A simple pot pie crust (1892)
This week’s Lost Recipes are kind of crusty. We’re taking a look at the timeless, flakey goodness of a pot pie through recipes in the Montgomery Advertiser’s archives.
The following are for family-sized pot pies, not individual ones. Yes, kids, pot pies existed before those tiny frozen microwaveable things you eat today. Plus, instead of being pie shaped, you can make a homemade pot pie casserole dish style if you want.
Probably the most familiar one is the chicken pot pie, but you can use other meats like turkey, pork or even beef, and use various vegetables in the filling. To me, the signature part is the crust on top. It’s oh so good.
According to a writer from 1892, the reason so many people failed making homemade pot pie crust is that they tried too hard.
Flakey chicken pot pie can be a homemade treat to feed the whole family.
“They use cream, butter, eggs and various ingredients, all of which make the compound too rich, and, as a matter of course, the moment the air comes in contact with it down it goes.”
So keep your crust simple. With flour, cold water, a pinch of salt, and the usual proportion of baking powder, make a paste you can handle. Turn it out on a pastry board. Pat and flatten gently, using as little flour as possible.
“Then lay it in the kettle over the meat and vegetables, which must be nearly done. Boil rapidly for fifteen minutes, then take it out slowly from the fire.”
This recipe may be a little different from most pot pies, because it calls for a disassembly. The crust is broken into “dumplings” before being served.
“Remove all but the gravy, which is to be slightly thickened with flour, providing the dumplings has not made it thick enough before, which is sometimes the case. Pour the gravy over the dish and serve immediately. Made and treated this way, dumplings will be light and digestible.”
Pot pie filling with extra fresh chicken (1893)
Farm-to-table had a whole other meaning back in the 1800s, as you’ll see from this recipe for putting a freshly killed chicken into a pot pie.
“Use a fowl weighing four or five pounds. Remove all the feathers, singe off the hairs, and wipe it clean with a wet towel. Draw the bird without breaking the intes