Chicken Pot Pie from Phillis Pellman Good

Chicken Pot Pie is a stew cooked on top of the stove. It usually includes cut-up potatoes and is seasoned with chopped onions. Pot pie noodles “are cut thicker and used right away,” in contrast to noodles that are eaten as a side dish (which must dry before being cooked). “Pot pie has more body. They aren’t just slippery noodles,” explains one Amish man. An Amish grandmother remembers, “Mom liked to make chicken pot pie whenever we had men for silo filling or haymaking. We always had chickens, so she’d kill a few in the morning and we’d have them for lunch. Whenever we had unexpected company we could go kill a chicken! “Chicken pot pie is a meat-saving dish. Now it’s not a quick thing. Mom always had onions and potatoes to put in. And she’d make the pot pie noodles right then. She didn’t keep a supply of them on hand. When I make pot pie I put in some carrots, too, for flavor and color. It’s a good meal to make when our children come to visit.” Personal touches are a part of all these dishes. “I put a few threads of saffron in my pot pie,” explained another Amish grandmother. “It adds a little color and flavor.”