Here’s another “traditional” recipe from Simply Delicious: 6-12: Chicken à la King. I’ve heard of this one before (you probably have too), but never ate it much as a kid despite it being chicken-based (the mushrooms were probably the dealbreaker for my mom). This is from the “new book“, so I didn’t even know Simply Delicious HAD a Chicken à la King recipe until recently.
Chicken à la King has been around for a while, but enjoyed a resurgence in mid-to-late 20th century America (probably due to all the Baby Boomers and a need to feed them cheaply/quickly). It seems “dated” to me at this point (and not necessarily in a good way), but probably was still pretty popular in some parts of the country at the time these books were published.
Combine this with 8-12: Beef Stroganoff, and you’ve got a pretty good handle on mediocre American cuisine from the 1980s.
Note that they tell you to get a whole chicken, then they tell you to debone it and dice it. It’s 2021 (almost 2022)–just buy boneless chicken pieces (whichever parts you like) and save yourself a LOT of trouble.
Ingredients. Using my homemade “chik’n“, some vegan “chicken” broth, and non-dairy whipping cream instead of the real stuff. Eggs are real though, and so is the…sherry wine?
Sous chef working his way through all of the mushrooms (two whole containers).
So many mushrooms…they’ll cook down to about half the volume.
After they cooked down and were sprinkled with flour, I started adding the broth and cream.
This looks like VERY rustic cream of mushroom soup at this point.
Adding in my “chik’n”–since it’s not raw, I’m more trying to impart color/flavor by cooking it on the stove first.
Compare this with the shot from before–doesn’t the color/cooking make it seem much more appetizing? Gives it a better mouth feel too (especially when combined with sauce).
Tossed my chik’n and pimento (pimento is the Spanish term for pimiento–Simply Delicious isn’t consistent with which version they use, but it’s the exact same thing) into the pan.
Separated my eggs to obtain two egg yolks. Not really anything to do with the whites–you can practice making meringue with them if you want. Just don’t put the meringue into your Chicken à la King.
Egg yolks lightly beaten, sherry added, and now ready to be incorporated into the sauce.
Poured them into the pan with all the other ingredients already in there.
One last stir to finish it all up and incorporate the eggs/sherry. Don’t boil it or you’ll end up with very odd scrambled eggs.
Final bowl. Some of the Chicken à la King pieces I linked at the beginning mentioned that it could be put on top of a lot of different things–potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. I decided to go with rice–I wouldn’t call it a 10/10, but it was a serviceable weeknight dinner option.
Grade: B
