City Chicken Recipe
Behold. The chicken which is not chicken. It’s beef. It’s pork. It’s metropolitan. It’s arguably a drumstick.
This rustbelt, Polish-American classic is *absolutely* delicious comfort food. Each bite is exciting, as you work your way through juicy pieces of beef or pork (but never chicken.)
Thanks to the family of Grandma Amelia Machingo for this tasty recipe.
Click here to read more about the life of Amelia Machingo
City Chicken Recipe
Skewers of beef, pork and veal, bread, fried and served with gravy. This rustbelt, Polish-American classic only contains chicken in the name. Perfect comfort food for Sunday dinner. This recipe comes from the family of Amelia Machingo, beloved grandmother and excellent cook, specializing in American and Eastern European dishes.
Equipment
- 6" wooden skewers
- 10-12" wide, heavy-bottomed pan for frying
- Large casserole dish
Ingredients
For City Chicken skewers
- 1 lb beef, 1" thick (sirloin or eye of round works well)
- 1 lb pork, 1" thick (I recommend using pork chop)
- 1 lb veal, 1" thick
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup frying oil (vegetable or canola works fine)
For gravy
- 1 TBSP butter
- 2 T flour
- 1 cup beef stock, or water (more might be needed to achieve desired thickness)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Make City Chicken skewers
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut each meat into 1" thick cubes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Insert skewers into center of cubes of meat, alternating between beef, pork and veal. Each skewer should contain 5 to 6 pieces of meat.
- Place flour, eggs and bread crumbs into separate, shallow dishes, wide enough to fit skewers.
- Working one-by-one, dredge each skewer in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Once breaded, you can attempt to mold each skewer into a chicken drumstick shape.
- Heat oil in frying pan to 350 degrees. Working in batches, brown each side of skewers. Transfer skewers to casserole pan once browned. Reserve 1 TBSP of drippings in pan for gravy.
- Once all skewers are browned and in casserole pan, bake skewers in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. If using a thermometer, internal temperature should be about 160 degrees, to be safe. If you like your meat a bit more rare, cook slightly less. If you used a slightly tougher cut of meat, it might take a little longer in the oven to get tender. I found that my meat was thoroughly cooked, but stayed juicy and tender regardless.
Make gravy
- In pan you used to fry the skewers, ensure that you've reserved 1 TBSP of fat. Add to that 1 TBSP of butter. Allow to melt.
- Add flour to make a roux. Using rubber spatula, allow to cook for 2 minutes, stirring the whole time.
- Switch to a wire whisk, then slowly add beef stock or water to roux. Stir constantly to avoid getting lumps. Allow to simmer gently for a few minutes. Taste, season with salt and pepper, then keep warm until skewers are finished.
- Once skewers are done, serve immediately with a healthy amount of gravy.