Curry Chicken

This is a simple name for a simple yet delicious dinner.

I grew up eating this recipe.  My mom made it for us and we always liked it when she did.

It has chicken, which is fortunate for me because I just bought a ginormous bag of frozen chicken breasts at Sam's right before we accepted an offer on our house.

So now we're moving in just over a month and my freezer is full of chicken.  We will be eating a lot of chicken for the next six weeks.  Come to think of it, I also have a large bag of meatballs.  Guess we'll be eating a lot of spaghetti, too.

You're probably asking yourself, Can't they just move their freezer items when they move? 

The answer is no.  We cannot.  And I realize you weren't really asking that question to begin with.  Because you don't care about what's in my freezer.

So back to Curry Chicken.  It's yummy.  It already has broccoli in it, so it can be a one-pot dinner.  Except that I always serve it with rice or orzo, which actually makes it a two-pot dinner.  But close enough.  Have I mentioned the enormous bag of rice that we have to eat in the next six weeks, too?

Chicken and rice it is.

Boil some chicken breasts in water until they're done.  Three chicken breasts is a good number for this dish.

And steam some frozen chopped broccoli.  Just follow the directions on the package.

While the chicken and broccoli cook, we can make the sauce.  Because the sauce is where it's at.

Put some sour cream and mayo into a bowl.  We're off to a good start, aren't we?

Add a can of cream of chicken soup.  I sometimes use cream of mushroom soup, but since this is my mom's recipe and my mom wouldn't eat a mushroom if her life depended upon it, I'm going to stay true to the recipe and tell you to use cream of chicken instead of cream of fungus.

Add the juice of a lemon.  And curry powder.  A teaspoon of curry is good.  Tasty, but not too overwhelming.  This don't need no salt.  We're moving back to Kentucky and I'm practicing the lingo.  We've been gone from the Bluegrass for eight years and I'm afraid I won't sound like a native when we return.  These are the things that keep me awake at night. 

But do add some pepper.

Dump in a cup of shredded cheese.  Shred it yourself.  It's cheaper.  And it melts better than the pre-shredded package stuff.  I usually use sharp cheddar but Swiss cheese is good too. 

Voila!  The sauce.

When the chicken is done, drain it and chop it into little pieces.  When the broccoli is done, drain it and dump it in with the chicken.

Stir it up.  Grease an 8x8 casserole dish and pour it in.

Bake it at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, or until it's really bubbly around the edges and hot through.

Everything is already cooked so we just need it to get hot, the cheese to melt, and the flavors to combine and become one.

You'll want to put some parmesan cheese on the top before you bake it.

I forgot until I took mine out of the oven and it looked bare on top.

So then I cheesed it and stuck it back in thhe oven for another five minutes to melt the parm.

And then I forgot to take a picture of the finished finished product.

But it was yummy. 

This is very easy to double if you need to serve more than 4-6 people.  This is really good left over, too.

My kids like this.  Yours will too.

Curry Chicken
From the Files of Jeanne Pinkston

3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 10-oz box frozen chopped broccoli, cooked according to package directions and drained
1 10-oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

While the chicken and broccoli cook, stir together all ingredients except for the parmesan cheese.  When the chicken and broccoli are done, chop the chicken and add it with the broccoli to the sauce.

Grease an 8x8 casserole dish.  Pour the mixture into the dish and top with the parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serve with rice or orzo.