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WWII Chicken à la King

Source of Recipe


From "Cook's Country: Best Lost Suppers"



List of Ingredients



• 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
  
• Salt and pepper
  
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, chopped fine
  
• 1 onion, minced
  
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped fine
  
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine
  
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• ½ tsp dried thyme
  
• 2 large egg yolks
  
• ¼ cup drained jarred pimientos, chopped fine
  
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  
• .
  
• 8 slices Italian bread, toasted
  
• Paprika
  






Instructions



1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides, flipping halfway through. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
   
   
2. Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, carrot, bell pepper and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their juices and are brown around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth, cream, thyme, and ¼ teaspoon pepper, scraping up any browned bits.
   
   
3. Return the chicken, along with any accumulated juices, to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the thickest part of the breasts registers 160° to 165° F on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes.
   
   
4. Transfer the chicken to a plate. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat into bite-size pieces and return it to the sauce.
   
   
5. Stir ¼ cup of the warm sauce and the egg yolks together in a bowl. Stir the egg yolk mixture, pimientos, lemon juice and parsley into the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the chicken mixture over the bread slices, sprinkle with paprika, and serve.
   
   Serves 4
   
   






Final Comments


"Title aside, this dish actually got its start long before the war. Allegedly, in the late 1800s, the Brighton Beach Hotel's chef tossed poached chicken in a silky cream sauce with mushrooms and bell peppers and, serving it over toast, he presented a luxurious, flavorful, yet inexpensive meal to hotel owners Mr. and Mrs. E. Clark King. It became a symbol of thrifty chafing-dish chic, but during wartime, it really hit its stride. Moms were tasked with coming up with something tasty from limited supplies. Chicken à la King was a perfect example of such a meal, and its popularity carried into the 1950s. But home cooks started taking shortcuts, and its flavor and luxurious feel waned. This elegant, rich recipe pays tribute to the original from-scratch version."