Poultry
Chicken Pudding
One of my past times is to browse through old cook books. I was recently going through Mary Randolph's "The Virginia House-Wife". First published in 1824 it was one the most important cook and house hold management books of the 18th century in America. As I was going through the book I came across this recipe and as I already had chicken out for dinner I thought I'd tweak it and use it. It came out quite nice. My recipe is for two so if your going to make more multiply the recipe
Directions
- In a pot large enough to hold the chicken, cover the chicken with lightly salted water add the bouquet garni and bring to a boil and cook the chicken for about 20 to 30 minutes.
- When cooked remove from the pot and let cool.
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, skin and pull the meat from the bones, and cut into bite size pieces.
- For two use a au gratin dish, for larger portions use a pie plate or casserole to bake the pudding in, buttering the dish well.
- In a separate bowl add the eggs and milk and salt and pepper and whisk until fully blended.
- Add enough flour to make a thin batter, add the chicken pour the whole into the baking dish and bake at 375° for 30 - 40 minutes until pudding is set and beginning to lightly brown on top.
- While the chicken is cooking prepare the sauce.
- In a sauce pan place the butter and shallot and garlic and cook on medium heat until the shallot is softened.
- Once the shallot is softened, add the flour and mix until all the flour is combined, continue to cook for a few minutes more to cook out the flour, then add the milk, raise the heat to medium high to high and stir the sauce to dissolve the roux and begin thickening the sauce.
- As the sauce begins to heat up add the salt and pepper to taste and add the Parmesan.
- You don't want the sauce to become too thick, if it is add a little more liquid to thin and you don't want to use too much Parmesan to overpower the herbs the chicken was cooked in.
- When the chicken is done remove from the oven and garnish with the chopped parsley and serve with the sauce on the side.
