Robyn's Recipes

Meal of the Week

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I decided to interject a menu this week that's just plain good home-cooking, the kind you'd find in the best kitchens of any country farmhouse.  This recipe is for Chicken Pot Pie, which, in my neck of the woods, is created by the best Pennsylvania Dutch cooks.  You've probably thought all these years that Chicken Pot Pie is a pie that's filled with gravy, chicken and vegetables.  Not necessarily so!!  It's actually a stew-type of meal.  You make the noodles yourself (which is easy to do!) and I should warn you now..... if you're trying to drop those pounds this week, put your plan aside for one day and give this a try!

Entree

Chicken Pot Pie

5 chicken breasts
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon celery seed
3 large potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons parsley
5 chicken bouillon cubes

Fill a large dutch oven with about 10 cups of water.  Add the chopped onion, celery seed, garlic powder, parsley, bouillon cubes and the chicken.  Bring to a boil, cover with lid,  and then turn down to simmer for about an hour, or until chicken can be easily removed from the bones.

When chicken is done, remove from the pot, reserving all of the stock. Turn off the burner until after the noodles are made (recipe follows).   Remove chicken from bones and cut into small chunks and set aside.

Pot Pie Noodles

To make the dough:

2-1/2 cups flour
3/4 stick of butter, softened
Approximately 1/3 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour flour into a good sized mixing bowl and add softened butter.  Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste).  Begin mixing using your hands, and then add milk.  Completely mix dough with your hands until you reach desired consistency (you may need to add a little flour or a little more milk, depending... dough should not be sticky to the touch.  If too sticky, add a little flour until just right.

Flour your surface, then roll out dough with rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thick.  Using a sharp knife, cut slices the entire way across, and then the other direction, to form square noodles about an 1-1/4".

Bring stock to a rolling boil, add potatoes and carrots, and a handful of the noodles at a time.  Stir soup after each addition of noodles to help keep them from sticking together. Cover again with lid, and let cook for about a half hour to 45 minutes, or until noodles are cooked completely through and the vegetables are done.   When all is finished, add the chicken once again, to heat through, and serve.   Your stock will thicken up a little after you add your noodles.

Side Dish

Beer Bread

Nothing goes better with this meal than a great loaf of bread on the side... to dip into the soup or just spread butter on it.

3 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
One 12-oz. can beer at room temperature

Mix flour and sugar together.  Add beer and mix well with a fork.  Your dough will be wet-looking.

Put into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  Outer crust will be somewhat hard when done baking.

Dessert

Shoo Fly Pie

One store bought unbaked pie crust
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 rounded tablespoons Crisco
1 cup molasses
1 egg
3/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix flour, brown sugar and Crisco together, until mixture forms a crumb-like consistency.  Save 1/2 cup of the crumbs for top of pie.

In the crumb mixture, make a well and add molasses, egg and hot water.  then mix one teaspoon baking soda in 1/4 cup hot water and add to the mixture.  Pour into unbaked pie crust, top with remaining crumbs, and bake at 375 degrees until nice and brown on top, approximately 35-40 minutes, keeping an eye on it so that it doesn't over-bake.

Beverage Suggestion:
White Grape Spritzer

4 oz. white grape juice
Club soda

Fill a wine glass with ice cubes.   Add 4 oz. of white grape juice, and fill the rest of the way with club soda.  Garnish with a twist of lemon.