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Chicken Pie

A baked pie with a flour crust, stewed chicken filling, and gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Chicken Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Work in lard until well combined.

  3. Add cream and enough water to form a dough without streaks.

  4. Roll out a thin crust and line the sides of a 6‑quart pan.

Assemble and bake

  1. Fill the pan with thoroughly stewed chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper.

  2. Optionally, pour stewed sweet corn over the chicken before sealing.

  3. Roll out the remaining crust, cut a large opening in the center, and place it over the chicken.

  4. Seal the edges by pressing with your thumb.

  5. Insert a funnel into the opening and pour in the chicken broth.

Serve

  1. Make gravy with the remaining broth to serve with 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. Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

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

  2. Chicken + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,666 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Coffee + corntop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together247 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + chickentop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the dough structure that holds the crust together.
Lard
Adds fat that makes the crust tender and flaky.
Baking powder
Releases gas that helps the crust rise and lighten.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture to the dough.
Chicken broth
Moistens the filling and makes the gravy.

The step that matters

Add cream and enough water to form a dough without streaks. Too much water makes the dough sticky and tough, while too little leaves dry patches. Mixing until evenly combined keeps the crust uniform and tender.

“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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