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Chicken Pie

A savory pie with chicken, potatoes, and onions in a pastry crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chicken Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Cook the filling

  1. Boil the chicken gently until it falls from the bones.

  2. Cut the chicken into small pieces.

  3. Cook the potatoes and onion in the chicken broth.

Make the pastry

  1. Make a pastry with flour, lard, salt, and baking powder.

  2. Add enough milk to form a soft dough.

Assemble and bake

  1. Line a baking dish with the pastry.

  2. Bake at 400°F (200°C).

  3. Fill the dish with chicken, potatoes, and a small amount of broth.

  4. Cover with pastry.

  5. Brown in the oven at 400°F (200°C).

Finish and serve

  1. Thicken the remaining broth.

  2. Serve over the pie.

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.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  3. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Milk + chickentop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,389 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the main structure of the pastry as its proteins and starches set when baked.
Lard
Coats flour particles to keep the crust tender and flaky rather than tough.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the pastry rise and lighten.
Milk
Adds moisture so the flour hydrates into a soft, workable dough.
Potatoes
Add starch and body to the filling, making it hearty and substantial.
Chicken
Provides the main meat filling, contributing savoury flavour and bulk.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to the pastry. Stop mixing once the dough just holds together. Overworking flour develops gluten, which makes the crust tough rather than tender and flaky.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, milk, chicken, potato):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, milk, chicken, potato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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