Chicken Maryland

Why did I decide to make this? Pure nostlagia. As a wee thing, my mother would (sometimes) bread small pieces of chicken for our birthday party teas, a sortof non-toxic (and, ofcourse, very tasty) chicken nugget, to the approbation of our school friends. I remember one of the remarking ‘I’ve asked my mum to do some chicken, like yours’. My sympathies now lie with the mother – the little darling in question was one of four siblings (or possibly five). I then went through all my cookbooks looking for a suitable recipe in an attempt to find a suitable recipe and decided that a pared-down* version of Chicken Maryland perfectly fitted the bill.

*The full dish, according to my recipe book, involves breaded chicken, grilled banana, bacon rolls and sweetcorn fritters. (See below.)  Consequently, the bacon and bananas listed on this recipe should be ignored

Notes

• As long as you’re not a total idiot with a frying pan, this is basically foolproof. I was half-cut when actually putting it together and really, as long as you chop all the chicken beforehand, line up the bowls of egg, crumbs, etc sensibly, you’re laughing.

Results

Oh, the passing of the years… these were tasty but… a little bland. The chicken certainly benefitted from the addition of some barbecue sauce. I would definitely make again – my enjoyment of breaded chicken is undiminished, even if I normally cloak it in a more adult disguise, but I would season the  breadcrumbs more – with chilli and mustard powder at the very least.

Marylanded by Elly

Béchamel Chicken

After Alix’s success with salads, I was delighted to find a copy of Ursel and Derek Norman’s Chicken Feed (Fontana, 1979) for £1 in the RSPCA shop on the Hornsey Rd (prices for it online start at £18 – wha’?!) and even more delighted to find that it is full of delicious-sounding, easy dishes. I chose this one as 1) different to how I would normally make chicken 2)I could make it without shopping for extra ingredients.

Béchamel Chicken

An inexpensive family dish especially appreciated on a chilly night. Chicken baked in a deliciously creamy herb sauce. Serve with boiled potatoes and a green vegetable for a nutritious and heart-warming meal.

Time to prepare: About 1 hour

1 1/2 kg / 3lb chicken, cut up
2 tablespoons oil
50g/ 2oz butter
50g/ 2oz butter
500ml/ 1 pint milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of dried fine herbes
(equal quantities of oregano, basil, thyme, majoram)
1 bayleaf

Makes 4 servings

Pre-heat oven to 160C degrees, 350F degrees, gas mark 3.

1. Heat oil in frying pan and brown chicken pieces until dark golden

2. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in flour until it has been absorbed. Add the milk in a steady stream, stirring vigorously with a wire whisk [or small spoon, since my whisk broke recently and has yet to be replaced]. Keep stirring until mixture thickens. Leave to simmer gently for 2 minutes.

3. Season with salt, pepper, herbs and add bayleaf.

4. Pour over chicken in casserole and cover tightly.

5. Place in oven and cook until tender, about 35 minutes. (If the sauce should thicken too much during the cooking, thin down with milk or single cream.)

Note: Can be made a few hours ahead, up to stage 4.

Notes

• The construction of this dish should have gone smoothly. Unfortunately I discovered that the chicken I had frozen and defrosted (in the fridge) had gone off somehow and had to be jettisoned and replaced. (Oh the guilt – porr chicken!)
• I followed the recipe exactly but don’t understand why you wouldn’t brown the chicken in a heavy saucepan and put it in an ovenproof dish while the sauce is made in the same pan, in order that all the flavour of the chicken is retained. OK, it wouldn’t be by-the-book béchamel, but it would be less washing up and more tasty.

Results

There was a slight problem with this dish, that was not the fault of the recipe – I  gave it slightly longer than specified while the potatoes cooked and cooked and so the chicken ended a bit dry. It was still very edible (actually, I was on the verge of tucking into my own sofa by the time the spuds were done), although the sauce was undoubtedly thicker than the author had in mind. Would make again but only with more flavouring added to the sauce – booze sprang to mind on the first bite, but shallots, bacon, mushrooms or even some more herbs, would move this dish from good to great.

Béchameled by Elly

Chicken Paprika

My feelings about paprika are well-documented so I’m slightly ashamed that I’ve never cooked Chicken Paprika before – I have at least 2 different recipes for it. I’m going to start with the simplest though – from Beverly Pepper’s Potluck Cookery (Faber and Faber, 1955).

Chicken Paprika

LEFTOVER: Cooked chicken
At least 4 slices or 1 ½ cups

AND

Fat, 2 tablespoons
Sliced onion, 1 large
Paprika, 1 tablespoon
Egg yolk, 1 beaten with 1 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion in hot fat until golden brown. Add chicken and paprika. Cook 5 minutes. Add egg yolk-sour cream mixture, salt and pepper. Simmer very slowly 10 minutes.

Serves 3 – 4

SUGGESTED: Serve on buttered noodles with Mushroom Croquettes and buttered rye bread slices.

Notes

• I quartered the recipe – using 1 chicken thigh fillet, browned quickly in corn oil, which I also used as the fat in the recipe.
• I was not keen on the suggested sides and used brown rice and green beans.
• I may have burnt this slightly – it started off a nice orange and then turned somewhat brown.

Conclusion

This was quick, easy and completely delicious. It was not heavy and rich and although it was lovely with rice, it would also be good with crusty bread and a green salad. The recipe gives an interesting insight into 1950s portion sizes – 1 slice of chicken and a quarter of an onion is a normal serving?  Only if you serve it with pasta and breaded, fried fungi.

Paprika’d by Elly

Rosy Baked Chicken

This is from Family Circle Home Entertaining published by Albany Books in 1980.  With chapters such as ‘Wine Sense’, Giving a Cheese and Wine Party’ and ‘A Wedding Buffet Planned at Home’ it offers everything necessary  for one to entertain on a large scale and if this sample recipe is anything to go by it also offers everything necessary to make sure that your guests will think twice before accepting an invitation to future soirees.

Rosy Baked Chicken

4 chicken joints
1 small (200g) can sliced pineapple

Sauce
50g margarine
1×15ml spoon plain flour
2×15ml spoons tomato ketchup
2×5ml spoons dry mustard
1×2.5ml spoon salt
Pepper
1×5ml spoon Worcestershire sauce
1×15ml spoon vinegar

1 (200g) pack frozen peas
1×10ml spoon cornflour

1. Remove skins from chicken  joints. Wipe joints with kitchen paper and place in a large roasting tin.
2. Drain pineapple, reserving syrup in a small basin. Chop pineapple.
3. Place margarine in a basin and beat until soft and creamy. Beat in remaining sauce ingredients and half of chopped pineapple.
4. Spread mixture evenly over chicken joints. Pour pineapple syrup over and sprinkle with remaining chopped pineapple; cover with foil, If possible , leave in fridge until ready to set in oven.
5. Remove the foil and place on shelf just above centre of oven. Set oven control to moderate (190°C/ 375°F/ Gas Mark 5) and bake for one hour. Ten minutes before end of cooking time , cook peas, as directed on pack. Place chicken joints on warmed serving dish and keep hot whilst making gravy. Blend cornflour with a little water and stir into juices left in roasting tin. Cook gently for 3 minutes; pour over chicken joints. Arrange cooked, drained peas on a dish around chicken or serve separately.

How this looked before cooking:

After cooking:

Notes

• I used butter instead of marg
• I made half the amount, and used thighs and drumsticks as I couldn’t get joints
• I didn’t have the peas, and omitted the gravy as I couldn’t find cornflour
• Pre-cooking the resemblance to puke was uncanny.
• The juices left in the dish afterwards were really offputting, and the leftovers that I removed from the fridge the next day were encased in an orange  lump of solidified fat. Mmmmm.

Conclusion

Despite smelling like a nice barbeque whilst in the oven, it tasted a little weird, and the coating didn’t really adhere to the meat well at all. I think it would have been much nicer had the skin remained on. The combination of butter and ketchup and pineapple is not quite to my taste, it’s a little sweet. Overall this wasn’t particularly nice, the coating didn’t compliment the chicken, and my general feeling was that I was eating some nice chicken which was being spoiled by an odd sauce. I suspect that if cooked at a higher heat, with the skin on it may have a) looked more like the photo, and b) tasted alright.

Chicken Mexicane

In Pot Luck Cookery (1955, Faber & Faber). Beverley Pepper furnishes the reader with seventeen recipes for using up leftover chicken specifically (and several others suitable for ’what have you meats’), unfortunately on this occasion, I picked a dud. The recipe looked temptingly highly seasoned but didn’t quite come together. (I assume the ‘e’ on the end of Mexicane denotes this recipe is ‘in the style of’ rather than the real thing.)

Chicken  Mexicane

LEFTOVER: COOKED CHICKEN
(at least 2 cups, cut into large pieces)

AND
Butter or margarine, 1 tablespoon
Finely chopped onion, ¼ cup
Finely chopped green pepper, 1
Minced garlic clove 1
Flour, 2 tablespoons
Chicken broth, or 2 cubes and water to make 1 cup
Tomatoes, 8 oz can
Button Mushrooms, 1  4oz can
Chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons
Sugar, ½ teaspoon
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Chilli powder, 1 teaspoon or more
Oregano, ¼ teaspoon
Salt to taste

Melt butter in skillet [or saucepan – Ed.] Add onion, green pepper, and garlic; cook until onion is soft. Blend in flour. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, mushrooms, parsley, sugar, black pepper, chilli powder, oregano and salt, stirring until thick and smooth. Place chicken in shallow casserole. Pour sauce over. Bake in a medium hot 400 degree (GM6 ) oven 30 minutes.

Serves 3 – 4

Suggested: Serve on hot corn bread – plus a salad of sliced green peppers, diced cucumbers, and lettuce with garlic French dressing.

Notes

• I reduced the quantities to make one portion.
• I didn’t have any oregano so substituted marjoram.
• I omitted the mushrooms entirely (Tinned mushrooms – blech!)
• I used leftover plain roasted chicken thigh.
• I served it with rice and green beans and 3 corn fritters which I had lurking in the freezer. (I baked them in the oven with the chicken. They were actually better reheated than they were fresh – crisper on the outside and lighter in the middle.)

Conclusion

The sauce did not thicken despite my boiling it and then simmering it for at least 20 minutes and cooking the dish in the oven for at least the required 30 minutes. I also didn’t like the addition of the flour – it gave the sauce a mass-catering type blandness and mouth-feel. There’s a good dish lurking in here – but it needs no flour, more tomatoes and longer in the oven.

Chickened out by Elly