Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης!
Weather has started showing its teeth lately and heavy rains and thunderstorms came so sudden that caught everyone unguarded here in Greece. This past weekend has been quite rainy and windy around here and the need for a casserole came urgently to our home. Weekends are ideal for warm, hearty meals that need some time and preparation. I always pick dishes that require extra time and effort to make during the weekends, because these are the only two days of the week I do not work.
I love cooking and baking in my warm, cozy home when outside is cold, windy and rainy and that was the case last weekend. The first time I ate this meal was the first time I met my husband.
In 2000 I was just out of a big relationship and I was all alone. A friendly couple called me and invited me for dinner saying to me that a friend of theirs would come as well. I suspected that they were trying to fix me up with someone, but I wasn’t really sure. Anyway, I said why not, if the guy wasn’t good enough, I could always enjoy my dinner and then leave quietly. So, I went there and the second person I saw as I entered the house was my husband who was there smiley and calm as he always is. They got us introduced and he started talking about his recent business trip to Paris.
What I really liked about him was his solemnity, his steadiness, his calmness and that feeling he gave you, that you really can count on this guy when you have a problem. The girl from that couple who invited us was a friend of mine from high school and her husband was a friend of my husband’s from university. So, everybody knew everybody and that made that night less awkward and weird. She made chicken divan and that was the first time I’ve heard or read about this dish. I don’t know if it was the fact that I met my soon to be husband or it was really that good, but I always had the best memories of that dish.
As the anniversary of our first acquaintance is approaching, we’ve been together for 15 years now, I thought of remaking it and see if my memory was correct.
Chicken Divan is a chicken casserole usually served with broccoli, almonds, and Mornay sauce. It was first served in the Divan Parisiennne Restaurant in the New York Chatham Hotel in the early twentieth century. Its creator was a chef named Lagasi. This dish became their signature dish from then on and the chef won a small amount of money as a prize. In French, the word divan means a meeting place or great hall.
It was really delicious and so perfect for a hearty, filling warm weekend lunch. I totally recommend it plus you get to it your broccoli too.
- 700 gr. / 24 oz. chicken breasts cut lengthwise
- 700 gr. / 24 oz. broccoli florets
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup milk, full fat
- 4 tbsp flour
- 5 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp sherry
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅔ cup parmigiano reggiano
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Put the broccoli into your steamer and steam for about seven minutes.
- If the broccoli is fresh it will need about ten minutes.
- Remove, rinse under the faucet to stop it from continuing to cook and set aside.
- In a skillet pour about 4 tbsp of olive oil and in medium heat sauté the chicken until golden brown.
- Remove and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- In a pot add the butter over medium heat.
- Throw the flour and whisk for about a minute.
- Slowly, slowly pour first the stock and then the milk while whisking constantly.
- Continue to whisk until the batter starts to thicken.
- Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper, the sherry, and ½ cup of the cheese.
- Stir everything until the cheese is completely melted.
- Remove and set aside.
- Take a pyrex or a casserole dish and butter it really well.
- Add the broccoli in one layer covering the bottom of the dish.
- Throw the rest of the cheese on top of it.
- Arrange the chicken breasts above and sprinkle the almonds on top of them.
- In your stand mixer beat the heavy cream until it makes soft peaks and then fold it into the cheese sauce.
- Pour the sauce on top of the chicken and bake for about 30 minutes or until it takes a beautiful golden brown color on top.
- 700 γρ. κοτόπουλο στήθος κομμένο κατά μήκος
- 700 γρ. μπρόκολο
- 1 φλ. ζωμό κότας
- 1 φλ. γάλα, πλήρες
- 4 κ.σ. αλεύρι
- 5 κ.σ. βούτυρο
- 4 κ.σ. σέρι
- ¼ κ.γ. μοσχοκάρυδο
- ⅔ φλ. parmigiano reggiano
- ½ φλ. κρέμα γάλακτος
- Αλάτι και πιπέρι
- Ελαιόλαδο
- Βάλτε το μπρόκολο στον ατμομάγειρα για περίπου επτά λεπτά.
- Αν το μπρόκολο είναι φρέσκο θα χρειαστεί περίπου δέκα λεπτά.
- Αφαιρέστε, ξεπλύνετε κάτω από τη βρύση για να σταματήσει ο βρασμός και βάλτε το στην άκρη.
- Σε μια κατσαρόλα προσθέστε περίπου 4 κουταλιές της σούπας ελαιόλαδο και σε μέτρια φωτιά σοτάρετε το κοτόπουλο μέχρι να ροδίσει.
- Αφαιρέστε και βάλτε το στην άκρη.
- Προθερμάνετε το φούρνο στους 180° C.
- Σε μια κατσαρόλα προσθέστε το βούτυρο σε μέτρια φωτιά.
- Ρίξτε το αλεύρι και ανακατέψτε για περίπου ένα λεπτό.
- Σιγά-σιγά, ρίξτε πρώτα το ζωμό και, στη συνέχεια, το γάλα, ανακατεύοντας συνεχώς.
- Συνεχίστε το ανακάτεμα μέχρι το μίγμα να αρχίσει να πήζει.
- Προσθέστε το μοσχοκάρυδο, το αλάτι και το πιπέρι, το sherry, και ½ φλιτζάνι από το τυρί.
- Ανακατέψτε τα πάντα μέχρι το τυρί έχει λιώσει εντελώς.
- Αφαιρέστε και βάλτε στην άκρη.
- Πάρτε ένα πυρέξ και βουτυρώστε το καλά.
- Προσθέστε το μπρόκολο σε ένα στρώμα που να καλύπτει το κάτω μέρος του pyrex.
- Ρίξτε το υπόλοιπο τυρί από πάνω.
- Τακτοποιήστε τα στήθη κοτόπουλου και πασπαλίστε τα αμύγδαλα στην κορυφή τους.
- Στο μίξερ σας χτυπήστε την κρέμα γάλακτος μέχρι να γίνει σαν γιαούρτι και στη συνέχεια, ρίξτε τη στη σάλτσα τυρί και ανακατέψτε απαλά.
- Ρίξτε τη σάλτσα πάνω από το κοτόπουλο και ψήστε για περίπου 30 λεπτά ή μέχρι να πάρει ένα όμορφο χρυσό χρώμα στην κορυφή.
