Cook’s notebook: Homemade stock adds rich flavor

A good casserole can be hard to come by. A good casserole that doesn’t include cans of concentrated soup is even harder to come by.

That was the test presented by Ruth Phillips of Spokane recently. She wrote in asking about a dish called Scalloped Chicken that she found in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens several years ago. The dish included dried bread cubes – as in dressing – cooked chicken and a gravy made with thickened chicken broth and eggs. The ingredients were layered in a dish and baked.

A search of the Better Homes and Gardens Web site did not turn up a matching recipe. A search of the Internet turned up many recipes.

Scalloped Chicken is an old dish. Very old. Like Fannie Farmer “Boston Cooking-School Cookbook” (1896) old. Some recipes use macaroni. Others use bread cubes. Still others use bread crumbs. All use chicken or turkey and some kind of sauce, often based on a “cream of” concentrated soup. After wading through dozens of recipes, I found one that looked close to Phillips’ favorite.

The Scalloped Chicken recipe at recipezaar.com started with a gravy made from a roux and chicken broth. Then two beaten eggs were tempered into the gravy and the whole thing was cooked until thickened. Layers of bread crumbs and chicken were topped with the gravy and baked.

So I tested it. While the recipe had earned two positive reviews from recipezaar.com readers who praised the dish’s homeyness, we found it bland. The recipe used poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, butter and two tablespoons of chopped onion for flavor, and it wasn’t nearly enough.

A few days later I tried it again. This time I used homemade chicken stock in the gravy. I sautéed an onion and a few cloves of garlic in some olive oil with a pinch of salt, then browned the chicken pieces I was using. I then dumped the whole thing into the crockpot, along with some peppercorns, bay leaves, carrots and celery. I deglazed the pan with a little water and added that, too, then poured water into the slow cooker to cover.

Six hours later, I had rich, flavorful and beautifully browned chicken stock, which added a real depth of flavor to the gravy.

If you want to use store-bought broth, think about ways to boost the flavor. Take a couple of chicken breasts cut into two or three pieces, or some bone-in thighs. Brown them in a hot pan then add your canned broth. Add a bay leaf, some garlic and other favorite seasonings and simmer for a few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. It’ll make a difference in the taste of the broth.

Instead of the dried poultry seasoning, I used fresh herbs – rosemary, thyme, sage and marjoram. A good teaspoon of ground nutmeg was added to the gravy. I used a whole chopped onion and added three ribs of chopped celery and a couple of cups of sliced mushrooms. Finally, I used dried bread cubes instead of bread crumbs and increased the amount of cooked chicken.

This time around, the dish had loads of flavor and a delightful aroma. I don’t know if this is the exact recipe Phillips is looking for, but it’s one she should be proud to serve to friends.

Scalloped Chicken

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cups chicken stock, warmed, preferably homemade

2 eggs, beaten

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 three ribs celery, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped

6 to 10 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped from stems

6 cups dried bread cubes

3 cups cooked chicken or turkey, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter.

Blend in flour and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. In a steady stream, add the warmed chicken stock and stir to prevent lumps. Continue stirring until thickened, about five minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Temper the eggs by adding spoonfuls of the hot gravy to the eggs while stirring constantly. When eggs have warmed, add them to the gravy in a steady stream, stirring constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg and set aside to cool.

In a pan, heat the olive oil on medium and add the onion and celery, cooking until softened. Add a pinch of salt and the mushrooms; when they’ve given up their juices, add the herbs and cook for a couple minutes. Add 5 cups of bread cubes and toss to combine. Put the remaining bread in the bowl of a food processor and chop into crumbs, or place them in a zip-top bag and bash them with a rolling pin. Set aside.

In a greased rectangular baking dish, add a layer of the bread cubes, then half the chicken and half the gravy. Repeat, adding the bread crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 323 calories, 16 grams fat (6 grams saturated, 46 percent fat calories), 21 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrate, 113 milligrams cholesterol, 1.8 grams dietary fiber, 599 milligrams sodium.