When Is A Chicken Not A Chicken? When it's a City Chicken!

[kevin313]

People in some parts of the US have may not have heard of City Chicken, but in the industrial Midwest and east, you will see this on menus all over the place, especially in Polish restaurants. It's always been popular in Detroit.

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A Frequent Request: City Chicken!

I can't remember how many times people have asked me, "What is city chicken?" If you didn't grow up in the Midwest or eastern part of the c...

www.cavalcadeoffood.blogspot.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

Veal rolled up, coated with crumbs and fried. Also called Mock City Chicken or mock drumsticks. Mom's cookbooks from the 40s have recipes for this.

 

[miele_ge]

veal birds......

<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: medium;">I recall an episode of Bewitched  where Darrin was under one of Endora's spells that made him super cheap.  When he questioned the cost of a business diner that they were hosting, Samantha suggested "Veal Birds" which were fake chicken legs on a stick made from ground up veal.  Anyone else remember that?   </span>
 
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">It also looks a lot like "Speedies" which are big in </span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 37px;">Binghamton</span><span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">, NY which are a lot like the Spedini that my Sicilian friend makes - hers are like what Tomturbomatic described too.</span> </span>
<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: medium;">
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<span style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: medium;">Yours looks better though, Kevin!!</span>

 

[mattl]

Looks good!  My Detroit cousin often talks about "City Chicken", for some reason it never made it up Flint way - at least in our family, but it does look good. 

 

 

Note: your embedded You tube video on your site did not take.  I watched it on you tube - for some reason it always bufffers if I watch it in high res. here...

 

 

 

[petek]

I haven't seen or more likely noticed Fryin Magic... do Meijer or Kroger sell it.. I usually go to Meijer.

 

[danemodsandy]

Hard to Imagine....

....A time when veal was more obtainable and cheaper than chicken. However, scores of vintage cookbooks I've owned and read bear out the fact that such was sometimes the case.

 

[kevin313]

Meijer and Kroger both carry Fryin' Magic (it's usually cheaper at Meijer!)

 

[joeekaitis]

Mom made it all the time when we were kids . . . along with Twice-Baked Potatoes.

 

[nurdlinger]

Growing up in Detroit

All the weddings I went to prior to college were Polish weddings. The menu varied a little, but every one had chicken soup, mashed potatoes, kielbasa, and city chicken as constants. Held in halls in the rear of commercial buildings, where the front was a flower shop or something like that. What terrific memories.

 

[petek]

I mentioned it to my bud after the gym this morning and he'd never heard of city chicken but when I described it he called it paticzki (sp). Said his mom made it quite often and then we looked in the Sarnia polish ladies cookbook and there it was.. city chicken. They didn't have any sauce at all in the baking but he said his mom always covered it in mushroom soup like you do. Maybe it just got omitted by mistake.

I'm thinking you could "bake" it on low in the slow-cooker for 4-6 hours ?

 

[firedome]

That's Spiedies...

not Speedies... from good ol' Lupo's Char Pit, started by John Lupo around 1946... we even have "SpiedieFest" every summer, the biggest event of the year! Binghamton has also been called the Pierogie Capital of the US.

Will have to give City Chiken a try!

 

[xraytech]

My mother used to make city chicken, I don't remember hers being good, but yours looks like its worth revisiting.

As for Binghamton being called pierogi capital is odd, as here in Pittsburgh we eat more pierogi per capita than anywhere else in the USA

 

[jeffg]

My mom had a dish she called "veal cutlets". It was pounded very thin, coated with breadcrumbs/egg mixture and then pan fried. It was one of my favorite dishes as a kid. The usual side dishes were au gratin potatoes and green beans for some reason.

 

[tomturbomatic]

A friend used to make very good veal picata with lemon slices and a restaurant we used to go to in Atlanta had very good veal marsala.

The unrolled version of city chicken was wienerschnitzel.

 

[applianceguy47]

I'm Vegan,

Alec Baldwin explains.

Where is your Ebola and Salmonella coming from today?

ah, No. Yours ISN'T coming from "the better" farm, down the road. Eat UP ! Yummy!

 

[rp2813]

Now that my eyes are done rolling . . .

A friend who grew up in Binghamton returned from a visit and brought me a bottle of Spiedie sauce.  I haven't opened it because I didn't know what to use it on.  Now at least I have an idea.

 

As for claims about being the capital of this or that, usually they're just that -- claims.  My own town officially calls itself "The Capital of Silicon Valley" when in reality, it's more like Silicon Valley's bedroom -- and sadly, not in the context that would suggest it's Mecca for area swingers.

 

[58limited]

That looks awesome! I'm going to make this tonight. Very similar to how I make smothered porkchops, except I use onions in that along with the Cream of Mushroom.

 

[applianceguy47]

Beek-to-Hind feathers cooking.

Interesting article. At least it's not wasteful.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/06/nose-to-tail-dining-becomes-increasingly-trendy/

 

[petek]

Erik.... Could you please refrain from shitting in someone elses thread. Create your own thread if it's that important to you