Chicken a La King Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs with skin
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat, duck fat, or coconut oil, divided, for frying

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups ½-inch-diced bell peppers (mix of red, green, orange, and/or yellow)
• ½ cup diced yellow onion
• ¼ pound button mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• 1 cup chicken bone broth, plus more if needed
• 4 ounces cream cheese (about ½ cup), softened
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 medium zucchini
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

1. Season the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper. Heat the bacon fat in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for about 8 minutes, until browned on all sides. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook until chicken is done and no longer pink inside, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
While the chicken cooks, make the sauce
2. Heat the butter in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat, whisking occasionally, until it starts to foam and brown specks appear. Lower the heat to medium and add the peppers, onion, and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the broth and cream cheese, then add to the saucepan. (Do not skip whisking first or you will have small bits of cream cheese in the liquid.)
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the yolks, lemon juice, and paprika. Whisk in ½ cup of the sauce from the saucepan, then slowly pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook over very low heat (higher heat will cause the sauce to curdle) until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Remove the skin and chicken meat from the bones and cut the meat and skin into bite-sized pieces. (Save the bones for bone broth; I store bones in the freezer until I’m ready to make broth.) Add the chicken chunks and skin to the sauce, then cook over low heat (do not simmer or the sauce will curdle), stirring occasionally, until the chicken is heated through. Add more broth to thin if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Meanwhile, slice the zucchini into thin “noodles” using a spiral slicer.
7. Spoon the chicken à la king over the zucchini noodles. Garnish with parsley.