photo by: Mike Yoder

Chicken divan

Your mother probably made this in the ’70s, and it might have been a dish she considered upscale enough to don her hostess dress and make for company. Chicken divan is a casserole that over the years has taken on many forms (most of which are unacceptable bastardizations that include cans of soup in the ingredient list), but true chicken divan is creamy and delicious because of a mornay sauce, and in my case, the addition of extra cheese “just for fun.”

Mornay is simply bechamel (or “white sauce”) with cheese melted in. For this recipe, I use Gruyere in the mornay and cheddar as the “extra” cheese I stir into the dish.

I will admit to one “cheat” in this recipe. I use Minute Rice, which I never use otherwise, but find that it cooks in the proper time so as not to dry out the dish.

I’m not sure I’d serve this to company, and I certainly won’t be wearing a hostess dress anytime soon, but who am I kidding — my friends are happy to get a hot meal even if it’s just chicken casserole, so maybe I would make it for them. It’s pretty darn delicious, and even the “fancy” (non-soup) version is fairly quick to make.

Chicken Divan
2 cups Minute Rice
2 cups Gruyere mornay (recipe below)
1 bag frozen broccoli florets (you can use fresh but I find the frozen ones cook more nicely in the dish and fresh come out still a bit hard)
1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 large chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

For the mornay sauce:
2 cups heavy cream (or half and half)
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
Healthy pinch of salt
Dash of white pepper

Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan and add the flour. Whisk together to make a bubbly paste. Slowly add the cream (continue whisking constantly), and then add in the cheese and sherry once the cream mixture begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in a large casserole dish, layer in the rice, chicken, cubed cheddar and broccoli. Pour the mornay over everything, stir in the Dijon, and pour chicken stock over the top so there is enough moisture to cook the rice.

Bake in a 350 F oven for 40 minutes, or until the rice is fluffy and cooked through.