Chicken a la King

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I am fairly certain this surprisingly tasty dish came out of wartime Britain, when chicken was still a luxury meat in that country.

In those days, boiling fowl – hens whose egg-laying days were behind them – made frequent appearances on the menus of even the swankiest hotels, and in many guises. The challenge for chefs was to turn them into something edible.

Chicken a la King is just such a dish and may well have been created for King George’s birthday celebrations, or some similar event. Certainly it became a popular wedding feast item in the years after the war, until supplanted by Constance Spry’s Coronation Chicken in 1953.

Since you won’t want to spend time steaming and tenderizing some old boiler –even if you know where to get one – I’ve suggested making it with cooked leftovers.

You will need:

· 350g cooked chicken, cut into chunks
· 50g butter
· 1 bell pepper, whichever color you prefer
· 100g mushrooms, sliced
· 1tbsp flour
· 300ml chicken stock
· 150ml milk*
· 150ml cream
· 2 egg yolks
· salt & pepper

*or 100ml white wine

Halve, de-seed and shred the pepper. This is easily done using a potato peeler.

Melt the butter in a medium sized frying pan, add the pepper and sauté gently for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour.

Add the chicken stock, stir through thoroughly to obtain an even paste and then stir in the milk. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly to make a smooth sauce. Add the chicken pieces and heat through. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Blend together the cream and egg yolks and stir into the sauce. Heat through gently but do not allow the mixture to boil. Serve at once.

As you will appreciate, this is a rich dish and needs only plain accompaniments. Boiled rice is an obvious choice, flavored with saffron or turmeric.

You could also spoon the mixture into vol-au-vent cases or over baked potatoes. I have even served this with pasta, when it really needs a crisp salad with a lemony vinaigrette to help cut the richness a little.

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