I don't know who Leslie is but bless her. This is my favorite, family and friends too, casserole. It is my ultimate comfort food. This recipe is great for a pot luck or freezer meals. Depending on your size of family you can get 2-4 dishes out of this. We are a family of 3 so I could put this in 4 and have it be plenty. If we're really hungry then 3 is also great.
I just have to say real quick, I'm sorry I haven't been blogging. My mind has been racing, evidently for no reason. It's the first year of kindergarten for my kiddo this year. So I have been acting like a crazy women. Plus my husband has committed to a couple of huge events and we had a friend from CA stay with us. So it's been crazy all around.
I really like that we have started our cooking from our cookbooks. Today's recipe is my most used recipe from Southern Living, Comfort Foods.
Like I said this makes quite a bit. You can scale it down if you need to. This really does freeze well. I prepped a little. This recipe is forgiving though. You can prep the beginning and then prep as you go.
You will need a big baking dish or 2 - 9 by 13's. I was also just thinking if you wanted, you can throw this in the slow cooker. The ingredients are all ready cooked it just needs to reheat. Preheat your oven, if cooking right away, 350 degrees Fahrenheit. A family size skillet or a smaller skillet and big bowl to mix the ingredients in. I forgot how much it makes so I needed a bowl to mix everything.
Ingredients
2 - 6.2oz fast cooking long grain and wild rice mix
1/4 cup butter
2 medium onions, diced
4 celery sticks, sliced
2 - 8 oz cans sliced water chestnuts, drained
5 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 cups shredded cheese, divided (16oz)
2 cans of cream of mushroom (if you have time make your own it's worth it)
1 cup milk
1 16oz sour cream
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 cups bread crumbs
2.25 oz sliced almonds
Prepare rice as instructed in a medium pan. Meanwhile in a large skilled melt butter, sauté onions and celery. Add water chestnuts, chicken, 3 cups cheese, cream of mushroom, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir and remove from heat. Pour into pan(s) when ready top with bread crumbs bake for 35 minutes or until bubbly. Top with almonds and the remainder of cheese and let bake for 5 minutes. To tell you the truth I have combined the crumbs, cheese and almonds altogether and baked the whole thing. I actually think it tast better this way. I have talked about my dislike of bread crumbs before so this mixture helps.
If your wondering why my dish looks so small I just baked off a little for Xander and me for lunch. The rest I'm keeping for a potluck this weekend. The more this dish sits the better.
Also like I said I've been slacking so there will be another post later today and 2 more on Monday.
I hope you like it as much as we did.
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