Shoofly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy

What’s in a name? As Shakespeare says, a rose by any other would smell as sweet. Yet, food names evoke anticipation of the taste and therefore do matter. Take, for instance, fried mush—actually a pretty good dish of cornmeal; cooked with water, chilled, sliced, breaded and fried. Rather like the Italian dish, polenta, but it doesn’t sound nearly as appetizing.

Our British friends have the most interesting names for their dishes—not necessarily appetizing to the American ear, but nonetheless descriptive—especially as to the sounds they make while cooking: bangers and mash (mashed potatoes and sausages), bubble and squeak (sausages), to name two.

Americans, too, have their interesting food names. A few that caught my eye were Shepherd’s pie, Lady Baltimore cake, Georgia Country Captain, Dagwood sandwich, Apple Pandowdy, Apple Brown Betty, Brunswick stew, Hoppin’ John and Red-eye gravy. And then there are Hush Puppies, Commercial sandwiches, Po-Boys, Shoo-Fly Pie and Waldorf Salad.

“American Home Cooking” by the Jamisons says about Georgia Country Captain, “Eliza Leslie provides the usual explanation for the origin and name of this wonderful dish in her Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book of 1857. She suggests that a British officer of native (i.e., “country”) troops in India brought the dish to the West. Some Savannah, Georgia residents dispute the story, claiming the idea came from a ship captain involved in the spice trade, a major link at the time between southern ports and the rest of the world. However the dish arrived, it developed a strong association with Georgia and became the most popular and refined of the various curried-chicken preparations found in southern cooking by the early nineteenth century. Serve country captain with fluffy white rice and a good ale.

One-third cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp salt or more to taste
Pinch of ground allspice
4 to 4 and one-half-pound chicken, preferably a roaster, cut into 8 bone-in serving pieces
2 Tbsp peanut oil
2 thick bacon slices, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 and one-half Tbsp curry powder
28-ounce can tomatoes, chopped and the juice reserved
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 Tbsp mango chutney or other chutney
One-half cup slivered almonds
One-third cup dried currants

Combine the flour, paprika, 1 tsp. salt and allspice on a plate. Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in the seasoned flour.

In a Dutch oven or other large heavy ovenproof pot, combine the peanut oil and bacon and fry over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve it. Add a few pieces of the chicken to the drippings and brown over medium heat on all sides. Remove the chicken, then repeat with the rest. Stir in the onions, bell pepper, and garlic, cover and sweat for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the curry powder and cook an additional minute. Return the chicken to the pot, then add in the tomatoes and juice, stock and chutney. Bring the mixture to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Mix in the almonds, currants, reserved bacon and, if you wish, more salt. Stir up from the bottom once or twice. Cook, uncovered, for about 10 additional minutes to meld the flavors. Serve hot.

“Shoofly pie and apple pandowdy
Makes your eyes light up; your tummy say “howdy’

Dinah Shore made these two dishes famous in her song from the Fifties. If you’ve never tried them—they make a good start for the first days of fall (starts tonight).

Shoofly Pie
Named because one had to “shoo away the flies” from this sweet dessert. It is of Pennsylvania-Dutch origin, but not mentioned in print until 1926. Pie can be made with either a “wet bottom” (soft filling and crumb topping) or “dry bottom” (crumb topping, mixed into the filling) and was commonly served for breakfast.

Line a pie plate with a pastry crust. Combine one and one-fourth cup sifted flour, one-half cup brown sugar, one-fourth tsp. salt and one-half cup cold butter to make a crumbly blend. Dissolve one-half tsp. baking soda in three-fourths cup molasses mixed with three-fourths cup water. Pour into lined pie pan, top with the crumbs and bake in a 400 deg. oven for about 15 minutes; lower heat to 350 and bake until firm (about 30 minutes more).

Apple pandowdy
A dish of sliced apples covered with a crust, sometimes referred to as “apple grunt” or “apple Jonathan” in the Northeast. First mentioned in print in 1805, apple pandowdy seems to be specifically American by name and Nathaniel Hawthorne mentions the dish in his “Blithedale Romance” (1852). The names’ origins are obscure, but perhaps its homely simplicity connotes a “dowdy,” i.e., unstylish, appearance.

Core, peel and slice 6 apples and place in a buttered dish. Pour one-half cup cider mixed with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice over them; sprinkle with one-half tsp. cinnamon, one-eighth tsp. ground cloves, one-eighth tsp. nutmeg, three-fourths cup light brown sugar, one-fourth cup maple syrup and dot with 2 Tbsp.butter. Cover with Shortcake Topping about one-half-inch thick, then slit the top to allow for the escape of steam. Bake in 350 oven until apples are tender. Serve with cream.

Shortcake Topping

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
One-half tsp. salt
1 stick butter
Two-thirds cup milk

Cut butter into dry ingredients. Stir in milk. Knead 20 seconds on lightly floured surface. Roll one-half inch thick and cut to fit pan.