Slippery Pot Pie

  This has been a family favorite for generations.  My mother made it.  My mother-in-law made, as well as her mother and her mother's mother and so on.  Some of our ancestors were from Germany and some settled in Pennsylvania; hence, Pennsylvania Dutch. 

    You can buy a whole chicken for this or you can do as I do and use the chicken parts that your family don't like such as necks, wings, back bones and giblets.  I save them in a large ziploc bag in the freezer until I have enough.  If your chicken was previously frozen, then cook off the parts and freeze the broth and chicken for another time.  It will keep well in your freezer for about 6 weeks.  

    This is what the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced (I don't always put them in, because I don't need the extra carbs)

1 cup diced onion

1 1/2 cups diced celery

1/2 teaspoon pepper

salt to taste

water

Cover chicken with water and cook in large pot, until tender.  

Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool and debone.  ( if you refridgerate broth for several hours or over night, fat will rise to the top and is easy to remove.)

Add vegetables to broth with salt and pepper.  When the broth is boiling, add the pot pie dough.

Pot Pie Dough

Ingredients: 

4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups milk (This is where you can get rid of some milk that might be out of date by a few days)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 beaten egg

Mix ingredients and knead into a firm mixture.  divide in half and using a rolling pin roll first half out on lightly floured surface.  Cut dough into squares 1 1/2 inches or smaller.  Drop squares into boiling broth, repeat with rest of dough.  Cook until dough is puffed and tender.  It is served as a stew. 

Vegetables that go well with this is cole slaw, pepper slaw, peas, carrots, broccoli, or Salad. I sometimes add carrots or peas to the pot pie when cooking.  My children don't like peas very much, so if they are here for dinner, I won't.

My husband, children and grandchildren say the best part is the dough.  I will admit that the dough is delicious, but I love all of it equally.

If you don't like chicken, beef is good as well.  I heard stories of my grandfather-in-law (Brant) hunting for squirrels or rabbits for pot pie.  I have also had ham and bean pot pie at the fire hall.