Western Chicken Casserole

 

This past week I had a few leftovers from Sunday dinner, namely cooked, instant brown rice (why does that always seem a little more than al dente?  Is all dehydrated rice that way?) and some of the fried chicken.   As you all know I don't like to reheat fried chicken a second time. I had a thigh and a whole breast half leftover.

I had watched Julia Pacheco make two different chicken and rice dishes and they both looked delicious, but I lacked most of the ingredients used.  Still, I was inspired to see what I might do with my leftovers.

It turned out really good!  John kept telling me how good it was.  I'm glad he liked it because I have half a pan left to eat another day.

This was so simple, since my rice and chicken were already cooked.  That's one of the beauties of a Leftover Makeover.  

I'm calling this Western Chicken and Rice because of the flavor profile, but I didn't add corn nor black beans to my casserole because unfailingly that is exactly what you expect.  I did serve both items as sides since I was out of lettuce.

Western Chicken Casserole

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped 

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 10-oz can cream of chicken soup

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp each of garlic powder and onion powder, cumin, black pepper and salt

2-3 cups cooked rice 

1/2 cup or so of Grated pepper jack cheese

I combined all ingredients except the cheese and this went into a greased 9 inch square pan.  I heated it for about 35 minutes at 400F and then topped it with the cheese and let it melt.  This will serve four very generously, and likely could stretch to 6 with sides and a salad.  I suggest warmed tortillas, black beans, corn with smoky paprika, and a salad with pico de gallo.

I chose to use the original tomatoes with green chilis because I thought the heat would be nicely dissipated with the rice and bland chicken.  It was just right for us.  We like things our spicy foods to have a pleasant warmth but not a deep lingering heat.

And I'll add that the cooked instant brown rice was much plumper and more moist than at the first meal.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tried and True Thursday  *Flashback to July 2009 Fried Green Tomatoes Growing up in the South and in a gardening family, we had plenty of vegetables to eat fresh all summer long.  Often lunches were vegetable plates only, no meat.  And it wasn't uncommon to have cucumber sandwiches, tomato sandwiches or vegetable garden sandwiches (whatever was fresh and ripe and ready to eat along with a lettuce leaf between two slices of white bread!). Occasionally we'd have green tomatoes on the vine come end of season and at that time Mama and Granny and Big Mama went into a frenzy of making up huge batches of green tomato relish.  Boy was that stuff good, especially on a mess of black eyed peas mid-winter.  (A mess of anything  is a potful).  During the relish making it was inevitable that we'd want lunch.  And with all those green tomatoes on the counter it seemed only fitting that we'd eat them for lunch.  In later years, we often didn't wait for relish days to make fried green tomatoes.  When tomatoes were plentiful and in various stages of ripeness they were brought indoors and put on the windowsill.  Just let Mama think for one minute she didn't have a green vegetable to go on the table.  Why right there was a green tomato on the windowsill.  She'd take two, slice them and fry them right up. Then Fannie Flagg wrote a book, which was made into a movie, both titled Fried Green Tomatoes.  Suddenly, everybody wanted to try those fried green tomatoes.  Nowadays many  groceries carry green tomatoes as well as ripe ones, so I can buy them.  And do you know they charge more for green tomatoes?  Well they are worth it. Several years ago a friend from up North happened to drop by as I started to prepare supper, which happened to have Fried Green Tomatoes in the menu.  He was fascinated by the whole concept of eating a green tomato.  My kitchen was very small and as I took up the tomatoes from the pan, I put them on a plate on the counter behind me.  I urged him to "Try one..."  Well I should have known better!  The man not only tried one, he tried every single tomato slice that came out of the pan.  Imagine my surprise when I turned to pick up what was supposed to be a platter full of tomato slices and found just three lonely little slices on the plate!  He looked at me sheepishly and apologized...for not eating them all!  "I got full," he said.  Needless to say, he was a convert to eating green tomatoes! I do things a bit differently.  Number One, I don't garden.  I know it's a darned shame, but Chance was city born and bred and truly did believe for many years that gardens were for those who couldn't get to the grocery store!  He's changing his thinking though and perhaps next year, he says, we shall plant a small garden of our own.  Being limited to the grocery store, meant I didn't have access to green tomatoes for a long time, unless someone with a garden blessed us.  (2016 and he's still saying, "Maybe next year..." or more often, "When I retire...") Number Two, I have perfected my own method of making Fried Green Tomatoes.  Mama's method was straightforward, dip the sliced tomato in flour, drop in a skillet of hot oil, brown, flip and brown and eat.  They are perfectly edible prepared this way.  A neighbor of ours used to dip them in corn meal, which was pretty darned good, too.  Here's my way of making them: Fried Green Tomatoes 2 or 3 large green tomatoes (some red streaks are okay but all green are even better) 1 cup buttermilk 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 tsp dried oregano 1/4 cup corn meal 1/2 cup flour Oil Slice tomatoes thin (I know in the movie they sliced them thick, but honestly no one I know ever cut them that thick to fry.  Thin is best.  The tomatoes will crisp up a little).  Pour buttermilk over tomato slices. Mix the dry ingredients in a pie plate.  Heat oil in skillet (you don't need to deep fry, just cover the bottom of the frying pan with oil.  You'll be adding more as you go). Take a tomato slice that is fairly wet with buttermilk, dredge in dry mixture, drop into hot pan and repeat until pan is filled but not overfull.  They will fry fairly quickly and about the time you drop in the last that will fit in the pan you'll be turning the first one over.  By the time all the slices in the pan are turned over, it's time to take up the first one.  The slices are best put on a rack over paper towels to cool slightly, rather than right on a plate, if you want them to remain crispy.  Otherwise, as you layer them on a plate they will get soft, but believe me they are still wonderful.  Repeat process until all slices are cooked.

Homemade Cream Style Corn

Tried and True Thursday (flashback to July 2009) Homemade Cream Style Corn I grew up in a family of gardeners.  We ate fresh vegetables all summer long and canned and froze and preserved everything we could for eating the other nine months of the year.  Fresh foods are soooooo much better than the stuff we get today in the grocery. I've made the most of corn on the cob thus far this summer.  But I was homesick for some of the foods I grew up eating...like homemade cream style corn, which has absolutely no relationship to the canned stuff on the grocery shelves, nor the frozen stuff that comes in tubes either.  Twenty years ago, when Mackenzie Foods was still a small independent produce plant in the small town I lived in, they offered up packages of frozen cream style corn that was like homemade.  Alas, that business bit the dust after the union came in and took over the plant. So this past week, while I was with Granny I asked: How do you make cream style corn?  I well remember the shucking and silking of ears each year.  But the part that came after we weren't allowed to participate in.  So Granny told me how to do it with a knife and as an afterthought she told me I could also use my box grater and use the long slicing side. I bought corn on Big Shop day and yesterday I set to work.  First I cut off the tassels and the stem.  Then I shucked the corn and silked it and washed the ears well.  Then I put the box grater in a big deep bowl.  I did recall this part correctly.  Grating corn is a messy splattery sort of job.  I ran the ears of corn over the box grater until I saw nothing but cob on them.  And then I began the cooking of the corn.  It was delicious!  We had fried green tomatoes with the dish (I'll try and remember to share that recipe with you next week) and cold ham slices and freshly buttered homemade bread.  While Katie declares me a gourmet cook, this was pure country cooking, good food, and boy was it worth every bit of my time and effort! Homemade Cream Style Corn 6 ears of corn, trimmed, shucked, silked and washed Place box grater in deep dish pan, or pot.  Grate corn on box grater (use the cheese slicer side) until nothing but cob remains. Put corn in frying pan.  Add just enough water to cover slightly, then bring to boil over medium heat.  Stir and scrape pan often (I found about every ten minutes was just about right).  Add more water as needed.  Corn will need to simmer over medium to medium low heat for about 40 minutes.  Taste to determine 'doneness'.  It will taste sweet and not have the 'raw' milky taste of fresh uncooked corn. When done, slowly stir in 3 tbsps cream, and 1 generous tbsp of butter.  Salt and pepper to taste and cook a few minutes longer until corn is thick and creamy.