Way back in the Congressional Cookbook, a terrific Chicken Pie recipe

Recently as I thumbed through one of my mother’s cookbooks that she had used widely in my childhood, Hubby asked whether I remembered that we possessed his mother’s Congressional cookbook. How cool for us to prepare a recipe from it some time, Hubby commented.

I located it on another shelf and noted that one of his all-time favorite dishes (as I've mentioned many times in this blog), Chicken Pot Pie, was furnished to the cookbook by Mrs. Will Rogers, wife of the U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma and a friend of Louis' mom. Mrs. Rogers (whose husband was no relation to the legendary Oklahoma humorist Will Rogers) lived in Washington D.C. during the FDR era when Grandmother Moore lived there and was a stenographer for several government agencies. 

The Congressional Cookbook (circa 1933), compiled with recipes from the wives of governmental luminaries in that day, had yellowing pages and a frayed cover, but it was filled with wonderful vintage recipes that still make up into beautiful dishes. 

My biggest delight was walking to my backyard garden and pulling up the 12 small onions called for in this recipe. They were just the right size--small, gorgeous bulbs that I quickly steamed in the microwave and then laid on the bottom of the prepared casserole. Seasoning for the broth included fresh-cut parsley from my herb row by my back steps. Couldn't get better than this!

Grandmother Moore's cookbook and her friend's recipe sprang alive for this incredible meal.

Chicken Pot Pie

3 cups cooked chicken

12 small onions, cooked and diced

1 cup diced carrots, cooked

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth, seasoned to taste (I used pepper, salt substitute, and fresh parsley)

6 tablespoons water

biscuit dough (I used Bisquick low-fat baking mix to make dough)

Arrange the chicken, onions, and carrots in a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole; meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the chicken broth. Stir in flour that has been mixed to a smooth paste with the water; boil 5 minutes. Stir frequently until sauce is thickened. Pour this sauce over the chicken and vegeteables. Prepare the biscuit dough. Roll to 1/4-inch thickness; cut biscuits into rings; arrange on chicken. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.

"Never-thought-I'd-like-it" Hubby surprised by delicious onion pie

"I never thought I’d be able to say I liked onion pie,” Hubby murmured approvingly as he scraped the casserole bowl for the last crisp of the dish we’d just polished off. For the past two nights we had been dining on Spring Onion Pie and marveling at how a concoction so simple could make such a dandy meal.

For several weeks the green tops from our ample onion crop have been standing in our garden as though they were bristles on a brush. From my office desk, looking out past our patio and into the garden expanse, I’ve been gazing on their little salutes as they soaked up the sun and got ready for the picking.

When the May 2012 issue of Southern Living featured Spring Onion Pie as a famous North Carolina chef’s pet recipe, I saw that it called for 10 thin spring onions and loved the idea of toting some straight from the garden and onto the chopping board in my kitchen. I can’t tell you how that fresh-straight-from the-garden-rows flavor lit up my world when I took my first bite of this pie, which was nothing more than a stirring-up of egg, milk flour, salt, baking powder, pepper, butter, and cheese.

The recipe called for cubed Gruyere cheese, which I didn’t have, but I did an Internet search to see what was the best kind of cheese to sub; it said to use Swiss. Hubby had a little tough time locating 10 garden onions that met the recipe’s “thin” qualification, as ours now are plumping up healthily, but once he did, they were the magic touch.

Yep, Hubby was able to say he liked onion pie. Adored it, in fact.

Spring Onion Pie

10 thin spring onions

4 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1 cup egg substitute)

1 cup milk (I used skim)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons butter

5 ounces Gruyere cheese, cubed (I used Swiss)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in oven. (I used a casserole dish instead.) Trim roots from onions; discard roots. Chop half of onions. Whisk together eggs and milk. Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture. Whisk rapidly for 20 to 30 seconds or just until blended and smooth. (No lumps should appear.) Stir in chopped onions. Let stand 5 minutes. Carefully remove hot skillet from oven. Add butter; let stand until butter is melted. Place skillet over medium-high heat; pour batter into skillet. Arrange cheese and remaining whole onions over top of batter; cook 30 seconds to 1 minute or until edges begin to set. Transfer skillet to top oven rack; bake at 400 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. (Outside edges should be crispy; inside texture should resemble a custard popover. Pie will deflate quickly. Serve immediately.) Makes 6 servings.

One was not enough of this colorful Vegetable Pie

In an earlier blog I mentioned how very much I love to explore new cookbooks and to search out recipes that would be appropriate for The Newfangled Country Gardener. My friend Kay knew this and for my recent birthday generously sent along Calvary Culinary Creations, a collection of recipes by her church, Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock, AR.

Now, as many people know, no greater source for good cookin’ exists than getting hold of a church cookbook. Some years back I cooked my way through a cookbook produced by Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth. I left almost no recipe untried in my quest to prepare each and every suggestion in that album.

In this recent one from the Little Rock church I’ve already been through and dog-eared (or put sticky notes beside) numerous suggestions, including some I intend to hop right onto for Thanksgiving week. Those that don’t get cooked for this holiday or Christmas for sure will go on a wish list for the new year.

The first that caught my eye was Vegetable Pie, made with baking mix and reminiscent of the baking-mix-underscored crustless pies that have been popular in the past. I liked this one because it gave me an opportunity to tuck in some veggies that have been lingering in the vegetable bin of my refrigerator. Besides the chopped fresh broccoli the recipe mentions, I also added about 1/2 cup chopped carrots and used chopped red pepper instead of green. (I steamed my veggies in the microwave instead of cooking them in boiling water as the recipe states.) These substitutions made for a very colorful end-product.

My subs didn’t end there. I didn’t have enough Cheddar cheese for one cup, so I added bits of shredded Mozzarella and Swiss to the Cheddar I did have on hand. In fact, Hubby recently asked me, “Isn’t the theme of your blog the fact that you don’t need to avoid cooking a recipe just because you don’t have all the ingredients on hand?” Well, sorta. I have become far more adventuresome where subbing what’s available is concerned. I don’t see that mixing the cheeses hurt this recipe one bit.

Long story short, we loved this version of Vegetable Pie (thanks to Calvary’s Jan Harrendorf, who submitted it). We dined on it all weekend and found it to be both nourishing and soothing. I’ve already made an extra pie and put it away in the freezer for meals during rat-race December. Making just one simply wasn’t enough.

Vegetable Pie

2 cups chopped broccoli, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)

3/4 cup baking mix (I used lowfat Bisquick)

3 eggs (I used 3/4 cup egg substitute)

1 teaspoon salt (I used salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 10-inch pie pan. (I found that using a large-enough pie pan was absolutely crucial so the mix won’t spill over into the oven and will stay contained in the pie pan.) Cook broccoli in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Mix broccoli, cheese, onions, and pepper in pie plate. Beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over vegetables. Bake 35 minutes until golden brown. Leftovers may be re-heated.