Chicken Fricassee

Recipe No. 380 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Meat. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Chicken, New York dressed* — 70 pounds
• or — as needed
• Chicken, full drawn* — 52 pounds
• Flour, sifted — as needed
• Salt — 6 ounces (¼ mess kit cups)
• Pepper — ¾ ounce (3 mess kit spoons)
• Fat (for frying) — as needed
• Water — as needed
• Flour, sifted — as needed
• Milk, evaporated — as needed
• Salt — as needed
• Pepper — as needed

Directions

Key ingredients

Evaporated Milk

1. Clean chicken; cut into suitable servings.
2. Mix flour, salt, and pepper together; roll chicken in flour.
3. Fry until brown. Place in kettle and cover with water. Heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer until tender. Drain and reserve stock.
4. Mix flour and a small amount of stock; mix thoroughly. Add remaining stock slowly. Heat to boiling point; boil 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly.
5. Add milk; continue simmering 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper.
6. Remove meat from chicken bones if cooked whole; cut into chunks. If chicken was disjointed before cooking, bones may be left with meat.
7. Combine meat and gravy; heat to serving temperature.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Chicken, New York dressed — 5 lb 9⅔ oz or — to taste Chicken, full drawn — 4 lb 2½ oz Flour, sifted — to taste Salt — ½ oz Pepper — about ⅓ tsp Fat (for frying) — to taste Water — to taste Flour, sifted — to taste Milk, evaporated — to taste Salt — to taste Pepper — to taste

Stewing hens. Serve very hot over split baking powder biscuits.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 380, Meat. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.