Chicken and asparagus cheese strata for one
From tralfaz 16 years ago
- 25-35 minutes to make
- Serves 1
This is an odd little casserole I invented. It's similar to a cheese strata/cheese pudding. It sounds a little strange, but I keep making it time after time. NOTE) I created this using my precooked frozen chicken (see the message board). Read more I guess you could try using unfrozen, cooked chicken (never tried it) you'd probably have to cut the baking time down to 15 minutes. The recipe uses stale storebought bread, but if you use homemade whole wheat bread like I do, add another 4 oz of milk to make the sauce thinner. My bread is dense and turns rock hard, it needs extra liquid to absorb. Big thick asparagus works best because it doesn't overcook as much as the skinny stalks (I like the vegetables to have a little bite). This also works very well with broccoli and cheddar- a variation of chicken divan. This size is perfect for me. Will it be perfect for you? For a smaller serving use only 1 slice of bread. For a larger serving maybe use more chicken or vegetables. See less
Ingredients
- 8 oz milk (I use powdered milk and water, 12 oz if using rock hard bread) shopping list
- 1/2 tsp olive oil shopping list
- I heaped teaspoon flour shopping list
- pinch of cayenne (opt.) shopping list
- tiny pinch of grated nutmeg (opt.) shopping list
- 1 oz (or more) grated swiss cheese (ordinary swiss, gruyere, jarlsburg) shopping list
- 1/2 oz grated parmigiana shopping list
- salt and pepper to taste shopping list
- 2 slices stale whole wheat bread (firm white should work) shopping list
- 4 oz frozen precooked chicken shopping list
- 4-6 stalks of fresh asparagus shopping list
- 6" by 9" gratin dish or 16 oz baking dish. shopping list
How to make it
- Place a small sauce pan over moderate heat, add olive oil, blend in flour to form a white roux.
- Whisk in milk a little at a time (will appear lumpy at first). When 2-3 oz of milk are stirred in you can start adding the milk faster, whisking all the way. When the sauce is lump free, turn down the heat to low, stir in cayenne and nutmeg, cover and simmer white sauce for 5 minutes (very low).
- While the sauce simmers (check once or twice for burning), oil the baking dish, break the ends or peel the asparagus, grate the cheeses.
- Place the bread in the baking dish, breaking to make it fit. Place chicken on bread, lay (raw) asparagus on top.
- When sauce has thickened, take off heat and stir in the cheese, it doesn't need to melt completely. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper (the sauce should be a little salty since it flavors all the other ingredients).
- Pour sauce on top of the asparagus, chicken and bread. If the sauce seems a little thick or not generous enough, pour in a little extra milk (or water!).
- Place on small metal pan to catch drips and bake 20-30 minutes at 350 F.
- Remove when sauce is bubbling nicely and is browned. Asparagus should be done, but you can check. Let sit for 5 minutes before eating. Serve with a green salad, or all by itself.
People Who Like This Dish 3
- whuebl Annapolis, MD
- tralfaz Port Townsend, WA
- selfmanic Augusta, GA
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