How to Cook Quick & Easy Chicken Fillet in Gravy

Quick & Easy Chicken Fillet in Gravy

This recipe is really so simple that my younger daughter first cooked it when she was only eight. It’s our go-to comfort food for lazy Sundays and movie nights. But it’s such a versatile recipe that you can easily dress it up for a romantic dinner-for-two or make a bigger batch by multiplying the recipe ingredients for a festive family get-together. Mostly it takes time sitting in the marinade, otherwise it requires minimum effort and hands-on time to cook it.

But What Is Gravy?

In the Western cuisine the earliest reference to gravy is from ‘The Forme of Cury’  (Method of Cooking) – one of the oldest known English cookbook. It’s actually a 14th century collection of Medieval recipes. That book describes gravy as a sauce or topping made from the juices or drippings of meat that run during the cooking process and are thickened with corn starch for a creamy texture. Further color maybe added to gravy with the use of spices and gravy salt.

Gravy Variations

• The classic Brown gravy is an essential part of the Sunday Roast meal in the United Kingdom and Irish cuisines. They also enjoy gravy with pies and chips. There, gravy is strictly meat-based sauce and the word doesn’t apply to other thickened sauces.
• White gravy or Sawmill gravy is a roux based sauce made from using fats from sausage combined with flour and milk or cream. This gravy was born out of the American Revolutionary war and was considered food of the poor when paired with biscuit. Because of it’s pleasant taste, it spread far and wide soon and is now considered a Southern classic.
• The farming families of the South also contributed Egg gravy, which is egg stirred into a roux based sauce and served for breakfast with coffee.
• Red gravy is a slow-cooked tomato sauce, popular in Italian American communities. There are many variations of red gravy in the cuisines of the Indian sub-continent as well which are mostly onion and tomato based curries. And then there is the delicious fusion of Indo-Chinese style gravies – a mix of broth, soy sauce and corn starch.
• Mushroom and Vegetable Gravies use mushroom and vegetable stock for depth and flavor, alongside roux, black pepper and herbs. There are even commercially produced instant gravy cubes and granules easily available now. As are ready to heat and eat gravies in tins and cans. But really nothing matches the rich flavor of gravy made at home with your personal preferences in mind.

My Quick & Easy Chicken Fillet in Gravy

Keeping in mind, all the above mentioned variations, I’ve learnt through the years the basic purpose of gravy. I think gravy provides enhanced flavor tenderness and moisture to the food it is served with. It also enhances the appearance of the food and makes it look more appealing. With these aims and my own convenience in mind, I’ve created this gravy recipe that uses mostly bottled sauces, milk and corn starch. And comes together in minutes. Imagine  lonely, shriveled chicken fillet in a plate vs one doused in glossy and warm gravy. Now let’s get cooking!