from The Acadian Kitchen
When it comes to Rappie Pie (Râpure), there are grounds for an all-out Acadian dispute from one end of L’Acadie to the other. The verdict is out on whose version is the best – some love it runny, some love it firm, and some just don’t like it at all. For this recipe, I called upon a chef friend, Paul Thimot, from the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia to help me out – his Rappie Pie is the best I have ever tasted.
Ingredients
One 5- to 6-lb (2.25 to 2.75 kg) stewing hen (or chicken, bone in, skin on)
2 medium onions, diced into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
2 Tbsp (30 mL) herbes salées
10 lb (4.5 kg) starchy potatoes (such as russets)
Chicken stock (amount varies)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Salt to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
In a large pot, add stewing hen with diced onions, herbes salées, and enough water to cover. Simmer for 1 hour or until you can pull meat from the chicken bones. Remove hen and reserve the broth. Let the chicken cool until you can easily tear the meat into bite-sized pieces. Refrigerate meat and return bones to the cooking pot with the reserved broth. Simmer broth for another 3 to 4 hours then strain the bones out. This can be done a day ahead. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
Peel and finely grate potatoes; use a cloth bag to squeeze as much water as you can from them (measure how much water is removed, as this is how much chicken broth you will need to replace later). In a medium pot, add prepared chicken broth equivalent to the amount of water removed from the potatoes and bring to a boil. Add grated potatoes and mix together with either a potato masher or a whisk. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt.
Pour half the potato mixture into a greased 9×13-inch (23×33 cm) pan. Top with chicken meat and layer with the remaining potato mixture to cover the chicken. Place in the oven and bake for 3 hours or until a firm golden brown crust forms.
Note: You can use a juicer that saves pulp to prepare the potatoes. Simply wash, peel and feed through the juicer, remembering to measure the juice extracted as it will need to be replaced with chicken stock.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: Herbes salées or salted herbs is a combination of green onions, chives, chervil, parsley and salt. Don’t have a juicer? Place a colander over a large bowl and press the potatoes with all your might until they release their liquid. Do it two or three times to ensure most of the liquid has been eliminated. If you prefer a firmer Rappie Pie, stir some cornstarch in cold water and add to the potato mixture at the end of the potato cooking time. Allow the sauce to thicken.
Content and images used with permission by Whitecap Books. https://www.whitecap.ca/Detail/1770503137