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Chicken Pot-pie

A savory pie of chicken, potatoes, dumplings, and gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Chicken Pot-pie

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the chicken and dumplings

  1. Put chicken in cold water and bring to a boil.

  2. While boiling, cut a slice from bread dough, add a small lump of lard, and mix into a light biscuit dough; cut out with a cake-cutter and set aside to rise.

  3. Wash and pare potatoes of moderate size, and add them when the chicken is almost done.

  4. When the potatoes begin to boil, season with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour.

  5. Add dumplings, season, and dredge again with flour.

  6. Ensure there is enough water to keep from burning, cover tightly, and do not lift the lid until the dumplings are done.

  7. After about half an hour, lift the lid, take out a dumpling, and break it open to check doneness.

Serve

  1. Dish potatoes by themselves and chicken and dumplings together.

  2. Make gravy: if not enough, add more water, butter, and seasoning.

Variations

  1. Alternatively, make dumplings with one pint sour milk, two well beaten eggs, half teaspoon soda mixed in flour, salt, pepper, and enough flour to make a stiff dough; or use baking powder and sweet milk.

  2. Drop the dumplings in by spoonfuls, cover tightly, and boil as above.

  3. You can make a pot-pie from a good boiling piece of beef; if too much grease arises, skim.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

737Calories
28 gProtein
15 gFat
122 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the soda to make the dumplings rise and turn tender.
Soda
Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas, lightening the dumplings.
Eggs
Bind the dough and help set the dumplings into a firm, cohesive crumb.
Lard (in the method)
Shortens the dough so the biscuit dumplings are light and tender rather than tough.
Flour
Gives the dumplings their structure and thickens the cooking liquid when dredged.
Potatoes (in the method)
Their starch softens as they boil and adds body to the dish.

The step that matters

Keep the lid on while the dumplings cook. Dumplings cook by trapped steam. Lifting the lid lets steam escape and the temperature drop, so they can turn heavy or stay raw in the middle.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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