updated CHICKEN CONTINENTAL

 

Chicken Continental as a recipe appears to be a collaboration from Campbell’s soup and Minute Rice during the 1960’s, an era of combining ‘prepared’ foods to form casseroles as your main meal.  Casseroles as a whole obviously go back MUCH further, but were usually made with scratch ingredients or bits of leftovers. I have found cookbooks on pinterest and google with the recipes, but I have grams old card with the Campbell’s label recipe on one side and a portion of a Minute Rice box cut out on the other.

Either way, I wanted to bring the recipe into the 21st century with using boneless, skinless chicken and FRESHer ingredients to spice it up a bit while maintaining the integrity of the original flavor base of the recipe.

updated CHICKEN CONTINENTAL
4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup WONDRA flour
2-3 bacon slices, cooked crisp, drippings reserved
8 ounces FRESH sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 stalk celery, strings removed, diced
2 tablespoons FRESH chopped thyme
2 tablespoons FRESH chopped Parsley
1 1/2 cups Minute Rice (uncooked)
1 can Campbell’s Tomato soup
1 cup chicken broth
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Generously season chicken breasts with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
• Dredge chicken breasts in flour and set aside.

• Add  1 tablespoon of butter and oil to the bacon drippings in a large skillet.
• Add celery and onions, sauteing lightly until softened.
• Add mushrooms, thyme and parsley, cooking a couple minutes more until mushrooms begin to caramelize.
• Add chicken broth and soup, blending together and bring to a boil.
• Pour all but 1/2 cup into a large mixing bowl and stir in rice. Cover with a plate and set aside.
• Return skillet to stove and add last tablespoon of butter to melt.
• Add chicken pieces and sear 2-3 minutes per side.
• Arrange rice mixture into the bottom of a prepared baking dish.
• Nestle chicken breasts into rice.
• Top with remaining sauce.
• Cover and bake 20 minutes until chicken is completely cooked through.

NOTE:  Hubby hates mushrooms, but I love them so I makes them “separately” and add them to just mine.

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI CASSEROLE

As you know I LOVE antique recipes! I am ALWAYS on the prowl for antique recipe boxes IF they are FULL of actual recipes, well, and occasionally if they aren’t.

On our anniversary amid the pandemic we HAD to get out for a bit and went for lunch and decided antiquing was a safe excursion.  We had a GREAT time at the few places that were actually open.  But, it was in the last store that hubby surprised me with the greatest gift, an antique notebook from 1914 ish.  The recipes themselves aren’t dated, but ARE written in pen and ink that was blotted. There was an article in the back of the notebook from Essex, England April 21, 1915 on “An American Woman”.  Upon further inspection, she saved it for the “When Tomatoes Are Plentiful” recipes on the back side.

Each recipe has its own unique qualities, but one of the best things is that they are attributed to their original author, whether its “Mother” or “Marys Cook” or Bess Maxwell…
There are about 40 or so recipes in the notebook and I want to try ALL of them except 2 or 3 – I’m just NOT a fan of curry or aspic.

The first thing I did was CAREFULLY open the notebook and photocopy each page.  I then put it back together with carefully placed rubber bands to help keep it square. Since these are over 100 years old, I wanted to handle them as little as possible. Fortunately, pen and ink photos quite well and I now have really good working copies to operate from.

I did a little research on the notebook itself, “The National Notebook for use in the National Notebook System adapted for ALL Written Schoolwork”. The patent dates back to 1898, a time when people were transitioning from slates to paper which had become inexpensive and allowed students to retain their notes.

I’m still trying to make out some of the formal cursive writing and a few of the titles, but the ingredients sound really good and are seriously FROM SCRATCH.

The first recipe I tried in its ORIGINAL form is from Ernest Arbogast, the chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, but made famous by Chef Louis Paquet is Chicken Tetrazzini.  It is said that he named the recipe after Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini.  It is widely believed to have been invented around 1908–1910. So, I’m sure the recipe was making the rounds through all the housewives

The version I was taught when I was younger was seriously altered and shortcutted with processed foods so this is a really FANTASTIC find!

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI CASSEROLE
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons WONDRA flour
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Cream of Sherry
1/2 pound prepared spaghetti
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, reserve tops for later
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
2 1/2 cups small diced cooked chicken
1 can petite green peas, drained
1/2 cup FRESH grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup sliced almonds

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Spray 8×10 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet.
• Add onions and mushrooms, sauteing until caramelized. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
• In another bowl add chicken pieces. Set aside.
• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet.
• Whisk in flour until golden.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Whisk in broth and bring to a SLOW boil.
• Reduce heat and whisk in the white pepper, nutmeg and paprika.
• Whisk in cream sherry and heavy cream, simmering 5 minutes.
• Pour half of sauce into mushrooms and the other half into the chicken pieces.
• Arrange spaghetti around the edges of the baking dish, leaving the center empty.
• Spread chicken into the center of the baking dish.
• Top with mushroom mixture and peas. Spread even.
• Sprinkle cheese and then almonds evenly over top.
• Bake 25-30 minutes.
• Top with green onion tops.

MAPLE PEPPER WINGS

MAPLE PEPPER WINGS
3-4 pounds chicken wings
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon FRESH ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon FRESH ground sea salt

• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Line baking pan with foil and lightly spray with non-stick oil.
• Toss flour, baking powder, pepper, salt and garlic powder in a large Ziploc bag.
• Place chicken pieces in the bag, tossing to coat.
• Shake off excess and place on baking pan in a single layer.
• Bake 20 minutes.
• Dip each wing in the sauce and return to pan on its opposite side.
• Bake another 25 minutes until cooked through.
• Dip in sauce a second time as you plate them.

GLAZE
2/3 cup PURE maple syrup
2 teaspoons FRESH ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Bragg's liquid aminos
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, minced (optional) for garnish

• Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over a medium heat,
• Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, 5-7 minutes until thickened.
• Garnish if desired and serve.