Chicken in a Basket

June 3, 2011

I realize I haven’t given you guys a recipe from the kitchen lately, so I will tell you about last week’s Chicken in a Basket. My lovely assistant found this recipe and thought that it would be something fun to try. We adapted it a little by using turkey instead of chicken, but it still turned out tasty. It is an old take on a favorite, and if presentation of the meal means something, then this recipe gets an “A+.” Like many other recipes, this one is from the Boston Cooking School Cookbook (p.231 in our version).

Chicken in a Basket

Chicken Baskets

To three cups hot mashed potatoes add three tablespoons butter, one teaspoon salt, yolks of three eggs slightly beaten, and enough milk to moisten.  Shape in form of small baskets, using a pastry bag and tube (*or your hands if you don’t have a pastry bag available.)  Brush over with white of egg slightly beaten, and brown in oven.  Fill with Creamed Chicken.  Form handles for baskets of parsley (*chive works as well.)

Creamed Chicken
1 1/2 cups cold chicken cut in dice
1 cup White Sauce II
1/8 teaspoon celery salt

Heat chicken dice in sauce, to which celery salt has been added.

White Sauce II
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grains of pepper

Put butter in saucepan, stir until melted and bubbling; add flour mixed with seasonings, and stir until thoroughly blended. Pour on gradually the milk, adding about one-third at a time, stirring until well mixed, then beating until smooth and glossy. If a wire whisk is used, all the milk may be added at once; and although more quickly made if milk is scalded, it is not necessary.

This recipe may seem a bit complicated, but it really isn’t. We get our chicken from the barnyard but if you want a shortcut, pick up a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery. Better yet, use leftover chicken from a different meal. The basket handle is really just a garnish, but don’t be afraid to make your food pretty. Try serving this up with some carrots or beets and a fresh garden salad (we should be picking lettuce any day now!)

Good luck with your baskets, hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

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