On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 07:44:51 -0500, Michael Horowitz
> wrote:

>I have some boiled chicken (remains of making soup) and wish to serve
>it over rice. Previous posting about gravies and sauces points out I
>can contrast the meat with the sauce; since this is rice and boiled
>chicken pieces, it seems a rich sauce would be more appropriate than
>say a bechamel (sp?)

Chicken left over from soup-making has most of the flavor extracted
already. I quite like it for a light chicken salad, or as the meat
thing in something like vibrantly spiced taco/enchilada filling.
>
>I have some bacon grease (blush) stored away for my Lousiana moments,
>and it seemed to me that if I was thinking rich, the flavor of the
>grease would be a good start. So I started with a roux, brought to a
>rich choc. color. Then I add a can of beef broth

Well, I'm not a haute cuisine master, nor do I play one on TV, but a
combo of washed out chicken, pork fat, and beef broth sounds...a
little odd.

>I'm trying to transition from a white-knuckled dependence
>on recipies to a more logical approach to cooking.

If recipes are still white-knuckle, keep practicing with them until
you're comfortable. Gifted and experienced cooks can make wonderful
food 'off the cuff'. The rest of us eventually learn that we don't
have to measure "1/2 cup chopped onion," but the difference between
2Tblsp of sherry and a good slosh is worth paying attention to.

Your bland chicken? Over rice? There are a million recipes(!) that
begin with X cups of diced, cooked chicken. Diced, sauted veg usually
come into the equation somewhere. The remedy isn't to add more pepper
to a sauce, but to have some idea of what you have in mind.