Connie

You can overcook chicken; but not if you follow these directions, KNOW YOUR OVEN -- does it cook on the "hot" or the "cool" side? -- then adjust the thermostat at the appropriate lower (250° F.) or higher (300° F.) setting.

CONNIE'S CHICKEN RECIPE

(recipe from Connie & David Atkins, via Nancy, in original red cookbook)

2 chickens serve 4 people
5 chickens serve 12 with NONE left over
Skin chickens and cut into usual frying pan portions.
Roll in flour and fry in olive oil until delicately brown.
Salt and put in casserole. (I omit "gratuitous" salt in most recipes. This is optional.)

Sauce:
½ cup dry sherry
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 pints table cream
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste.
Maggi sauce to taste.

Pour sauce over chicken and cook 1/2 hour in slow oven (250° F. - 300° F.), covered.

This sauce recipe is enough for 2 chickens. After adding sauce to the casserole, the assembled dish may be stored in the refrigerator for several hours before cooking. Remove from refrigerator at least one-half hour before putting into a preheated oven.

Excellent served with fettuccine, but also can be served with rice.
Maggi sauce is available in any reasonably large, well-stocked supermarket. It lasts longer than just about any other item you can buy for your kitchen. Use it sparingly, about the same way you might use Worcestershire sauce.

Enjoy!Definitely a creamy chicken dish.

A problem in the past was uneven temperatures which resulted in a curdled sauce. Anson and Poppy have conquered this by using a digital thermometer with probe to monitor the sauce, a technique introduced to us by Anson.
Any questions about the technique, please double click here on Peter and/ or see his comments below.*
If your kitchen does not have one of those little techie wonders, try using crème fraîche rather than regular cream, because the former does not have that nasty habit of curdling when it hits the boiling point. For techniques, recipes for that double click here on crème fraîche.

*(Peter's comments: curdling has always been a problem. I heat the sauce using a thermometer to 160 degrees before topping it on to the chicken. Then use the thermometer in a thigh to watch the meat cook to 160 degrees. When I add the sauce to the browned chicken, the temperature drops to a little over 100 degrees. Then monitor it while cooking the noodles or rice and don't let the chicken and sauce curdle!)

You can find this and related recipe(s) by tapping here on the Home Cookin' index.

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