Chicken a la King #Recipe @PegCochran

Once again I found myself with leftovers from a roast chicken (see my original post here.)  I turned to a rather old-fashioned recipe, Chicken a la King.  There is a lot of disagreement as to the origin of the dish, but this take makes sense to me: "Another account is that chicken à la King was created in the 1890s by hotel cook William "Bill" King of the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. Several obituaries in early March 1915 credited King after he died on March 4, 1915."

It's a quick and easy recipe and if you're tired of using leftover cooked chicken in tacos, chili and soups, give this a try! It's comfort food of the finest order.

This recipe is adapted from A Taste of Home--adapted in the sense that I didn't worry if I didn't have some of the ingredients. I didn't have any pimientos or mushrooms so I left them out with no harm done! If you're serving little ones, you can omit them if they don't like them. But I did have frozen peas so I threw them in.


Mushrooms, sliced (optional)
Celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
Frozen peas (optional--about one cup)
2 tablespoons diced pimientos (optional)

Cut leftover cooked chicken into bite-sized chunks.

In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms (if using), onion and celery in butter until tender. 

Stir in flour and salt to taste until blended. 

Gradually stir in broth and milk. Add frozen peas if using.  Bring to a boil and cook and stir for two minutes or until sauce thickens. 

Add chicken and heat through.

Serve over biscuits, rice or toasted white bread. 

And Coming October 27...

 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

The plot thickens for American gothic writer Penelope Parish when a murder near her quaint British bookshop reveals a novel's worth of killer characters.

Penelope Parish has hit a streak of bad luck, including a severe case of writer's block that is threatening her sophomore book. Hoping a writer in residence position at The Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England, will shake the cobwebs loose, Pen, as she's affectionately known, packs her typewriter and heads across the pond.

Unfortunately, life in Chumley is far from quiet and when the chairwoman of the local Worthington Fest is found dead, fingers are pointed at Charlotte Davenport, an American romance novelist and the future Duchess of Worthington. Charlotte turns to the one person who might be her ally for help: fellow American Pen. Teaming up with bookstore owner Mabel Morris and her new friend Figgy, Pen sets out to learn the truth and find the tricks that will help her finish her novel.

OUT NOW! Book #5

 

 AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

The dead of winter takes on a whole new meaning in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!

On a night of heavy snow and bitter cold, newlyweds Monica and Greg are comfortably nestled before a warm fire when they’re roused by a late-night knock at the door. Surprised to find a troubled and confused woman on the doorstep, Monica is even more shocked when the woman vacantly utters that someone is trying to kill her. Sensing distress but not danger, Monica decides to help this mysterious woman, but her clouded recollections yield little—until she dredges up memories of her sister and a nearby home, where they find the woman’s sister, dead.

Unable to deny her own curiosity or the woman’s request for help, Monica begins digging into the suspicious death, only to discover a murky family history of valuable land, a bullying brother, an unscrupulous real estate developer, and endless rumors of good deeds met with bad blood. And when the trail of the killer begins to turn cold, Monica realizes that while the family wants to bury their sister, someone is out to bury the clues—and if Monica’s not careful, to bury her as well . . .

Includes tasty recipes!