Friday, November 18, 2011

The good, the bad, & the cheesy.

Tonight I made my own version of Broccoli-Chicken Casserole from the girls over at Gooseberry Patch . My version differs from theirs, and although it was good, there are definitely changes I'd make for next time. First, let me post my recipe/directions for my version of the casserole. 

 Broccoli-Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 1/2 cans of Milk (using the empty soup can)
6 oz. Chicken stuffing mix
2 Celery stalks (which came to 1 1/2 cups)
6 Mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
10 oz Frozen Broccoli (thawed)
2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed (which came to 3 cups) 
16 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded 

 Directions:
 Whisk together mushroom soup and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients (except the cheese) and mix well. Pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.
Bake (uncovered) in a preheated oven at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on the cheese. 
Put it back into the oven for 5 minutes. Turn broil on HIGH and let the top get bubbly and brown (about another 5 minutes). Do not leave the oven since the browning process happens rather quickly. You don't want to burn the cheese, just deliciously brown it. :)
Take it out of the oven and serve immediately. I paired this with a fresh salad topped with a Balsamic Vinegarette and it was excellent!


**NOTES:
- Next time I make a casserole like this I wouldn't add the celery - it just didn't taste right in there. The whole dish was also missing a little salt and pepper, so I'd add some while adding everything else. I'd probably add more stuffing since the actual recipe called for 16oz and I used 6oz. That's only because I assumed "16oz" was a typo (since 1 whole box of stuffing mix only said it was 6oz... I still say it has to be a typo). Also, I probably wouldn't add 1 whole pound of cheese to the top of this. I grated an entire 16oz block of cheese with my Salad Shooter and didn't feel like bagging the rest, so I dumped the whole bowl of cheese on top of the casserole. It was delicious, it wasn't necessary though. Next time (just to at least save money) I'll probably use half a pound of shredded cheese (instead of the whole pound). The whole casserole flavor was missing a little "zing" to it, so next time I'll probably add something like honey-mustard somewhere in the recipe. One more thing... the stuffing inside the casserole was really soggy so next time if I want some stuffing with this dish I'll just make some on the stove.

- For the chicken breast in this recipe I "butterflied" 2 chicken breasts and placed in a medium-size glass baking dish. I added a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper, and Emeril's Essence. I baked it at 375° for 27 minutes and it was done (since I butterflied them into thinner pieces) and I let them cool a little while I prepped all the other stuff. I then cut the pieces into bite-size cubes. The 2 breasts came out to be 3 cups of cubed chicken; just what the recipe called for.

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