Chicken a la King

Sometimes, I can't remember what I've made for this blog and what I created in cooking school for final exams.  I was very surprised to find that I haven't made this since a final, possibly because I thought I had put it in the blog.

There are a couple of steps to this that make it seem harder than it is.  For the final, I had 4 hours to make a complete meal, and this was only part of it.  I roasted the chicken instead of using pre-cooked and took my time making the choux shells.  The real trick was keeping everything warm until grading time.

The Bible has a version of this using those pre-shaped pastry shells they sell in the freezer section.  You bake them yourself, then fill with whatever.  In the same amount of time and only slightly more work, you can have these.  Or, you can serve it over white rice like my mom used to.  Not even brown or wild rice, just plain old white.  It was the 80s.  She probably also used cream of mushroom soup instead of making a sauce.

I'm calling this the Target version, since everything is canned or frozen except the sauce.  You're expending enough effort making the shells.  Everything else can get drained and thrown in the saucepan.

Shells
1/4 C butter
1/2 C water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C flour
2 eggs

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Grease a baking sheet or line with a Silpat.

2.  In a saucepan over medium heat, bring butter, water, and salt to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in flour all at once with a wooden spoon until flour is cooked and mixture forms a pasty ball.

3.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing the first in thoroughly before adding the second.

4.  Spoon or pipe into rounds on the baking sheet.  I was aiming for eight and got my portions a little off.  They did puff up fantastically in the oven at that size, but I didn't want to risk making four huge ones.

5.  Bake 50 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned.  Split open once slightly cooled, turn off oven, and let sit another ten minutes in there to dry out the insides.  Can be stored in the freezer for later use.  Bring to room temperature, then pop in toaster for a couple of minutes.

While the shells are in the oven...

Filling
2 Tb butter, divided
*1/4 C diced onion
1 C frozen mixed veggies, thawed
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 (3 serving) cans chunk chicken, drained
1 Tb flour
*1 C milk
*1/4 C white wine or 2 Tb dry sherry
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Melt 1 Tb butter in a saucepan or medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook the onion until soft.

2.  Add remaining butter, veggies, mushrooms, and flour.  Stir together until everything is slightly pasty from the flour.  Gradually stir in the milk, allowing it to thicken as you go.  Add the chicken and wine or sherry.  Cook until filling is heated through.

3.  Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as necessary.  I didn't add any salt because of the pre-packaged ingredients, then changed my mind and put in a dash.

4.  Serve hot, spooned into opened shells.

Difficulty rating  :)