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.
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.
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.