CHICKEN ALA KING ON AN EXHAUSTING DAY

CHICKEN ALA KING ON AN EXHAUSTING DAY

                                    

Yesterday I worked hard in my home changing around the living room and dining room doing the wash and scrubbing the floors  needless to say I was exhausted.

I wanted some comfort food that would be easy to prepare. I was way too tired to be bothered making a dinner from scratch.

 One thing for sure was that cottage cheese one of my favorite comfort foods would not cut it this time. It would be ok as a side dish but not for the main event. I had worked hard and I wanted to reward myself with something hot and satisfying.

The first thing for me to do was to see what was in the freezer and refrigerator and work from there.

I found some all ready cooked chicken that I had put away last month after I bought a rotisserie chicken on sale for half price at Wal-Mart.  There were several containers of chicken but I only needed one. That was a good start. Now what else did I have in this freezer I asked myself. Then when I pulled the chicken out of the freezer I saw a container of broth right next to a small bag of frozen peas that was when inspiration hit me. I realized I had most of what I needed to make Chicken Ala King!

That was all I needed from the freezer it was now it was time to check out the refrigerator to see if I had enough to make this dinner.

 I found some left over evaporated milk that needed to be used up before it went bad so I convinced myself it would add a rich flavor to the gravy for the Chicken Ala King instead of using up the milk that I needed for cereal.

My plans for the dinner’s main course was now set.

All I needed now was a side dish and  sitting right on the self next to the evaporated milk was left over cranberry sauce!

Yes this was going to be dinner.

I decided this was going to be a simple version of Chicken Ala King. If I had more energy I would have chopped up some onions and celery and cooked them first before I made the rue to thicken the gravy but I was way too tired. It would have been  one step too many.

 I made the rue to thicken broth and make the gravy. 

Once the butter for the rue started bubbling I added the flour (Wondra  of course) and stirred until it was smooth and let it cook a bit so the raw flour taste was gone.

Once that was accomplished I added the chicken broth I had found in the freezer.  It was in a disposable cup so all I had to do was break away the cup and add the frozen broth to the butter and flour mixture. Then I poured some of the evaporated milk in with the mixture and let it cook until it thickens.  Once it was thickened I then added the peas and the chicken I had chopped up.

 I let it cook until everything was heated though and while it was cooking I put a slice of bread in the toaster that would be used to put the Chicken Ala King over when I assembled my dinner.

All that was left to do was to put the side dishes on my plate.

It would be some cottage cheese and onions along with some cranberry sauce.

Once the toast was ready I spooned the Chicken Ala King  over the toast and dinner was ready.

It turned out to be one of the best gravy’s that I had ever made.

I taught myself something new last night.

You see I had never used left over evaporated milk before  in gravy and it turned out to be a great idea!

Dinner was delicious and filling. I had my comfort food and it took only minutes to make.

I went to bed last night full and happy.

I was well satisfied with my day  and my dinner and slept like a log!