Cook’s notes
To make sure that your that chicken Béchamel is tasty all the way from the topping to the sauce to the innermost part of the meat, season the dish during every stage of cooking. That means:
- Season the chicken ahead and leave overnight to marinate;
- Season the Béchamel sauce well; and
- Season the vegetables during sauteeing.
For best results, choose chicken thighs that are roughly the same size. Do the same if cooking the dish with other chicken parts like drumsticks or wings. Same size means they will cook evenly.
Chicken Béchamel
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 kilogram chicken thighs (2.2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning (we make our own but you can use store-bought)
- 2 cups cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 bell pepper diced
- ½ cup sweet peas
- salt
- pepper
Béchamel sauce
- ⅓ cup butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk fullfat milk was used here
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg
To bake
- 3 to 4 cups Béchamel sauce
- 125 grams shredded cheese
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Wipe the chicken thighs dry with a kitchen towel.
- Place the chicken thighs in a bowl, add the lemon pepper seasoning and toss thoroughly.
- Transfer the chicken to a covered container and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Cook the Béchamel sauce
- In a saucepan, melt the butter.
- Add the flour, all at once.
- Stir the butter and flour mixture until smooth.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for five minutes to make a blonde roux.
- Pour the milk in a thin stream, mixing as you pour (don’t worry if the mixture turns out something like mashed potato at this point).
- Keep pouring the milk, and stirring, until all the milk has been fully incorpotated.
- Season the Béchamel sauce with salt and pepper.
- Stir in a pinch of grated nutmeg.
Brown the chicken
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Heat the cooking oil in a pan.
- Brown the chicken thighs in hot oil, in batches if your frying pan is not very large, flipping them over for even coloring.
Assemble the chicken Bechamel
- In an oven-safe frying pan, melt the butter.
- Saute the onion until softened.
- Add the bell pepper and peas. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the vegetables for half a minute.
- Stir the Béchamel sauce into the vegetables.
- Arrange the browned chicken thighs on the Béchamel sauce.
Bake and broil the chicken Béchamel
- Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. The chicken should be cooked through at this point.
- Take the pan out of the oven.
- Turn up the heat to 400F and turn on the TOP heat.
- Place a mound of shredded cheese on top of each chicken.
- Put the chicken back in the oven and cook until the cheese is browned and lightly crisp.
- Optionally, sprinkle snipped greens (scallions or parsley) over the chicken Béchamel before serving.
White beef stew