| 3 cups boiled chicken, chopped | flour for dredging |
| 1½ cups chopped mushrooms | 2 eggs for breading |
| ½ cup shallots, fine chopped | 2 tablespoons milk for breading |
| 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped | fine bread crumbs |
| 1 tablespoon chives | salt and Cayenne pepper to taste |
| 2 cups medium béchamel sauce | chicken stock, reduced by half |
| 2 egg yolks | 2 cups medium chicken velouté sauce |
| optional: add 1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon the velouté sauce |
Put the chicken(s) in a pot of water and slowly bring to a boil. Skim the scum off the surface, then add a cup of mirepoix per chicken. Boil slowly for two hours. Remove the chicken(s) and allow to cool. Strain the broth and reserve for velouté sauce. When the chicken has cooled, remove all the meat and chop into pieces no larger than 1 inch.
Combine chopped chicken, mushrooms, and shallots. Run the mixture through a meat grinder using a coarse ½- or 3/8- inch grinding plate. Change to a 3/16-inch plate and grind the mixture again. No meat grinder; use a food processor, although a meat grinder is more consistent. Prepare the béchamel sauce. When the sauce is done (about 20 minutes) put the mixture, parsley,chives, salt and Cayenne pepper into the béchamel sauce and reduce, while stirring constantly over low fire until thickened (about 20 to 30 minutes). Taste and adjust seasonings. Bind with tempered egg yolks and allow to become cold. Whisk the eggs and milk. Make meatball-size portions, roll lightly in flour, place in the egg and milk mixture, then roll in bread crumbs. Chill for at least an hour. Form into cones. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until needed.
Prepare the chicken velouté; keep warm in a double boiler. Deep fry croquettes at 375° until golden brown; drain on paper towels. Place two croquettes on each plate; ladle some velouté over each and garnish with Hungarian paprika and fresh chopped parsley. Serve hot with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Provide a gravy boat of extra velouté sauce at the table for the croquettes and mashed potatoes.
Note: One chicken should render 3 cups of chopped chicken using all the white and dark meat. About 6 ounces of mushrooms will produce about 1 cup after removing stems. Reduce 1 quart of the stock the chicken was boiled in to 2 cups to make the chicken stock for the velouté. If you don't have a meat grinder, use a food processor.
When the wind howls through the trees on a cold December evening, few meals are as satisfying as chicken and dumplings.
| 1 chicken | Water |
| 1 large onion | Bay leaf |
| 2 cloves | Handful of parsley |
| Celery tops | 1 tablespoon peppercorns |
| 2 carrots | NO SALT |
| dumplings |
Cover the chicken with water, about four quarts. Over medium heat, bring to a boil in an uncovered stock pot and immediately reduce to a simmer. Skim off any scum that rises. Stick cloves in onion with skin intact ( it adds color) and add to pot. Throw in celery tops. bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley and carrots. Simmer for three hours. Remove the chicken and all ingredients, then strain broth through cheese cloth. Boil the strained stock longer to reduce the volume and enhance the flavor. When cool, skim off excess fat. Reserve 2 cups for gravy. After chicken has cooled, remove meat and reserve. Just before serving, nuke the meat a bit to warm it.
While the dumplings are cooking, prepare the gravy using the two cups of stock. Bring stock to a boil. In a cup, mix corn starch with a little water. Slowly add to boiling stock. When desired thickness is reached, adjust color with Kitchen Bouquet, if desired, and simmer gravy for 15 minutes. Taste; add salt and pepper as needed. Serve when the dumplings are done. Peas and, or course, cranberry sauce make a good accompaniment. Return to dumplings.
| 4 chicken breasts | Bread crumbs |
| ½ pound butter | Salt and pepper |
| 1 heaping tablespoon tarragon | 2 eggs |
| 1 heaping tablespoon parsley | 1 tablespoon milk |
| Flour | Oil for frying |
Chop the tarragon and parsley and combine with the softened butter. Divide the butter into 4 equal-size rounds and put into the freezer. Skin the breasts and pound to a thin, even thickness. Remove any fat, tendons, or anything else you wouldn't want to eat.
After the butter is very cold, wrap each round with a chicken breast and secure with tooth picks, using the same number for all the breasts. Make sure the butter is completely enclosed and that there are no sections from which the butter can leak.
Mix the eggs with the milk. Dredge the breasts lightly in flour, dip in the egg/milk mixture and coat with bread crumbs. Dip the breasts in the egg/milk mixture a second time and double coat with bread crumbs.
Put enough oil in a skillet to cover 2/3 of the breasts. Heat the oil to 350°. When golden brown on one side, turn and finish the other side. If it seems the cooking went too quickly and the chicken may not be done, finish in a micro wave for about 1 minute on each individual serving plates.
Note: Chicken Kiev goes well with duchess potatoes piped around the rim of the individual serving plates. The potatoes can be heated just before serving in a micro wave, with or without the chicken breast in place.
This is not a good as Chicken Kiev. When time is in short supply, however, it's a great alternative to hamburgers or Chinese takeout.
| Chicken breasts | 1 tablespoon of milk per egg |
| Flour | Salt and black pepper |
| Fine bread crumbs | Tarragon butter sauce |
| eggs |
With a meat pounder or the flat side of a meat cleaver, pound each breast until it is slightly more the ¼ of an inch thick, the salt and pepper each breast. Whisk the egg and milk. Dredge each breast in flour, dip in the egg and milk mixture, the coat with bread crumbs. Heat a generous amount of cooking oil in a skillet to about 375°. Fry each breast until golden brown on both sides. Remove to paper towel to remove any remaining oil.
When each serving is on a plate, ladle a generous amount of the Tarragon Butter on each breast. A salad with a vinaigrette dressing to help balance the butter is a good accompaniment.
Had Ben Franklin had his way, the gobbler would have been the nation's symbol
instead of the bald eagle. Just as well, though. Franklin never envisioned the labyrinth
of laws under which we labor. If Ben had prevailed, it would probably be illegal to kill
and eat turkeys as it is with eagles – not that anyone wants to eat an eagle.
Franklin lost and the real king of birds now finds its way to the table. Like corn and
squash, roast turkey is true American cooking. The closest thing in French culinary
cuisine is pheasant, and while pheasant is good, it ain't no gobbler.
The holidays are not complete without big bird, stuffing and giblet gravy. Although many people are hesitant to prepare roast turkey, they shouldn't be. There are three simple rules: 1. Don't undercook it, 2. Don't overcook it, and 3. slice and serve ½-hour after it comes out of the oven, not before.
It's a noble bird; treat it accordingly.
| 1 turkey | Fresh parsley |
| 1 medium onion | Olive oil |
| 3 cloves | Kitchen Bouquet |
| Celery tops | Corn starch |
| Chicken stock or chicken bouillon cube | Cornbread stuffing |
| Salt and pepper |
The Bird
Remove giblets and neck from bird and reserve. Cut off wings and reserve. Rinse cavity thoroughly, then salt and pepper inside liberally. Fill neck and body cavity with stuffing, rub breast and legs with olive oil. Preheat oven to 375°. Place, elevated, in roasting pan and add a cup of water to pan. If bird is small enough, cover with roasting pan lid; if not cover with aluminum foil. Roast for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 325° and cook about 20-minutes per pound from the time the bird first went into the oven. Periodically baste turkey with baster, then remove juices from pan with baster and add to stock pot. Turkey is done when juice from thigh runs clear. Remove from oven and remove stuffing. Let bird rest for ½ hour before slicing.
The Gravy
While bird is roasting start stock for gravy. Stick 3 cloves in an onion with the skin left on. Add gizzard, neck, wings, onion, parsley, celery tops (reserved from making stuffing) to stock pot. Cover with water or half water and half chicken stock and bring to boil. Add Knorr's chicken bouillon cube if needed. Simmer for 1½ hours, then strain. Add chopped liver, heart, and neck meat and simmer for another ½ hour.
While potatoes are cooking, prepare the gravy. Remove as much fat as you can, then bring stock back to boil. In a cup, mix corn starch with a little water. Slowly add to boiling stock. When desired thickness is reached, adjust color with Kitchen Bouquet and simmer gravy for 15 minutes. Taste; add salt and pepper as needed.
Note: The olive oil is so the bird browns evenly to a golden hue. Return to sweet potato pie, Roadkill.
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