The old school way to do this is to peel the potatoes and put them in a bucket of water so they don’t turn brown. (That’s what they used to use to starch shirts!) It’s pretty cool to see the starch settle out of the liquid. You must save all the liquid and starch, not to use but as a measure of what you need to put back in the remaining pulp to reconstitute it properly. What will be in that liquid? Mostly water but also a lot of starch. Peel and grate 20 pounds (9 kg) PEI potatoes very finely and then squeeze out all the liquid. The edges, much like a lasagna, are the most sought after. Remove from the oven and allow to rest 20 to 30 minutes so it’s not soupy and has time to set.Ĭut into squares and serve with molasses, hot sauce, or plain-the way I love it. It’s okay if it takes longer because you really can’t overcook this dish. Bake until you get a golden crispy top, about 3 hours. Layer the chicken on top, then layer with the remainder of the potato mixture. In a large well greased (Pam works best) rappie pie pan or stainless steel hotel baking pan, pour half the mixture. Once again, add salt until it tastes like a solidified chicken soup. Basically, what liquid is taken from the potato is replaced by broth, so it’s important to get that balance. If you can find the blocks, there are instructions on how much liquid to add. Keep adding chicken broth until it’s smooth, like thick cake batter. Add your hot chicken broth, 2 cups (480 ml) at a time, stirring it continuously with a large wooden spoon to form a dough. Now, in a very large stainlesssteel bowl, place your potato base (recipe follows if you can’t find potato blocks). Strain all the chicken broth into another pot season with salt until it’s tasty. Leave the meat in large chunks-we will use all of it, light and dark. Remove the chicken and let rest 15 minutes to cool so you can pick the meat off the bones. Turn the heat down to low and simmer 3 hours. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and skim the scum that rises to the top. In a large pot, place the chickens, onions, carrots, and celery. Potato base for rappie pie (recipe follows) or 2 frozen potato blocks Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Do not use a glass pan it must be a basic metal pan.Ģ (3 to 4 pound/1.4 to 1.8 kg) whole chickens, quarteredĢ stalks celery, roughly chopped 1 bunch thyme Please note: A rappie pie pan is a specialty item, so you will most likely have to use a deep cake pan. And this dish was one that always kept us connected and wouldn’t let us forget our Maritime blood and history. We didn’t go back to the Maritimes for almost four years when we first moved to Fort Erie. When we first moved to Ontario, I really missed this meal. And coming from a guy who has very few traditions, I hold this one close to my soul. This dish is family to me, it is celebration, it is tradition. It may seem very plain to most people, but to me, this dish is the cornerstone of my culinary makeup. I love that this dish is served at Christmas and comes from hard times. You could substitute mussels, rabbit, or clams for the chicken, but Nanny would never use beef. My Nanny would eat and make this dish a lot as a child, growing up on the shores of Nova Scotia. You can buy frozen blocks of grated, drained potato from a few stores in the Maritimes, or you can make your own potato base. I think it has to do with the fact that it’s not the prettiest dish.Įverything about this dinner makes me happy: making the chicken broth, reconstituting the potato pulp that was often freezer-burnt and grayish, pouring the chicken broth, stirring the gummy potato mash back to life, and picking the meat off the braised chicken. I think it should be as well known as poutine, but it has never gotten the love. It is an Acadian dish that my Nanny Poirier learned from her grandmother. We have had rappie pie every Christmas Eve. This is my family’s biggest Christmas culinary tradition, and one I look forward to sharing and making with my family for years to come.
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