Moravian Chicken Pie

We had stew and cornbread last night for dinner, perfect for a cold night. I have trouble sometimes deciding what sounds good, I love to try new recipes but more often than not, I return over and over to the ones we love. Sometimes I just reach back to places we've lived to remember some great recipes I learned in different regions. We moved to Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1989 after Tyson bought Holly Farms. Wilkesboro was a beautiful little town in the NW corner of the state, the Blue Ridge Parkway was just a few miles away with it's breathtaking views of the smoky blue mountains. We only lived there a year, but we spent our time wisely sightseeing and tasting our way through NC! 

Wilkes County was a very confusing  place to drive, many of the roads were named for churches. When I'd ask for directions, they'd say "Turn down Brushy Mountain Baptist Church Road, then go about a quarter mile and turn right on Welcome Home Baptist Church Road. If you see Moravian Falls Church Road then you've gone too far!" It was kind of funny but not when I was crazy lost! That reminds me of another great thing about North Carolina, Kingswood Chicken Pie that the Moravian Falls Church made for fundraisers.The Wilkes Journal- Patriot printed the recipe and I couldn't wait to make it. I clipped the recipe and glanced over the ingredients. I looked twice and re-read, it had to be more than this...that's not enough ingredients for a proper Chicken Pie. But I was thinking Midwest Pot Pie and this was Moravian Chicken Pie. The Moravians settled in the area a century ago and they are famous for this dish made with not much more than chicken, chicken broth, flour, and butter. It's a meat pie, just simple comfort food. 

Just click on the title to print~

Kingswood Chicken Pie
(clipped from the Wilkes Journal-Patriot)

Pastry: 
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup Crisco
8 tbsp cold water
Mix into soft dough. Handle as little as possible. Roll out half the dough to fit a greased pie plate. 

Filling:
3 cups finely chopped chicken
1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken in the crust, sprinkle with flour and pour chicken broth gently over the filling. Cover with top crust, pinch edges of crust together to seal and flute around the edges. Bake at 375 F oven for 60 minutes until golden brown.