This is a traditional Canadian dish. The main ingredient is grated potatoes. This was handed down from my family in Nova Scotia. It was always a special treat because originally it was so much work to make but it really was worth waiting for. The traditional method for the grated potatoes was to get a cookie sheet and drive nails through it to create a giant potato grater. After grating (always scraped a knuckle or two), we’d place the mushy potato into a towel and twist it until all the juice was gone. Ouch! Sometimes the towel would rip, shooting the mix everywhere. Now we use our juicing machine.
Preparation Details
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 2 hrs 5 mins
Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- 2 onions, chopped
- 4 quarts chicken broth
- 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 10 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Steps
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 10x14x2-inch baking pan.
- Heat margarine in a skillet over medium heat; stir in onion. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and stir until onion is very tender and dark brown, about 40 minutes more.
- Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot; stir in chicken breasts, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is no longer pink at the center, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove chicken breasts to a plate using a slotted spoon; reserve broth.
- Juice potatoes with an electric juicer; place dry potato flesh into a bowl and discard juice. Stir salt and pepper into potatoes; stir in enough reserved broth to make the mixture the consistency of oatmeal. Set remaining broth aside.
- Spread half of potato mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Lay cooked chicken breast evenly over potatoes; scatter caramelized onion evenly over chicken. Spread remaining potato mixture over onions and chicken to cover.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 1 hour. Reheat chicken broth; pour over individual servings as desired.
