Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan was the signature dish of the Divan Parisienne, a restaurant in New York in the 1950s.  My mother used to make this from scratch; this was one of her favorite leftover chicken recipes.  But somewhere along the line in the 60s or 70s, she threw out her old recipe in favor of a “much easier” version that relied on mayonnaise and cream of chicken soup.  Of course, it was delicious too, but now that we’re worried about things like salt and fat, and processed foods, recipes like that have to be used pretty judiciously, if at all.  So I pulled out my mother’s original recipe and made it, and wow, was it good.  The fat and the salt haven’t been eliminated, but it’s all made from scratch and well worth the trouble and the calories.   If you’re in a time squeeze, you can make this with a rotisserie chicken.

Chicken Divan

Serves 6

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:    30 minutes
Total Time:    1 hour

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into 5-inch spears (I peel the ends a little so they won’t be tough)
4 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons dry Sherry (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut or shredded into chunks (or the meat from 1 rotisserie chicken)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Steam the broccoli for about 8 minutes, or until it is tender, and drain it well.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat; add the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until the mixture is a golden brown.  Add the chicken broth and continue to stir until the mixture comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the cream until it

holds stiff peaks.  Stir the cream, the sherry (if using), the lemon juice and ½ cup of the Parmesan into the sauce.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

In a 2-quart casserole dish, arrange the broccoli around the edges, stems pointed toward the middle of the dish.  Arrange the chicken on the broccoli.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken (I like to leave the floret part of the broccoli uncovered) and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of Parmesan cheese over the sauce.  Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese and sauce are golden and bubbly, about 20 to 30 minutes.