Chicken & Rice Bake, a la Raineth
I am on a singular mission to figure out how to cook/bake things in my toaster/convection oven. Some recipes-- well, hmmm. It just may not be possible. Dammit.
Today's Experimental Cooking is based on a basic recipe for baked chicken & rice. It has been modified, of course, because seldom am I content (or using my schmartz) to leave original recipes alone.
For example: I like to use the frozen chicken boobs that come in a bag at my local grocer. However, regular store-bought chicken boobs work just fine-- if I remember to, I'll pan-fry them for a few minutes first, or slice them up into strips. They cook faster & more uniformly that way. I can't stand the texture of many recipes that only call for one cup of water or milk alongside the can of soup. Aaack! The rice just doesn't cook right, and I like my rice nice & creamy. I prefer cream of chicken to cream of mushroom, mostly because I like the taste, & I can add my own mushrooms. I also am one of the rogue impure who add a vegetable such as broccoli or green beans. I also use a lot of Penzey's spices, so get your own (see my link for spices good enough for pirates!) or make do. Anyway.
Since my oven will never hold a 9x13" pan, I use one of those small, square CorningWare glass dishes, greased up with butter Crisco. Have the oven preheated to 350* and use your pan's lid if you have one, otherwise just use tightly-fitted aluminum foil. As always, modify the recipe for your own shites & giggles.
Tally ho, here it goes:
Chicken & Rice, a la Raineth
1 c. uncooked long grain rice
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. water
1/2 c. sliced fresh Portabella mushrooms (that's what I had on hand today) or 1/2 of a can of mushrooms. Heck, add them all.
3/4 c. frozen French cut green beans or other veggies, if you want.
Two shakes of Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning
Two shakes of Penzey's Mural of Flavor seasoning
Two brief shakes of ground sage
Scant pinch of Kosher salt
Three brief shakes of Penzey's Mignonette Pepper
Spanish paprika/Hungarian paprika (to taste, before serving)
Ground Chipotle pepper (to taste, before serving)
4 small boneless, skinless chickie boobs or two larger ones. You can fit in a good 6-8 1" strips.
Scoop out soup into a medium mixing bowl.Stir up the soup a bit so that the lumps aren't so huge. Slowly stir in moo, then water, trying to get out any more big lumps as you do so. And spices, salt & pepper. Poke your finger or lickin' stick into the mixture & taste it. Modify to taste. Add rice & stir well. Add mushrooms, then veggies. Eyeball the mixture-- it shouldn't be overly sloppy, but it shouldn't be so thick that it doesn't move. If it moves like chocolate cake batter, you should have enough liquid. Plop the mixture into prepared baking dish. Gently place chickie boobs on top of rice mixture.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil, toss into preheated oven & bake for 45 minutes. No, you're not done yet. Now is when you check for liquid and chickie done-ness. Stir the mixture up a bit, and don't forget the sides. If it's getting dry, add more milk or water. A quarter cup at a time should work. Re-cover and continue to bake for 20-30 minutes. This is one of those recipes that takes a few peeking-ins. In my pan, with my mini-oven (as it were), it took a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes (with three peek-ins) for the rice to be perfect for me.
As I've type-clacked this post, the dish has cooled a bit. Now I'm ready for a delicious & hot lunch on a blusterous day-- just in time before getting ready to go to work. I'll also have plenty left for a lovely dinner for work, and most likely some leftover rice for tomorrow morning. Ahhh, yumm. I'm off to eat. May your day be lovely.
Cheers & All