Ingredients
8 tbsp butter, sweet
1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
5 tbsp flour
3 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper, black
1/2 cup prunes, pitted, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup currants
1/2 lb mushrooms, quartered
1 pepper, red bell, cored/seeded/coarsely cho
1 lb pearl onions, frozen, thawed
6 cup chicken, cooked, cubed
1 package peas, frozen, thawed
1/2 flaky pastry recipe
1 egg wash
Directions
In a 2 quart saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over low heat. Add
the nutmeg and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour
over the butter, and with a wooden spoon, stir to blend. Increase the
heat to moderate and slowly add the chicken stock, blending well
after each addition so that there are no lumps. Mix in the cream,
salt and pepper. Gradually bring the mixture to a boil, stirring
constantly. When it has thickened, add the prunes and currants. Cook
over low heat 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a saut^B pan
over moderately low heat. When it foams, add the mushrooms and
peppers. Saut^B until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, increase
the heat to moderate, and saut^B for 15 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken in a large mixing
bowl. Scrape the sauteed vegetables and peas on top, then pour the
prune sauce over all. Toss gently to distribute all the ingredients.
Taste for seasonings and adjust if needed.
Spoon the chicken mixture into a deep 4-5 quart ovenproof casserole.
Roll out the flaky pastry or puff pastry and, using the casserole's
lid as a guide, with the tip of a sharp knife cut it to fit. Lay the
pastry over the chicken mixture and brush it with the egg wash.
Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve
immediately. Serves 10-12
Early cookbooks reveal that chicken pie was every bit as popular as
roasted turkey for the prinicipal entree at Thanksgiving dinner. Al-
though it's hard to believe, some familes even served both. This
recipe, with its bizarre inclusion of prunes and currants, nutmeg and
cinnamon, has been developed from a very early recipe. Do not be put
off by the fruit and spices. Their presence is unobtrusive and they
enhance what can be a very pedestrian sauce, turning it into a
magnificent, if mysterious, backdrop for the chicken.
SOURCE:*Yankee Magazine, November 1993
POSTED BY: Jim Bodle 10/93
Fidonet COOKING echo
Servings: 10 servings
Chicken Pot Pie (17th Century) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Casserole; Chicken; Dessert; Pie; Poultry
The History of Recipes
We can follow the history of `recipes` far back into the far past, at least as far as early Egypt, and maybe further still. In practice though, mostly, these early cook books were just basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a collection of stone tablets in the Sumerian language which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel exhilarated. Later on, we find two interesting books which appeared in the 14th Century - one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, they have no connection with the spicy food that is popular today, but instead recipes for the types of food eaten by the upper classes. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and herbs from the East, including coriander, parsley, and basil. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for an outbreak in books on cooking, many of which are now in private collections. For the centuries that followed, the powerful and rich competed with each other to serve the most exotic meals, and as a result the best cooks and their recipes were greatly in demand. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 1800s that fine cooking and recipe collections rose to prominence. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated the best years of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the time we get to the 20th century, cookbooks are in high demand, mostly as a result of increased literacy, people having more spare time and being a little richer. The introduction of the TV gave us cooking programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Chicken Pot Pie (17th Century) recipe.
