Abby Cothran

Passport & Plate - Chicken Casserole

USA | Thursday, February 6, 2014 | 1 photos

Ingredients:
chicken breasts (bone in – makes for juicier chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 7 oz Package of Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix (Herb Seasoned)
1 stick of butter
(optional – onion and/or celery)

How to prepare this recipe:
Preheat oven to 350°
Boil chicken and save broth
Remove chicken from bone - Chicken can be cut in cubes or shredded
Mix cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup with 1 cup chicken broth
(Optional – diced onions and/or celery added to soup mixture)
Melt butter and mix with stuffing mix – place half of this mixture on the bottom of 9x12” baking dish
Place pieces of chicken over stuffing
Pour soup mixture over chicken
Sprinkle other half of stuffing over top of casserole – add a few pats of butter on top
Cover with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes
Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to brown top

The story behind this recipe:

My family is from a small town in South Carolina. It is a picturesque place nestled right in front of the Blue Ridge Mountains with thick forests, babbling creeks, and the smell of gardenias and pine trees lingering in the fresh country air. Every time we visit my grandparents there it is the same; we pull up to the modest house and walk through the screen glass door into the kitchen. We are immediately greeted with warm hugs, enthusiastic hellos, and the intoxicating aroma of whatever my Nana has been tirelessly working to prepare for us.

My family is now scattered through a few hundred miles: from Atlanta, Georgia to Charlotte, North Carolina. We have always been a tight knit family, but living hours apart means that we aren’t able to see each other as often as we’d like. Some of us are finishing college and some beginning to start families. Over the years, there have been both additions and loses to our dinner table. Yet, amidst all of life’s changes, there has always remained one constant: our indulgent family meals. Over heaping spoonfuls of chicken casserole, we are able to catch up on the lives of our loved ones. The always delicious and ever abundant food serves as the center piece of our precious time together.

The Southeastern United States arguably holds America’s only true regional cuisine. The culture of the USA is greatly influenced by our European settlers and Mexican neighbors, but the food of the south is entirely our own. Here we like our tea sweet, our butter and salt plentiful, and if it can be fried, it will be. We live to eat. We use food to express our love, our sympathy, our gratitude. We know that there is nothing better than sharing a meal of good ol’ country cooking with your family, and talking for hours afterwards with full bellies and full hearts. We know that there’s hardly an ailment that a savory casserole can’t alleviate. We know that food isn’t merely food. It's integral to our culture. It's a part of who we are.