| Total: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 large shallots, minced
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 3 3/4 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
- 6 sprigs plus 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more, to taste
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
- 4 cups 1-inch cubed poached chicken, recipe follows
- 1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
- Serving suggestions: Buttered noodles, toast points, biscuits, or crepes
- 10 sprigs parsley
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 small onion, halved
- 1 small carrot, halved
- 1 stalk celery, halved
- 3 pounds chicken breasts halves, on the bone and fat trimmed
- 5 to 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup of the butter, and saute the shallots until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Whisk in the sherry and broth and bring to a boil while stirring. Add the parsley and thyme sprigs, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the sauce for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the mushrooms until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce into mushrooms and season with the salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Whisk in the creme fraiche.
- Add the minced parsley, chicken, and chives to the sauce, and bring to a simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately over noodles, toast points, split baking powder biscuits or wrapped in crepes.
- Put the parsley, thyme, onion, carrot, celery, and chicken breasts in a medium saucepan. Cover with the broth, and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat to very low and cover. Poach the chicken for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, and cool the chicken in the liquid for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Bone and skin the chicken and cut the meat into cubes. Discard the bones and skin.
- Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using.
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Reviews
I’ve been making this for years and it’s delicious. Only thing I change is to add a tablespoon of pimentos (rinsed from a jar) and some frozen peas at the end. I serve this in puff pastry shells with a green salad. Love this one!
My wife and I really liked this one. It will be a regular ok our menu.
This was so good! I used precooked chicken from Costco but followed the recipe for the rest. Will definitely make again.
Excellent delicious
This is a great recipe but I did follow it step by step including a “pinch of freshly grated nutmeg” the first time that I made it. It was horrible-nutmeg may be great in eggnog but not in a chicken a la king recipe! I threw that meal out and now my grandkids love this! I live in New Orleans so maybe nutmeg is just not palatable here.
This was delicious! I added red pepper, yellow pepper and peas just so that I could feel like we are eating some vegetables too and it worked out very well. (Sautéed the peppers with the shallots and added the peas with the chicken)
Will definitely make it again!
I did the prep work for this today & will finish preparing & serve tomorrow. About the 25 Min. prep time: mincing shallots & parsley, grating nutmeg, cutting mushrooms, getting chicken ready, poaching it, cutting it – oh, & counting out the 10 sprigs of parsley. Really? I think this will be a great dish. Am serving it to my husband, & taking some to my dad. I do assemble all my ingredients at once. However, I didn’t accomplish all that in 25 min., & still have work to do tomorrow. I appreciate a more realistic timeline so I know when to start. Can’t wait to dig in.
Yes, use some minced bell pepper for added flavor! Red, green, or both for nice color. Plus pimiento, and saute when you saute the shallots.
I thought this lacked flavor and actually prefer the canned chicken ala king better – which NEVER happens. I won’t be making this again.
LOOK’S GOOD.