Jean's Chicken & Chips Casserole

This is not a healthy recipe. Let's just get that outta the way right up front. This is a comfort food casserole all the way, baby! And it's retro. Like, serve-it-on-melamine-plates-at-the-formica-table retro. With Kool-Aid in jelly jars with cartoon characters printed on them. In my opinion, any recipe that calls for mayonnaise and Lay's potato chips is retro. I'm surprised the hipsters aren't all over this...except there's no quinoa or kale in sight! 

I think the casserole we ate the most frequently growing up was tater tot casserole and I know it's a comfort food for one of my brothers. I mean, you can't go wrong with a ground beef gravy topped with cheddar cheese and tater tots. I don't recall ever eating tuna noodle casserole as a kid and I think it's because my mom grew up eating it and couldn't stomach the thought (pun intended) of eating it ever again. She was the second oldest of six kids, four of which were boys and money was tight, so my grandma made a lot of inexpensive yet filling casseroles. 

After my mom passed away less than a year after my dad died and I was still deep in grief, my mom's best friend, Jean, called me one day and stated she was going to bring me dinner. I don't remember very many things in detail from after my parents' deaths; most of it's a hazy memory. I do remember a handful of comfort meals and this was one of them. Jean brought this casserole over and then whipped up banana pudding for me, the kind with Nilla wafers, and then she just sat and reminisced and cried with me. I've known Jean for 35 years ate this point, virtually all of my life, and it's so comforting to have a tangible link to my childhood and to my mom.

Mmm, delicious! How can you go wrong with a potato chip topping??

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

1 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup plain Lay's potato chips, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8" by 8" baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, celery, almonds, and onion with the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning of necessary. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and top with the cheese and potato chips.

Bake 30 minutes until heated through and the cheese is melted.

Cook's Notes:

1. First things first: I will not give you any substitute ingredients because that's not what this casserole is about. This casserole is all about love and comfort and memories. I wasn't kidding about no quinoa or kale in sight. Maybe some broccoli, though.
2. The recipe doesn't have a high yield, maybe four cups max or four servings. It's super-easy to double or triple, though.
3. You can either poach some chicken breasts and/or thighs to use or feel free to pick up a rotisserie chicken from the market. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before; my local Albertson's occasionally sells packages of shredded chicken from the previous day's unsold rotisserie chickens. Unless raw chicken is on sale, this is a great way to go. It ends up costing about the same about of money per pound plus it cuts out a step; poaching.
4. I like the crunch and bright flavor of celery and I think that it helps balance the heavier flavors from the mayo and cheese in the finished dish. If you despise celery, I suppose you could use broccoli instead. Frozen broccoli is too slimy for me so I recommend using fresh broccoli and steaming it before adding to the chicken mixture.
5. I have a trick for you: after you dice the onion and before you add it to the chicken mixture, place the diced onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak for five minutes and then drain and rinse under more cold water. Blot with paper towels to remove as much water as possible and then proceed with the recipe.
6. Using just mayonnaise as a binder seems weird, I know. Combined with the lemon juice, it works; think of it as a hot chicken salad. Which also sounds weird. But it's delicious.
7. I prefer using sharp cheddar in casseroles and savory baked goods as you're able to taste the cheese while medium or mild cheddars just aren't assertive enough. 
8. I nearly forgot the almonds! I guess you can omit them; I like the crunch and mild flavor they add. Last time I made this, I used dry roasted diced almonds which I bought in the bulk foods section for another recipe. Since they were dry roasted, the almonds supplied a deeper toasty flavor which I think enhanced the casserole.

Serve chicken'n'chips casserole with green bean casserole, iceberg lettuce salads, and banana pudding for a true throwback meal!

Tortellini & Chicken Bake

I've been away too long, my faithful followers! The weekend after Thanksgiving, which was also my birthday, I picked up a nasty case of food poisoning somehow. That laid me low for a few days. Then I had to get a bunch of work done on my car the same week that I needed to move some stuff from one storage place to another. Once that was completed (and thank God for the people who helped me!!), I was able to do a little Christmas shopping for my little nieces and nephews and spend an afternoon with a good friend. And somewhere in there, I picked up a nasty case of bronchitis. Like, it's been nearly three weeks and I still have the occasional coughing fit. In spite of all that, I had a nice Christmas Eve dinner with part of my family; prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and roasted Brussels sprouts with sauteed mushrooms. We had pizza for our sibling get-together several days later; much more casual but just as delicious. Because it's pizza. And pizza is delicious.

That's been my life. I've missed cooking for myself, so I decided that I would make a list of eight different dishes to make over the course of a month, prepare two of them a week, and then blog about them. That's the extent of my New Year's resolutions, by the way. I don't do well with change; I have to ease into change, like introducing a cat to a dog. I also have a huge aversion to going with the flow. It literally makes my skin crawl to do what other people do and I rarely use the word, "literally" unlike Chris Traeger. 

This week so far, I made the following recipe and boy, I wish I had doubled it! It's definitely comfort food and it doesn't take much time to pull together.

Ingredients:

2 cups pre-cooked and shredded chicken

2 cups broccoli

1 package (16 ounces) frozen cheese-filled tortellini

5 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons flour

2 and 1/2 cups chicken broth, warmed

1/2 cup milk, warmed

4 ounces cream cheese

Up to 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside a large baking dish, 9" by 13" at least. 

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, broccoli, and frozen tortellini. Set aside while you're making the sauce. 

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Once it's melted, add the flour and cook for a couple minutes til smooth and lightly browned. Slowly add the warmed chicken broth and warmed milk, whisking constantly to ensure a smooth sauce. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and then stir in the cream cheese. Taste and add salt and pepper according to your taste. Once you have a smooth sauce, gently pour over the chicken, broccoli, and tortellini. Toss gently to coat all ingredients with the sauce and transfer to the baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs, if using, and a sprinkle of Parmesan if you so desire.

Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden brown. 

Cook's Notes:

1. You can totally use precooked, shredded chicken for this dish instead of cooking your own. My Albertson's sells packages of roasted, shredded chicken which they pull off the unsold roasted chickens from the previous day. You can also poach several boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs ahead of time; there are endless possibilities for leftover chicken and it freezes beautifully.
2. I prefer using fresh broccoli rather than frozen. Heck, I prefer fresh vegetables over frozen almost always. It's a texture thing; frozen veggies tend to be mushy. But it's up to you.
3. The original recipe calls for making the roux (the sauce) with mostly milk rather than chicken stock. I switched the proportions and I think it was just right. The most important thing in making the roux is to cook the flour into the butter so you end up with a toasty flavor instead of a raw flour flavor.
4. Cream cheese. The recipe calls for plain cream cheese but I had a partial container of chive cream cheese I needed to use up, so I used that instead. Amazing. It added just enough onion-y flavor without being overpowering. You can boost the flavor by adding garlic and/or onion powder to the roux.
5. When I was at the store buying the ingredients, the frozen cheese tortellini were priced over a dollar more than the frozen cheese ravioli. So I bought the ravioli and used that instead. Use whatever stuffed pasta you prefer. 

I hope you try a new recipe or several new ones this year! I want to inspire you to be more confident in the kitchen and to step away from following recipes to the letter, to make substitutions and to trust your intuition.