Chicken A La King

I decided to make this recipe last week bc my mom used to make chicken a la king when I was growing up.  However, this recipe, which I thought was the one she used, I realized was totally different while I was putting it together.  Funny how you don't realize these things until you actually start mixing together the ingredients!  Haha!  So it was a new dish for our family!  And it turned out yummy & everyone in the family ate it so that equals success in my book.  It was pretty easy and fast, but as you will see, being fast made it a little tricky to document for the blog - it got a little crazy at the end!

For chicken a la king, you'll need:

• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/4 c. chopped green sweet pepper
• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 3 tbs butter or margarine
• 2 tbs all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 1/2 c. half-and-half or light cream
• 3 beaten egg yolks
• 2 tbs dry sherry
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2 c. cooked chicken
• 2 tbs diced pimiento

Now I have to brag on my hubby for a minute - he came home last week with new knives for the kitchen and I was beside myself with excitement!!  Our knives were so old and in desperate need of replacing, so I had basically forgotten what it was like to prepare food with knives that actually cut!!  And, Tommy, it came with kitchen scissors so I'm set for my next round with dicing bacon - yay! :)

So my first test into my new knives was dicing the green pepper, onion, and mushrooms.  For this test I used the "chef's knife" - oh, you know I sure felt like Julia Child! :)

Isn't it beautiful??  And it was like cutting butter.  Brazilliance.  I added more green pepper and onion than the recipe called for.  And probably more mushrooms too.  Cause that's how I roll.

Since I added more pepper and onion, I increased the butter slightly as well.  I probably put in about 4 tbs instead of 3.

Isn't that pretty?

Saute veggies until tender, not brown.

Stir in flour, salt, and paprika to make a roux.

Add half and half all at once.  I likened this to making my own cream of mushroom soup, a kitchen staple at our house.  It was really easy and with our new knives, who knows??  Maybe I'll start doing this more often!

Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Then things got a little crazy and I didn't get a picture of the next step :)

Beat egg yolks in a small bowl (I used a pyrex measuring cup).  Stir about 1 cup of the thickened sauce into the beaten egg yolks - this is so the egg yolks don't cook weirdly into your dish - and I had to do it fast so I didn't end up with chicken a la king + scrambled eggs :)

Return mixture to saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly.  Stir in sherry and lemon juice.  I didn't have sherry bc I couldn't find it at the store (I know, y'all are surprised I couldn't find my way around the wine aisle haha).  I think it would've been extra rich & good with the sherry, so hopefully I'll find it next time :)

Add chicken and pimientos.  I didn't measure my pimientos, just dumped in the whole jar.  And I made my chicken my usual way prior to putting it in the mix.  Heat through.

You can serve it with any sort of bread or pastry shell, so I made cream biscuits, of course!  The family really liked this meal and it was easy!  Yum!