The Story of Food

When I am home I love hanging out with two couples who are major foodies. We love going to dinner at current hot spots and discussing each thing ordered. These dinners can stretch to almost 3-3.5 hours. The stories flow and the laughter is headier than the best wine. I adore these times.

Recently we started discussing our favorite childhood dishes. I immediately thought of my mom’s Chicken Plantation.  When she made that dish she could ask my dad for anything…and get it.

I loved watching her make it. 

With a flick of her wrist she would fan flour onto the counter, then roll out the dough into a large square, sprinkle it with fresh parsley and onion, then roll it up and slice the dough into big fat biscuits. The she'd carefully place them, pinwheel side up, in a deep square dish baptizing them in rich, made from scratch gravy and fresh picked chicken. Into the oven it went. In minutes the whole house smelled heavenly. 

We would gather around the table and mom would present the food with love and pride. I'd scoop out a steaming biscuit and I swear, as a little girl, those biscuits where the closest thing to spring clouds that I could imagine. It is still one of my favorite dishes.

Another dish I loved as a kid was Shoo Fly Pie, a local dish that was a tradition especially in the spring. I grew up in Amish Country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Talk about good food. The south thinks they own comfort food but oh my, Dutch cooking and Amish

cooking in Pennsylvania cannot be beat for comfort.  

Yummm. Just made and already half gone

Shoo Fly Pie is basically just a molasses pie. I like mine wet bottomed, which mean super gooey.  It’s called Shoo Fly Pie because it is such a sugary treat that at potlucks you have to constantly shoo away the flies (that's a yummy picture).  

The best thing about these recipes, actually all recipes that bring us comfort, are the stories that go with them. Dinner table stories, helping mom in the kitchen stories, cooking with the kids stories; all things that are becoming a rarity.

I hope you enjoy these childhood dishes and I hope many stories are spoken over each bite, around your dinner table, with those you love.

(I am giving you my version of Chicken Plantation which I have switched up to be easier than my moms but just as delicious.  Please feel free, in the comment section, to share your favorite storied dish).

Chicken Plantation (Kim’s way)

Ingredients:

4 cups fully cooked chicken.  Shredded or cubed.

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 cup 2% milk (or, if you are in a party mood go with whole milk - we grew up on goats milk from the farm)

2 cups fresh peas (frozen thawed is fine. You can add cooked carrots too)

2 cups biscuit/baking mix

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:

1. In a large skillet sauté chicken (or boil a whole chicken, pick it clean then add to skillet) and onion in butter until onion is tender. Combine soup and milk, stir into chicken mixture. Add veggies; heat through. Pour into an ungreased shallow 2.5 quart baking dish.

2. Combine biscuit mix and water until a soft dough forms. On a lightly floured surface knead dough 10 times. Roll out into a 12 inch square. Sprinkle with parsley (and fresh onion if you prefer).

3. Roll up jelly roll style. Cut jelly roll into 12 pieces, place over chicken mixture, pinwheel side up. Bake, uncovered at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until biscuits are golden and chicken mixture is heated through and bubbly. 

Serve with warm, homemade, chunky applesauce and strawberry short cake for desert and you have one of my childhood meals on your own table.

Wet Bottom Shoo Fly Pie

Ingredients: 

1 cup flour

2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (or unsalted butter)

1 egg

8 ounces molasses (good and dark)

6 ounces boiling water

1 tspn baking soda

1 9 inch unbaked pastry shell (make your own or store bought if in hurry)
Use a deep pie plate, those little aluminum things from the store will not suffice.

Directions:

Mix together the flour, brown sugar and shortening

Set aside 1/2 cup of the mixture for the topping

Add remaining flour mixture with the egg, molasses, baking soda, and boiling water.

Gently mix

Pour into pie shell

Sprinkle the crumb topping over pie

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce temp to 350 and bake for 30 more minutes.

This pie is good warm, but it gets better if it sits for a day...but I guarantee it won't last that long.