Lucie Monk Carter
The rib-sticking Rappie Pie gets its name from the French word “râper,” meaning “to grate.” As the Acadians would grate potatoes and squeeze the liquid from them for laundry starch, they wanted something useful and, even better, delicious to do with the remaining pulp. We modern cooks might use a juicer to cut down on the workload but will find the results, fresh and golden from the oven, to be fully worth all those peeled potatoes.
Ingredients:
- 1, 4 lb. chicken
- 3 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, halved crosswise
- 2 ribs celery, halved crosswise
- 10 lbs. potatoes, peeled
- Salt and pepper
Optional garnish: Green onions
Special equipment: juicer; 9x13 baking pan
Method:
Dehydrate potatoes: If not using the juicer, grate potatoes and squeeze out liquid using a cheesecloth. With a juicer, feed in whole, peeled potatoes. Either way, reserve both pulp and liquid.
Cook chicken: Cut chicken into six pieces (wings, breasts, legs). Place in large stockpot and cover with water. Add onions, carrots, celery, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken and let cool before cutting into bite-size pieces. Discard celery and carrots but keep onions.
Prepare pie:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Measure the starchy liquid extracted from potatoes. Reserve an equal amount of chicken stock and discard the rest.
2. Bring the remaining stock to a boil. Add to dehydrated potatoes, 2 cups at a time, stirring vigorously until liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Grease the baking pan, then layer in half the potatoes, followed by chicken, before topping with remaining potatoes. Smooth top with rubber spatula.
4. Bake for 2.5–3 hours, until top is mostly brown. Remove from oven.
5. Set broiler to low and return pan to oven for 10 minutes, until pie crust is golden brown.
