CHICKEN À LA KING
This Recipe Serves 2-3
Chicken à la King also know as King-style Chicken is a dish comprising of diced chicken in a cream sauce, & regularly with sherry, mushrooms, & bell peppers served over rice, pasta, or bread.
William King was the man behind inventing Chicken à la King. One day, in the old Bellevue, in Philadelphia, he had an idea to combine bits of chicken, mushrooms, truffles, red & green peppers along with cream & in that delight, he created some mixture which ever after has been known as “Chicken à la King.”
Chicken à la King Ingredients:
- 2 skinless chicken breasts or cooked leftover roast chicken
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 300 grams mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- pinch of ground black pepper
- 1 small onion or shallot, chopped
- 1 tablespoon masala or paprika
- 250 ml fresh cream
- 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons chicken spice
- 1 cup mixed bell peppers, chopped
- 1 cup freshly made chicken stock (store bought stock may be used)
Method:
-
- Firstly prepare the chicken stock (Skip this step if you prefer using the store bought stock).
- In a pot, place in any vegetables like carrotd, mushrooms, onions, etc & also place a chicken piece in – usually the off-cuts of boney pieces are used. Boil this with salt & dried herbs for aas long as possible, I allowed my stock to boil for 5 hours.
- Thereafter, strain out all the liquid & discard of the vegetables & chicken. The liquid is the chicken stock.
- Rinse chicken breast pieces.
- Cut the breasts into chunks & place in a bowl.
- In a small pot, add in 2 tablespoons butter & allow for it to melt. Add in the chicken chunks. Add in some salt , chicken spice & dried herbs & cook until chicken is soft & cooked throughout. When cooked, set aside.
- The above step can be skipped if you have lots of leftover roast chicken which is already cooked, or you can combine both like I did. I cooked some chicken as above & also added in some leftover roast that I had.
- If you have leftover roast, break them into chunks & set aside.
- Next, chop the onions or shallot & set aside.
- Clean & slice mushrooms & set aside.
- Add 4 tablespoons butter to a large pot.
- Throw in the mushrooms & sauté.
- Allow the mushrooms to fry for about 5 minutes.
- Notice how the mushrooms will cook in their own retained water.
- Next add in the onions/shallot.
- Fry until onions/shallot are translucent.
- Next, add in the flour & continuously mix it allowing the flour to cook.
- Cook the flour for 5 minutes. The mixture should get a bit chunky.
- Add in the chopped bell peppers.
- Mix well, coating the peppers in the chunky mixture.
- Cook for 2 minutes & then add in the chicken stock. (Using cold chicken stock will prevent any lumps).
- Mix well & bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
- When the mixture begins to boil, stir well. The boiling process will allow the flour to combine with the chicken stock & form a thick consistency.
- Whilst the mixture is boiling, add in salt, dried herbs, ground black pepper, chicken spice & masala or paprika.
- Mix well & after 6 minutes of boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Notice how the mixture is of a thick stew like texture.
- Now time for the chicken, add in the cooked chicken chunks.
- Give it a good mix.
- Now add in the fresh cream.
- Mix well & a creamy mixture is formed.
- Serve this Chicken à la King dish with bread, rice or pasta.