Flavors of Kentucky

Popular dish of uncertain origin takes time but not technique to make

Several months ago, Sally Arias called to ask whether I was interested in looking at an old cookbook collection that belonged to her late mother. Arias gave me her mother’s box of handwritten recipes and newspaper clippings.
The box’s contents were better than any cookbook.
Arias’ mother, Kathryn Rogers of Evanston, Ill., must have loved crabmeat dishes and chicken tetrazzini. She had dozens of recipes for both.
When the January issue of Southern Living featured comfort food, I was reminded of those recipes for chicken tetrazzini.
Even though a few of the recipes had been streamlined by using cream of mushroom soup instead of making a sauce from scratch, the dish still takes a while to make.
Dozens of Rogers’ recipes were clipped from The Chicago Tribune and women’s magazines, but the majority were typed or hand written by her friends. The recipes for chicken tetrazzini were similar - cooked chicken (or turkey) combined with mushrooms, a cream sauce and spaghetti. Some had a touch of sherry added, others called for pimientos instead of peas, and the cheese was American, Cheddar or Parmesan. Those that called for a cream soup used mushroom or celery, with sour cream added.
Just like fashions, cooking styles come and go.
Chicken tetrazzini was one of the first dishes chef Susan Licholat learned to cook.
“It’s an older recipe, but I was surprised when I looked at it again. It’s valid for today’s cooking,” she said. The chef at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Licholat said she would rate the dish as moderately easy.
“It’s not super easy, but it doesn’t require any technique,” she said.
Like many recipes, chicken tetrazzini has a rich history. In Guidelines, a newsletter for San Francisco City Guides, Susan Saperstein said chicken tetrazzini was named for famed Italian opera soprano Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1941). She was a world-renowned star who was a favorite of San Francisco audiences.
Chefs often named dishes for prestigious patrons of their restaurants, and one theory is that the chef at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York created the dish to honor Tetrazzini’s January 1908 New York debut singing Violetta in La Traviata.
A few historians claim that master French chef George Auguste Escoffier invented chicken tetrazzini, but it is not mentioned in his cookbooks, Saperstein said.
James Beard supported San Francisco’s claim to the recipe. He thought the dish was created at the Palace by chef Ernest Arbogast. It is possible, Saperstein wrote, that Arbogast created chicken tetrazzini in 1904 when Tetrazzini sang in San Francisco and was featured in daily articles in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Decades later, the dish makes an interesting story as well as a great home-cooked meal.

On the whole, cooking a chicken is easy and quick

from the supermarket makes a quick meal and often is cheaper than cooking one at home. But when raw whole chickens are on sale at the supermarket, buy several to put in the freezer. Then you can use the meat for a variety of dishes, including chicken tetrazzini.
Here are roasting tips from Bon Appetit.
Roasting a whole chicken takes at least 50 minutes. If you are cooking with a specific recipe, follow the time and temperature specifications.
It’s a good idea to have a roasting pan and rack so heat circulates evenly. If you don’t have these, you can use a heavy rimmed baking sheet, also called a baker’s half-sheet.
Rinse the chicken and dry it thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels.
You can do a number of things to add flavor. Try rubbing herbs and olive oil in the cavity and on the outside. To add flavor under the skin, find an area on the side of the breast where the skin can be lifted easily to create a space. Slide two to three fingertips between the chicken breast skin and meat, and move from side to side to loosen the skin (it stretches easily, but be careful to move slowly to prevent tears); put butter, herbs or lemon slices under the skin. Or you can stuff the cavity with any combination of spices, herb sprigs, garlic cloves (slightly smashed to release flavor), and lemon quarters.
Some cooks prefer to truss a raw chicken before cooking. Tie it with kitchen twine to bring the legs together and secure a compact shape and even cooking. Trussing makes the chicken look neater, but it isn’t necessary.
Chicken breasts cook faster than the dark meat of the thighs. To slow them down, try this trick: Make a 2-layer sheet of foil into the shape of a trapezoid (like a triangle but with the top point cut off). Butter one side of the foil and use it to cover the breasts for the first 15 minutes of cooking.
When the meat is pierced with a fork, the juices should run clear. The best way to know when the chicken is finished is with an instant-read thermometer; it should read 170 degrees when stuck into the thickest part of the thigh.
Ideally, you want to carve on a cutting board with a channel to catch juices.
Put a long fork into the cavity to hold the chicken steady. Slice through the skin that connects the thigh and breast, then cut down as far as you can, pushing the thigh away with the side of the knife. Look for the joint where the thigh connects to the backbone. The key is to cut through the place where those joints meet, not through the bone. Once you have cut the thigh away from the body, you can cut the drumstick away from the thigh. Again, try to cut where the joints meet. Repeat on the other side.
To remove a wing, lift it away from the body and slice where the wing naturally pulls away from the body. Once you have found the joint, try to cut where it meats the backbone. Poultry shears can sometimes be useful. Repeat on the other wing.
To cut breast meat away from the bone, slide your knife along the side of the breast bone as close as possible to the bone, and push the meat away with the side of your knife. Repeat on the other side.
Safe handling tips
These tips for handling chicken safely are from the National Chicken Council.
Refrigerate raw chicken promptly. Never leave it on the countertop at room temperature.
Packaged fresh chicken can be refrigerated in original wrappings in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
Freeze uncooked chicken if it is not to be used within two days.
If properly packaged, frozen chicken will maintain top quality in a home freezer for as long as one year.
Thaw chicken in the refrigerator - not on the countertop - or in cold water. It takes about 24 hours to thaw a 4-pound chicken in the refrigerator. Cut-up parts take three to nine hours. To thaw in cold water, place the chicken in its original wrap or watertight plastic bag in cold water. Change water often. It takes about 2 hours to thaw a whole chicken.
For quick thawing of raw or cooked chicken, use the microwave. Thawing time will vary.
Always wash hands, countertops, cutting boards, knives and other utensils used in preparing raw chicken with soapy water before they come in contact with other raw or cooked foods.
Refrigerate chicken immediately upon arriving home.
Never leave cooked chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If not eaten immediately, cooked chicken should be kept hot or refrigerated.
Cooked, cut-up chicken is at its best refrigerated for no longer than two days - whole cooked chicken, an additional day.
If leftovers are to be reheated, cover to retain moisture and to ensure that chicken is heated all the way through.
If you’re transporting cooked chicken, put it in an insulated container or ice chest until ready to eat. Keep below 40 degrees or above 140 degrees.