City Chicken With Cream Of Mushroom Soup

City Chicken with Cream of Mushroom Soup is something I could easily eat every day. I love the savory nature of the dish, and the earthiness of it. Of course, this recipe is way easier than any “real” chicken and mushroom soup recipe out there, but that’s part of its appeal.

If you like delicious recipes that are easy to create, then you can’t go wrong with this one. You’ll be able to wow your friends and family in no time and they will have no idea how simple it is to make.

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City Chicken

City Chicken” is a bit of a misnomer because there is no chicken in this meal despite the name. Pork and veal cubes alternately threaded on a wooden skewer, breaded, browned in the fryer, and finished in the oven make up this beloved comfort food in the Coal Region.

Another variation, which I adored as a child, utilizes equal amounts of ground veal and pork, but my father insisted that the REAL city chicken should be made with the chunks of meat.

Top of the comfort food list

City chicken is so widely consumed in the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania that caterers frequently offer it as a protein option when choosing your menu for an event. You may find the meat chunks or the mixed ground version already packaged for you, together with the skewers, in many meat sections of grocery stores or butcher shops here!

The midwest, western Pennsylvania, and regions with sizable Polish-American populations are other regions where city chicken can be found. But we value fine city chicken highly here in the Coal Region!

Getting his fill

In the 1960s and 1970s, my family frequently found itself attending weddings and banquets at Hillcrest Hall in Minersville (Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania).

My father would be so enthusiastic to attend an event there but would act cold at other such social gatherings. He eventually confessed, somewhat sheepishly, that he enjoyed going to any Hillcrest establishment since they might be serving their take on city chicken as part of the menu. My father was a true expert in city chicken.

And they called it “city chicken”

An overview of the dish’s and the name’s past: In the Great Depression, chicken cost more than pig. As a result, chicken was “passed off” as pork and veal. When breaded and cooked, the servings of pork and veal that are threaded alternately onto a wooden skewer resemble chicken drumsticks.

It’s all about how you like it

Depending on where you are from, some cooks might use only pork, while others might even incorporate beef cubes. While others bake the meat skewers with a can of cream of mushroom soup on top, I still prepare mine the way my mother did: I brown the meat in a pan before placing it on a rack with some liquid underneath to assist the meats tenderize while they bake. Both approaches are provided in my recipe for your convenience.

Nothing says “home” to me like this Coalcracker comfort meal, and I still adore city chicken.

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City Chicken

Pork and veal cubes are threaded onto skewers that resemble chicken drumsticks and then cooked before being completed in the oven to create this comfort cuisine from the coal region. made well-known during a time when chicken was more difficult to come by and more expensive than pig.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound pork
1/2 pound veal
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
Flour (for dredging)
Dried bread crumbs (seasoned if you want with salt, pepper, seasoning salt) OR add salt/pepper to taste when finishing.
1 cup water or milk – if NOT using the “Sauce” baking method below)

OPTIONAL: Sauce

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350F.
Veal and pork may need to be cut into 1-inch pieces. Pork and veal slices should be alternately threaded onto bamboo or wooden skewers. (Approximately 4 per skewer)
Then, after dipping the skewered meat in the egg wash and shaking off the excess flour, roll it in the bread crumbs to cover it. Wait five minutes for the “crust” to form.
In a frying pan with 1/4 inch oil, saute until browned. Just evenly brown everything, and the oven will handle the rest of the cooking.
baking sans sauce
In a shallow pan, set a baking rack. Add the 1 cup of water or milk to the pan and place the browned skewers on the baking rack inside.
Bake for 50 to 1 hour, or until the foil is tightly sealed, until the food is nicely soft.
with sauce when baking
Put the baking pan immediately on the skewers of browned meat (without the rack). Pour over the meat a mixture of the milk, water, and mushroom soup.
Bake pan for about an hour with foil covering. For the final 10 minutes, remove the foil.

CITY CHICKEN {MOCK CHICKEN DISH}

The dish we’re making today may be called chicken, but it’s not truly chicken. The “fake chicken entrée” from City Chicken is actually pork. I looked into how the city chicken originated and found out that since it was against the law to keep chickens in the city in Germany in the 1700s, cheap chops of pork were substituted for chicken. Because pig was less expensive than chicken during the Depression, a meal comparable to imitation chicken also gained popularity. This dish is available in many regional varieties around the United States, and according to my research, the version served today is the “Cleveland variety.”

My excellent friend Tina at Mommy’s Kitchen is where I discovered and modified this recipe.

I adore Tina dearly and think she makes the best meals.

I swear I might have been a Southerner in a previous life!

With her, I truly feel at home.

I adore you girl, but I just wish we could see one other more frequently.

Because my husband typically doesn’t like pork, I decided to try this recipe on him.

I was able to tell him that we were having City Chicken when he inquired about dinner.

He realized it was pork after tasting it, so I didn’t mislead him.

He did, however, enjoy it.

It was fun for the entire family.

If it comes with mashed potatoes and gravy, I usually can’t lose!

city chicken

INGREDIENTS

SCALE1x2x3x

2 lbs. boneless sirloin pork chops, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup flour
pepper to taste
dash of garlic powder
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
cooked rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes to serve over

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the flour, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl.
To the flour mixture, add the pork. Flour each piece thoroughly. Shake off extra material.
Butter and oil are heated in a big skillet. When the meat is all done and browned, add it and continue cooking. Get rid of any extra fat.
The pork should be covered with the dry onion soup. The broth, water, and bay leaf are then added. Stir it, then bring it to a simmer.
40 minutes of simmering under cover. Serve after removing the bay leaf. If the gravy isn’t thick enough, whisk together 1–2 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour with 1–2 tablespoons water and add it to the gravy while stirring.

Southern-Style Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

My spouse experiences an uncontrollable need for succulent chicken slathered in a flavorful mushroom sauce mixed with bright lemon juice and a dash of smooth wine every two weeks. The best comfort food is Southern-Style Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

It is a go-to weekday meal at our house because it is simple to make and cooks in a short amount of time. For a sophisticated finishing touch, sprinkle on some fresh herbs. Tarragon is my personal favorite, but sage, thyme, parsley, or basil are equally delicious. I have yet to prepare this for anyone who does not instantly request the recipe and regularly prepare it themselves.

This dish is a modified version of one I received from my sister-in-law in Monroe, a little community in north Louisiana. The differences between North and South Louisiana are similar to those between England and the rest of Europe. Cajun and Creole people live in south Louisiana. You’re heading for the traditional South after you take I-10 north of Baton Rouge (think Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas). The contrast is strikingly different!

A traditional Southern recipe that has been around for years is Southern-Style Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce. Most likely, your mother or grandma prepared this dish. The improved recipe is this one, which is tastier, fresher, and slightly lighter. We were unable to omit a hidden component. A can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup is right here!

There are basically three simple steps to making our Southern-Style Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce:

Step 1: Browning the Chicken

The chicken should be salted and peppered before being browned on all sides in a large skillet or Dutch oven.

Prepare the Base in Step 2

Mix the soup, half-and-half, chicken stock, and sherry in a big bowl while the chicken is browning. Half and half and any white wine can be substituted for the sherry, as well as whole or low-fat milk.

Let it simmer in Step 3

Add the mixture to the skillet or Dutch oven once the chicken has browned, then top with sliced mushrooms. Cook for an additional 40–45 minutes over medium-low heat with a partial cover, adding the juice of a small lemon halfway through.

City Chicken With Cream Of Mushroom Soup