Back To The 60's With "Negresco" !

Howdy there fellas hope 12 recipes for sauces are enough to keep you going for a while. Now it is time for you to cook something a bit more complicated which, funny enough, does have to do with pasta again. This was a dish very much prepared within the foreign community groups in Cairo, Egypt, during the 60's where I grew up. It would always be served in buffet dinners as one of the exquisite dishes which contained mushrooms something not very commonly used in those days. This dish, now, can be the only course served with a fresh, green salad on the side.

You will need:
Serves 4-6
- 1 whole chicken skinned and boiled in at least 2 liters of water with an onion, some celery, salt, pepper, 2 bay leaves and a carrot cut in 3. You should end up with at least 1 1/2  liters of broth.
- 500 gms of tagliatelle (Green or white - your choice)
- 250 gms of canned chopped button mushrooms in their juice, (normal canned mushrooms) drained, freeze the juice for future recipes.
- 6 slices of smoked breakfast bacon cut very small.
- 2 Tbs. of dry white wine.
- 150 gms of grated cheddar, gouda, or emmental cheese ( or a mixture of all three)
- Nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Method:
- Bone the well boiled chicken and cut into small pieces.
- Make a White Sauce: Same way as you would make a Sauce Béchamel but instead of using milk, use the broth from the boiled chicken as follows:
  • Melt butter in sauce pan
  • Add flour to make a white roux
  • Add  the chicken broth slowly while stirring till mixture boils to a rather fluid consistency. You should end up with at least 1.5 liters of sauce.
  • Set aside for later. 
-  In a frying pan, add some butter and the bacon and stir fry till you get that nice aroma of fried bacon.  Add the mushrooms and stir fry for 2 minutes. These canned mushrooms will not lose their liquid. Add the wine and stir fry till all the wine odor disappears.
    -  Boil the tagliatelle to "al dente" and strain.-  Quickly add  half of the tagliatelle to cover the bottom of the baking dish.
    -  Add the mushrooms and bacon and spread evenly.
    -  Add the chicken pieces and spread evenly.
    -  Add half of the grated cheese.
    - Cover with half of the sauce.
    - Cover with the remaining half of the tagliatelle.
    - Add remaining sauce and top with the remaining grated cheese.
    - Add some freshly grated pepper.
    - And finally drop some small pieces of fresh butter before slipping into oven.
    - Bake for 20 minutes in a very hot oven.
    A bit complicated but voila!
    Bon Appétit
    Till tomorrow,
    Stelio

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