Chicken Divan Just Short of Divine

I had some leftover cooked chicken and so this Chicken Divan Casserole made its way on to the menu this week. The sauce was made first by sauteing shallots and curry powder in butter before adding flour and cooking. Some milk and chicken broth were whisked in and simmered until thickened. The sauce was enriched and thickened with an egg yolk and then finished with fresh lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper.

Meanwhile the filling was made by sauteing mushrooms, and toasting pieces of torn rye bread. The toasted bread, cooked, chopped chicken, frozen broccoli florets and sauteed mushrooms were added to a casserole dish and topped with the sauce. Some grated cheddar cheese went over the sauce and finally 2 slices of buttered rye bread which were processed to crumbs. The casserole went into the oven for about 40 minutes until the crumbs were until golden brown.

Our side dish was a Vinaigrette Salad, which was made with red wine vinegar, olive oil, minced shallot, Dijon mustard, sugar and salt and pepper. This vinaigrette was served over Boston lettuce leaves and sliced radishes.

The casserole was a little heavy on the curry powder which may be because we used Hot Madras Curry Powder which is what we had on hand. The casserole was fine, but I'm not sure I would cook chicken just to make this again.