Pot Pie

Posted: May 4, 2012 | Author: Louisa | Filed under: Historical, Main Dish | Leave a comment »

What do you think of when you think of a pot pie?  Vegetables in gravy surrounded by a flaky pastry crust, right?

Well, this isn’t that pot pie.  This is something entirely different.  Thick wedges of dough simmered in broth with some veggies.  Not noodles, not dumplings, but something entirely their own.

This is one of the recipes my grandmother would make.  It’s old.  It’s what women would make on wash day(when wash day meant the whole day full of back breaking work).  They’d simmer meat and bones(chicken, beef, pork, whatever they had on hand) all day, then remove the bones at the end of the day and add the vegetables and dough-presto, dinner!!  It’s the kind of thing people are awed by, but it is cheap and takes very little effort.  Oh, and did I mention it’s delicious?  Seriously, wonderfully delicious.

You can add whatever veggies you want to this-I think peas and asparagus would be amazing.  Or sweet potatoes.  Use whatever you have on hand.  Your ancestors will be proud

Recipe:

For the soup-

1 batch golden broth, or 6-8 cups of your preferred vegetable broth

1 onion, chopped

2 potatoes, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp poultry seasoning(like Bell’s)

 

For the dough-

4 cups flour(whole wheat tends to make these tough, sadly, so use a maximum of 1C whole wheat pastry flour), plus extra for dusting

4 tbsp(1/2 stick) butter

1 tsp salt

1.5-2 C milk.  Occasionally a bit more or less.

 

In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil and saute the onion for 2-3 minutes, or till it starts to go limp and a bit translucent.  Add the rest of the soup ingredients, turn the heat up to medium-high and make the dough.

Combine the flour and salt, and cut in the butter.  Slowly begin to stir in the milk-the amount will vary depending on the day, your flour, the weather, but what you want is a dough that is soft enough to roll out easily, but dry enough not to stick to everything.  It’s not precise-if it gets too wet, add a bit more flour.  If it’s too dry, add some more milk.  It’s very forgiving.

Dust your counter and roll out your dough to about 1/4 inch thick, or a little thicker.  Cut it into squares about 2×2 inches, sprinkle a little flour on top and rub it into the surface of the dough(this will thicken the broth and also help keep the noodles from sticking).

Now check your pot.  Is it boiling?  If not, wait til it is.  If so, start adding the dough pieces one at a time while stirring(this is important. If you do not do this they will all stick together and be gross).  Once all the dough pieces have been added reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot.  Let it cook for 25 minutes, then pull out a dough chunk and check for doneness(if you cut it open and can see a line in the middle, it’s not done yet)

Once they test done, you’re done!  Time to eat!

Serves 4-6

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