Moravian Chicken Pie

diane

Retired User
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Location
State of Jefferson
512px-Moravian_Chicken_Pie.jpg
Moravian Chicken Pie
Ommni1 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


This is an old recipe from the Piedmont of North Carolina, and a favorite Baptist potluck dish! It's both old and new - older versions using both dark and white meat, newer ones white only. To make the broth, cook the whole chicken until the meat falls off the bone, then strain it and simmer it until concentrated. Or, just use the canned broth. It's not a pot pie - chicken pot pie has veggies in it - it's a chicken pie!

Moravian Chicken Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
6-8 tablespoons cold water

Filling

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tablespoon butter, cut in pieces (optional)

Crumb Topping

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. For Pie Crust, combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in water just until dough forms. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Cover and chill 30 minutes, or until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out one piece of dough to cover bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate and place in the plate. Roll out second piece of dough for top crust and set aside.

3. Place chicken on bottom crust in pie plate. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and flour, and pour in broth. Dot with butter, if desired. Cover with top crust, moisten edges with a little flour and crimp to seal.

4. For Crumb Topping, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top crust of pie. Cut a few slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. (Unbaked pies may be frozen at this point.)

5. Place pie plate on a cookie sheet for easier handling and better browning of the bottom crust. Bake pie 45 minutes to 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. (If pie is frozen, bake at 400 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.) If desired, stir a mixture of flour and water into any extra chicken broth, plus salt and pepper to taste, and simmer until thickened to make a gravy to serve with the pie.

6. Makes one 9-inch pie.

Note: Many Moravians make chicken pies with a 10-inch pie plate. To adapt this recipe for a 10-inch pie plate, increase the filling ingredients to 3 cups chopped chicken, 1/4 cup flour and 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, but use the same amounts of all the other ingredients.
 
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It is! It really is easy as pie, too...!

The Moravians are a unique group, very prominent in the settlement of west North Carolina. They are Bohemians, largely Protestant exiles from Catholic Prussia and Czech Republic. The Moravian Church is sometimes confused with the Brethen denominations - they were noted for their hard work, self-sufficiency and thrift, and were especially noted among Indians for their industrious efforts to educate and convert. (They meant well and didn't war with us!) The late Andy Griffith was a Baptist but was raised in the Moravian Church. The Moravians are one of the many remarkable little groups who found a haven in American in the 17th and 18th centuries.
 
If you are ever near Winston Salem North Carolina, take a day trip to Old Salem.
It is Moravian version of Williamsburg, full of restored old buildings and craftsmen
doing things the way they were done in the late 18th to early 19th Century. The
bakery and the gunsmith shop were the favorite parts of my tour but there are
plenty of other crafts and gardening exhibits there for all to see. Be sure to try
out the Ginger Snaps and Sugar Cookies at the bakery. You will love them!
Christmas time would be a great time to make a visit there.

The cemetery at the Moravian church there is segregated. The single men and
single women were buried in different sections according to sex.
 
Doesn't it though.

I've been doing a good job at trying to eat healthier for the last month, and now I see @diane's delicious chicken pie photo.

Guess I'm going off the new diet for the weekend. :D

Oh, you don't have to diet - it's just chicken and broth. Very healthy - no dairy except for a dab of butter! You know, speaking of diets, my brother is a vegetarian and he loves this pie so much he got the recipe from me. :laugh:
 
If you are ever near Winston Salem North Carolina, take a day trip to Old Salem.
It is Moravian version of Williamsburg, full of restored old buildings and craftsmen
doing things the way they were done in the late 18th to early 19th Century. The
bakery and the gunsmith shop were the favorite parts of my tour but there are
plenty of other crafts and gardening exhibits there for all to see. Be sure to try
out the Ginger Snaps and Sugar Cookies at the bakery. You will love them!
Christmas time would be a great time to make a visit there.

The cemetery at the Moravian church there is segregated. The single men and
single women were buried in different sections according to sex.
Thanks for the travel tip! Will add it to the list....
 
Ooohh! That looks good, Waterloo! :hungry:

The chicken pot pie is much the same as the chicken pie except there is less chicken and more veggies!


The recipe for this one is here:

https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/easy-chicken-pot-pie/

At some point in the future I will post my favourite recipe for English Country Pot Roast Chicken. I think you will like it, its one of those meals that smells really good whilst it cooks.
 
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At some point in the future I will post my favourite recipe for English Country Pot Roast Chicken. I think you will like it, its one of those meals that smells really good whilst it cooks.
Your chicken looks just like my wife makes when she roasts a chicken.the broth made from the chicken fat and wine and herbs and spices might just be the nectar of the gods.
 
Your chicken looks just like my wife makes when she roasts a chicken.the broth made from the chicken fat and wine and herbs and spices might just be the nectar of the gods.

That's very true, it smells fantastic, we add leeks and carrots, all the winter vegies, we don't use oil but we do add butter and white wine, its making me hungry just thinking about it.
 
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