on this said...these have all my favorites things without being gunked up with all the stuff i dont like (i think she meant veggies) the lard and the pastry was a first for me and it came out just great...question on the lard, how do you know if it's really fresh? smell? i have passed this recipe on to many people already

[Mayhaw Man]

Two things about lard.

1)When it's bad, you'll know. Yuck.

2) Buy it in the smallest possible amounts for what you need (usually not much). It keeps pretty well in the fridge, but honestly, how much do you need to keep?

I am glad that it turned out for you. It really is a pretty amazing dish. I have no idea how old that recipe is, it came from my Grandmother (who passed in 85) and she said that her Mom used to make it for special occasions. My grandmother was born in 1897, so it is a pretty old recipe. We all consider chicken to be common and cheap these days, but until Mr Tyson and Mr Sanderson started mass producing cut up chickens, it was pretty much something that you ate for big meals with the family, not something you knocked out at 5 o"clock just because you couldn't find anything else in the fridge.

[Priscilla]

Wow what an incredible trip. Fifi, your pix are astounding and inspiring.

Ain't afeard o' lard atall atall. But, I AM deathly afraid of veg shortening. Could I use all lard and still be in the realm of respectability?

Reading about this dish, perhaps due to provenance and poultry, put me in mind of Craig Claiborne's Mother's Chicken Spaghetti ... same sense of Special Occasion (in the time before cheap chicken, particularly) and many servings. Mrs. Claiborne was preparing her Chicken Spaghetti at her Sunflower, MS, boarding house, if memory serves.

[bleudauvergne]

Oh, fifi, it was wonderful to watch you make that. I like my dumplings thick too. I remember watching my mother make them. So wonderful.

[sabg]

Wow what an incredible trip. Fifi, your pix are astounding and inspiring.

Ain't afeard o' lard atall atall. But, I AM deathly afraid of veg shortening. Could I use all lard and still be in the realm of respectability?

Reading about this dish, perhaps due to provenance and poultry, put me in mind of Craig Claiborne's Mother's Chicken Spaghetti ... same sense of Special Occasion (in the time before cheap chicken, particularly) and many servings. Mrs. Claiborne was preparing her Chicken Spaghetti at her Sunflower, MS, boarding house, if memory serves.

i have not heard of the chicken spaghetti? any chance you have the recipe? thanks

[fifi]

Ain't afeard o' lard atall atall.  But, I AM deathly afraid of veg shortening.  Could I use all lard and still be in the realm of respectability?

I made lard the other day and took this picture to post in my entry in RecipeGullet to illustrate the types of product you can get. The white is the "first dipping" from the stove top process.

Now... My question for Mayhaw Man... If using lard, would you use the pure white or the tan colored product?