CHICKEN ALMONDINE with SHERRY - cold weather food!

     This was the main course at our annual New Year's Day brunch - a delicious creamed chicken with sherry that I first alluded to on a post I did for savory cornmeal waffles.  It goes together quickly (even if you quadruple the recipe as I did) and is made all-the-better with the addition of dry sherry.  As I mentioned in my first post of the New Year, I took the easy way out and used packaged Pepperidge Farm patty shells to fill with the chicken, but my husband's favorite way to eat this dish is with mashed potatoes.  The Savory Cornmeal Waffles would be another great serving suggestion.  We are in the thick of ice-cold, below zero, winter temperatures here in the upper midwest and nothing hits-the-spot better than a comfort food such as this.

                             Chicken Almondine with Sherry
                           adapted from a recipe in the Beaufort Cookbook

• 1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1/3 cup green pepper, chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1  14 3/4-ounce can chicken broth
• 3/4 cup light cream (Half & Half)
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Dash of freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups diced cooked chicken (I usually poach skinless chicken breasts but have also used leftover roasted chicken)
• 3 tablespoons sherry
• toasted sliced almonds

     Sauté peppers and mushrooms in butter 5 minutes.  Add flour and blend.  Add broth, cream, seasonings and chicken, and stir until smooth.  Add sherry.  Serve in patty shells or over mashed potatoes; sprinkle with almonds.