I'm assuming you have leftover chicken. If you do, compare yours to the amount here and adjust the other amounts accordingly. If you're planning to make this starting with raw chicken...um, I don't know, I never have. Cook it first, I guess.
1-2 tbsp. butter
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper or 1/4 cup pimientos, chopped
2 tbsp. butter (see note below)
3 tbsp. flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 - 1/2 cup cream
1-2 shakes Tabasco (optional)
~2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 egg yolk
2-3 tbsp. dry sherry
If you've never cooked with red pepper before, remove the seeds and the whitish ribs on the inside. And the stem end.
Note: There are two places where you use butter: to sauté the mushrooms and pepper, and to make the roux. I know standard recipe practice would be to just list butter once and then give instructions about which part to use when, but I just can't keep track of that. I always end up dumping all the butter in at the first point and making some kind of mess. So I listed them separately.
Sauté the mushrooms and red pepper in butter. When the mushrooms are done, the pepper will still have a little crunch, which is fine. Or, use pimientos instead of red pepper and say goodbye to crunch. Set aside.
Melt the second bolus of butter and heat to foaming. Add the flour and whisk to get a roux. You only have to eliminate the raw flour taste, but I go further to brown the roux lightly so the dish leans very slightly in the direction of New Orleans. If you keep going the roux will become dark brown and eventually burn. Stop before that.
Add the stock and stir until the sauce is thickened. If you start with cold stock, it can take forever to thicken, so here's what I do: I put the stock in the microwave before I start making the roux. Then I cook the roux until the stock is boiling. Then when I pour the stock in, the sauce thickens in like twenty seconds. Blend in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and (optionally) Tabasco.
Add the mushrooms and pepper back in and add the chicken. Beat the egg yolk in a bowl and mix in a spoonful at a time of the sauce. This is supposed to keep the egg yolk from scrambling if added directly to the sauce, which sounds gross so I've never tried it. Once you've added two or three spoonfuls of sauce, blend it back into the pot. Add the sherry just before serving. If you have some parsley, sprinkle it over each serving, but Genevieve and Elizabeth hate that.
