Chicken a la King

One of my dad's favorite dinners was chicken a la king, aka, creamed chicken with peas and pimentos in the cream sauce.

I haven't made this dish for at least 40 years.  It wasn't one of Alan's favorites back then, but since he is enjoying chipped beef (in cream sauce) on toast, I thought I'd try the dish again.

We probably had this particular dish at least once a month -- none of the children, except for me, particularly liked the dish, but then I liked just about everything my mom cooked (except cow's tongue).
Instead of pouring it over toast, she would make biscuits and we would pour it over biscuits, sort of like biscuits and gravy, except the gravy was loaded with chicken instead of sausage.

It's a very easy dish to make and I have modified it, using half and half instead of the creamy, whole milk, my mom used.  I think our half and half is akin to the milk I had as a child, since the cream rose to the top of the bottle, and mom would shake it into the milk which settled to the bottom of the bottle. 

2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
1/2 chicken boiled and removed from the bones
1/2 cup peas
2 pimentos (jarred) cut up into very small pieces
butter and flour to thicken the milk
salt and pepper to taste

Take 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons of flour -- melting the butter and putting the flour into the melted butter, stirring until the flour is well mixed into the butter.  Slowly add the 1/2 and 1/2, whisking lightly until it thickens -- this should be done over a medium heat.  After the milk  (1/2 and 1/2) is thickened, add the chicken which you have shredded after removing from the bones, the peas and the pimento to heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.  That's it.

Pour over biscuits or toast or puff pastry.  Your choice.

ttfn