5. Chicken Pot Pie

Slide 5 of 10

In Pennsylvania, where I come from, we make our Dutch pot pie with a rich chicken broth, tender chunks of chicken, and tender, homemade dough noodles. Pot pie to us is not a two crust pie with vegetables, chicken, and cream sauce. It’s best to pre-prep this recipe in advance.

Ingredients:

6 Whole Chicken legs or thighs

1 box chicken broth

5 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ¼ sticks margarine (You’ll know you have enough margarine when the dough holds together in a tube shape when you open your palm. See below.)

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup water

Mrs. Dash Herb n Garlic (or you can add your own poultry seasoning.)

Directions:

Cover the chicken with water an inch above the meat, bring to a boil, then turn down to a medium simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove a piece of meat, cut it open next to the bone, and check for doneness.

Remove the chicken, remove the skin, and take the meat off of the bone by hand, breaking into small pieces.

Pour the broth from the chicken into containers. Cool totally to room temperature before refrigeration. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, remove the chicken broth from the refrigerator and skim the fat off with a spoon.

Put chicken broth into a large Dutch oven. Add 1 (32 oz) box chicken broth. Add Mrs. Dash Herb & Garlic to taste. Bring it to a rolling boil.

While waiting for the broth to come to a rolling boil, make the dough.

Add 5 cups of flour to a large bowl. Add 2 ½ teaspoons of salt and stir the dry ingredients. Take the 1 ¼ stick of margarine, cut it up, and put it in the flour. With your hands, squeeze it and mix it throughout the flour. Put some of the mixture into the palm of your hand, squeeze it, and if it forms a log that will hold together, you know you have enough margarine. If not, add a little more and work it into the dough until you can form a log and hold it in your hand.

Put 4 eggs into a separate bowl and beat them with a fork. Add a cup of water to the eggs and continue to mix with a fork.

Pour it all over the flour.

With your hands, start folding and pressing the flour and eggs toward the center of the bowl. Work with the mixture until it sticks together and makes a ball. If you still have some flour that’s not mixed, add water a little at a time until it’s absorbed and mixed in. There should be no dry flour in it.

Next, divide the dough into two pieces and roll it out to about ⅛-¼ inch thick. Cut into squares with a pizza wheel or a knife.

Make sure the broth is at a rolling boil, and drop 4-6 pieces at a time. Stir to make sure they have a few seconds to get into the broth and wetted. This step helps your pot pie noodles not stick together. Keep doing that in batches until all the dough is in the pot. Add the chicken to the pot.

Turn it down to a medium boil and cook for 25 minutes. Remove a piece of dough and put it on a plate. Cut it in half and look for doneness. It should have a solid appearance. If you want the noodles softer, cook them a little longer.

How kids can help: Kids can help bone the chicken, add the chicken broth and seasonings, make the dough, and drop it carefully into the broth to cook.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Tatsiana Volkava