Thirty years ago, thinking I would work toward my take on a deconstructed chicken pot pie (something that didn’t come off as Chicken a la King), I began testing different combinations of chicken with creamy sauces. The original idea was jettisoned early on, after I introduced grated parmesan to the program. Cheese is not a pot pie ingredient.
Over several trials, the parmesan emerged as a crusty topping, while the onion morphed into a broth purée, finished off with heavy cream. Eventually, the cheesy cream sauce proved so popular that extra was generated to pour over egg noodles. It’s not a complex recipe, but does have several steps and generates a sink full of implements. The basic ingredients are below…
- Chicken filets (5-10 filets) or slices of breast meat – about ½ inch thick or less
- Salt, Pepper, and Paprika
- Olive Oil (for sautéing)
- Sliced onion (2 onions)
- A bit of champagne
- Several cups or 2-3 cans of chicken broth
- Heavy cream (about ½ cup)
Season the filets with salt, pepper, and paprika (I use Hungarian, and am fairly generous – but I’m not looking for a pasty coating), and then sauté in a large skillet that has a lid. Once the filets are lightly browned on both sides, I introduce a handsome amount of sliced onion (cut against the grain because they will be reduced to a puree).
The next step is to cover the top of the filets with grated Parmesan. When the onions begin to brown, add broth until it almost covers the filets. Cover and allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked, the cheese melted, and the onions are fully soft. At this point, you are ready to transfer the filets onto a shallow pan (something like Le Creuset, nice enough for serving) and into the oven, topping off with more Parmesan and adding broth. There the filets can bake, or even broil slightly for more color, Otherwise, you are just keeping them warm and moist (you may need to add broth) while preparing the sauce.
Back to the skillet, cook the onions down; you want a bit of nice caramelization for color and flavor. Deglaze with champagne (not a lot). Add broth, simmer so the onions begin to break down. Transfer this mixture to tall container, then puree (I use a stick blender). Run the purée through a coarse seive or collander back into the skillet, then thicken with corn starch dissolved n broth.
This is the moment that determines both how much gravy (sauce) you will have, how rich the taste will be, and how much cream you might add. It varies; I don’t have exact measures, but you want the purée to be thick enough such that when the cream is added, you’ll produce a creamy sauce (which I serve in a small pitcher),
I stir cream into the thickened purée, but the goal is to preserve the onion-broth character; you can always add more cream if needed. Once the cream is added, I only heat enough to maintain temperature, adding salt and pepper if needed. It’s too late to reinvent the sauce with additional thickening or other changes.
For serving, I pour a bit of the sauce around the filets and transfer the remainder to a pitcher or gravy boat. The filets should be nice and moist (don’t let them dry out), topped with molten Parmesan. The sauce should have the consistency of a cream sauce, chowder, or gravy, neither soupy nor thick.
I serve with egg noodles or Parpadelle (from Trader Joe’s). It’s a very brown and creamy dish, so a bright-colored vegetable helps the look of the plate, perhaps green peas or green beans., perhaps broccoli. I guess we’ve served with whole grain corn also. Carrots might be nice.
Link to this Page: https://botanyincontext.com/creamy-cheesy-chicken/