Chicken Pie may be one of the most universally loved savory pies in our part of the country- southerners simply eat a lot of chicken and since we do, there tends to be a bit of leftovers whenever we roast or bake a chicken. A southern chicken pie seems to be the favorite way to use leftovers or even start from scratch with the intent of making comfort food, especially when Fall begins to cool the air!
I guess some folks call it Chicken Pot Pie, though I never have. Why? When I think of pot pies- they were those little frozen pies my sister and I ate when our momma wasn’t cooking that night. My grandmother made her chicken pies very plain with a thick, rich creamy broth, chunks of chicken and a chopped boiled egg- no peas and carrots – just topped with a buttery flaky crust. The vegetables she served were side dishes. Sometimes chicken pie was served with mixed greens or a fruit salad. I do tend to add peas and even very small diced carrots- though those additions are more for color than robust flavor. The best chicken pies have a subtle blend of flavors. In the Fall, I do add a small amount of celery, sometimes a pinch of thyme and always fresh cracked pepper- even a pinch of sage tends to bring out the fall flavors we tend to prefer around the holidays.
Here’s how to make Camellia’s Chicken Pie–
You will need: Your favorite pie crust for a single crust. And-
- 1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken breast- chopped in medium to large chunks.
- Up to 1/2 stick of butter.
- 3-4 Tbs. of all purpose flour (see note at the end of recipe)
- 1/2 cup of small diced carrots
- 1/2 cup of early peas (use frozen and do not add until filling is done!)
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/8 cup of finely diced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
- Pinch of ground sage (if desired for fall flavor)
- 2 cups of chicken stock (homemade if possible)
Butter a 9×9 glass baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter, add onion, carrots and celery stirring to coat and soften a bit (not too much though, we don’t want mushy vegetables here!) Add thyme and sage if desired. (I don’t add sage in the spring and if the chicken is well flavored!) Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over vegetables and butter coating all. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and simmer until filling thickens. Not too much though as filling will thicken as it bakes! Add salt and pepper to taste. Off heat, add chunks of chicken and frozen peas, stir gently to combine.
Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Cut the pastry round into a square piece that will fit baking dish. Cut dough scraps into small pieces and push into the chicken pie filling. This will also thicken the filling as it bakes. Top with square pastry, butter the dough lightly and cut slits as desired. If desired, sprinkle with cracked pepper.
Bake for 50-55 or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly. This chicken pie is 4-6 servings. *Tip: I’ve mentioned this cooking tip before- when making a roux or a brown gravy- I bake the raw flour in a shallow pan at 350 degrees until it turns golden brown; cool and store browned flour in an airtight container. This is such a time saver and gives that rich flavor only a roux can! *You can see the color difference in the broth from this one I made in Spring when I didn’t want the darker color filling and the one made this week!
Well, if you live in the south, I know you’re enjoying this cooler weather! Whew, it’s been so hot for so long, it’s nice isn’t it? And! I’ll admit in the heat, I didn’t even want to turn the oven on! Chicken Pie was what I wanted to bake as soon as we dipped below 75 degrees! At least in the mornings! Oh me… hope you bake some comfort food like a chicken pie and! That you’re having a wonderful Fall!
Love y’all, Camellia
*All photographs are obviously mine.
We southerners love soups, stews, gumbos, cream sauces, gravies, and we also tend to use the freshest ingredients possible. Since a good part of our land is agricultural, we have access to all kinds of fresh food and food we’ve grown and canned or put in the freezer. That includes Mushroom Soup… you might be surprised how many of our traditional dishes include fresh mushrooms!
Scalloped Potatoes are equally at home at Sunday Dinner, a Covered Dish Supper, Bereavement Buffets or a Glamourous Holiday Meal. And let’s not forget- Scalloped Potatoes could play a supporting or starring role on one of our famous Vegetable Plates. Perhaps not a strictly southern dish, scalloped potatoes make a regular appearance as a satisfying side dish any time of the year. Not limited to just potatoes, I honestly believe southerners could scallop almost anything! After a quick glance through some of my reliable cookbooks, in addition to potatoes, I found- Scalloped Shrimp, Scalloped Oysters and even Scalloped Scallops! Scalloped Seafood is almost always combined with a subtly spiced cream sauce topped with bread crumbs then baked in a large flat scallop shells, sold by the stack for just such occasions. Vegetables are a southern favorite to scallop- Tomatoes may be at the top of the list to scallop (after potatoes) yet watch out! Any vegetable that can be sliced into rounds can find themselves buttered, creamed and baked- Onions, Summer Squash, Eggplant, Zucchini, even Sweet Potatoes are often scalloped.
This week, at the last minute I realized I needed to send a covered dish to a potluck supper- no time to run to the store, I realized I had everything I needed to make Scalloped Potatoes! I added bits of chopped ham to the mixture- *this is often suggested in many southern recipes as a variation. Bacon or even Sausage is also added to many types of escalloped vegetables- just remember you’re not making hash! You’re adding flavor. I chose to use chopped garlic chives instead of my usual finely sliced green onions. I also wanted my Scalloped Potatoes to be a rustic version, so the potatoes weren’t peeled and weren’t thinly sliced as I would for a finer presentation! Now, let me stop here and explain- some recipes call for uncooked potatoes to be cooked in a thin cream sauce , however- I needed a quicker more reliable method that only works for Scalloped Potatoes, not other vegetables. My potatoes were cooked in advance; I didn’t make a cream sauce, because as my grandmother so wisely pointed out many years ago- ‘Potatoes have enough starch in them to create their own sauce!’ To her, adding flour created a flavor akin to paste- not good at all. Oh, how I do run on… just let me tell you how I made:
Camellia’s Rustic Scalloped Potatoes 
Southern Macaroni and Cheese sits warmly quivering on a plate when it’s been scooped out with Sharp Cheddar Cheese strands as thin as guitar strings, mingled with a rustic egg Custard clinging to an absurdly small amount of round elbows of macaroni. This is the iconic comfort food of my youth- well, if you don’t count a hot bowl of buttered grits. My mother, my grandmother, my great aunts and their double first cousins all made it basically the same way. Some were busy homemakers who took care of their families, paste waxed hardwood floors, sewed draperies, our dresses and even doll clothes; others were busy working women who also found time to cook- but with an amazing affinity to cook food fit to eat. My grandmother was a busy florist who also took care of my granddaddy and her son who was a disabled veteran- there was no time and certainly no reason to mess up extra pots and pans to make a fine Béchamel Sauce when baking a dish of macaroni and cheese. Could she make fine sauces? You bet she could- and did. I recently found, written in her own beautiful hand*, a cheese sauce so delicate, it was unbelievable.
Still. Nothing so delicately wrought as a béchamel sauce fit her idea of what a big hearted dish of common elbow macaroni and red wax rind Rat Cheese, as they called it, coarsely grated along with a seasoned custard made with fresh eggs and whole milk; apparently her folks agreed. Fresh from a hot oven Southern Macaroni and Cheese wasn’t made with a sauce- No, our family’s macaroni and cheese was fine- more than fine…mouth wateringly divine. It was a work of obscure art, barely noticed on a plate lunch- Mimi’s was a perfectly seasoned custard base with a triumphant topping of a half pound of cheese laced with a smidgen of bread crumbs if she took a notion or had the time and inclination. 
We Southerners love our Plate Lunches- a Meat and Three or a Vegetable Plate which almost always includes Macaroni and Cheese prompting that old corny saying-
Camellia’s Southern Macaroni and Cheese 
If doubled, this will make a nice buffet dish but should be set in a covered chafing dish to keep warm. It is good with stronger meats such as beef or ham, though most folks won’t turn it down no matter what you serve it with! A vegetable plate practically begs for it!
On Southern Dessert Tables, Egg Custard Pie is a Classic. Custards were brought to the Colonies by the British and remained popular in the South, especially when boiled or baked in small custard dishes- From fancy Crème Brule to humble Banana Puddings- we do love our custards! When times were hard and cooking was done to survive- Egg Custards were thought to be comforting and necessary. Filled with eggs and milk, ingredients on hand in most southern kitchens, Egg Custard Pies are rich but not overly sweet. Some even thought, the sick and recovering should be fed Custards – to fatten them up! Leave it to the Southern Sweet Tooth to make a Dessert out of a Comfort Food! Some custards are cooked then poured into a baked pie shell. Cooked Custards may Scorch. Filling an unbaked pie shell with the custard mix- is a bit easier. Custards aren’t hard to make, but then again…
Camellia's Cottage 