Back to Basics

The post-holiday menu calls for old familiar fare

January 01, 2006|Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven

Many families that feel frayed after the holidays resolve to stay home, ignore the phone, and spend a quiet night together. Informal Sunday suppers can set the tone for the week, and since conversation should be the draw, serve something familiar, so no one’s wondering what’s on the plate: grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs and hash browns, old-fashioned creamed chicken on toast (our rich sauce of diced chicken breasts and vegetables actually has no cream), or sloppy Joes, hearty sweet-and-sour ground beef heaped onto golden rolls. Getting back to basics is a great way to start the New Year.

CREAMED CHICKEN ON TOAST

SERVES 4

Creamed mixtures can contain milk or heavy cream – or neither. In this version, chicken stock is thickened with a butter-flour paste and has a creamy consistency; the taste is a little like filling for chicken potpie.

4 cups chicken stock

2 chicken breast halves (1½ pounds total), skin removed

½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes

2 stalks celery, cut into ¼-inch pieces

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup frozen peas

Pinch of grated nutmeg, to taste

¼ teaspoon pepper, or more to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

4 thick slices challah or other soft eggy bread, toasted and halved

In a large flameproof casserole, combine the stock and chicken breasts. Add ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Skim the surface, lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the chicken for 10 minutes.

Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the chicken. Cover the pan and continue cooking for 20 minutes or until the chicken and vegetables are both cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the liquid and set it aside until the chicken is cool enough to handle. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the stock.

On a plate with a fork, mash the butter and flour together until they form a smooth paste; set it aside. Remove the chicken from the bones and cut the meat into ½-inch pieces.

Return the chicken cooking liquid to a boil. Using a whisk, scoop up half of the butter paste and whisk it into the simmering liquid. Add the remaining butter paste and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

With a large metal spoon, stir the chicken, vegetables, and peas into the sauce. Continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are very hot. Taste for seasoning, add nutmeg, pepper, and more salt, if you like, and the parsley.

Arrange two pieces of toast on each of 4 dinner plates. Ladle the creamed chicken mixture on top and serve at once.

SLOPPY JOES

SERVES 4

1½ pounds ground sirloin or other lean ground beef

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded,

and fi nely chopped