by Board Member Sandy Hartzell
PA Dutch Chicken Pot Pie is not the same as the MD version or the typical version found in the freezer section at the food stores, which have a pastry top crust and sometimes a bottom crust as well. The Eastern Shore has a version that’s close, but they call it “slippery dumplings,” and it’s more typically made with beef than chicken. I used to make it with a whole chicken (raw) to make the broth, but now I “cheat” and use a rotisserie chicken to save time.
As I seldom use a recipe for this dish, I’ll just walk you through how I make it and approximate the quantities.
1. Start with a large heavy stock or soup pot.
2.Place the whole rotisserie chicken in the pot (you can break it into pieces), cover with water (probably 10-12C) and start cooking on medium-high
3. Add 1 finely chopped medium to large onion and 2-3 stalks of chopped celery.
4. Cook about 30-40 minutes to get the stock nice and hearty.
5. Take the chicken out, let it cool so it can be cut/shredded into nice size pieces (discard the skin and bones). If you notice I didn’t say anything about adding salt or pepper thus far as the chicken was already seasoned. Check your broth to see if you need to add any salt or pepper (I do not usually have to add any, but everyone’s taste is different).
6. At this point, add about 4 peeled and chopped small to medium pieces of potato.
7. Cook about 10 minutes.
8. Make your pot pie dumplings and have them ready to be cooked when the potatoes are about half cooked.
Dumplings: 2C of flour, 1 egg beaten, ¼ tsp of salt and enough water to make the dough workable (able to be rolled out). Mix all the ingredients together and roll out on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Use a knife or a pizza cutter and cut into 1 ½ to 2-inch squares.
9. Drop the squares into the chicken broth in which the potatoes are cooking. Drop them in slowly and stir to keep them from clumping together.
10. Cook the dumplings for about 10 minutes; at this point both the potatoes and the dumplings should be cooked.
11. Add the chicken pieces back into the broth and thicken the broth to a thin gravy consistency (if necessary).
12. Add some fresh or dried parsley and serve hot. I usually serve it with peas and/or carrots.
(The above image retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/MeanwhileinYork/posts/pennsylvania-dutch-chicken-pot-pie-famously-skips-the-crust-entirely-showing-up-/1258889479610437 )