this is an old standby at our house - easy to make, cheap and works great for a large family. i'll give you the basic recipe (non-smoked) and then show you the modifications i made for it today.
TasunkaWitko’s House Chicken & Rice Casserole
• One whole chicken
• 8 servings of Minute-Rice, prepared according to package directions
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• A sprinkle or two of your favorite seasoning (we use Cavender’s Greek
Seasoning)
• 2 cans your favorite vegetables (we use peas)
• 8 oz. (small block) cheddar cheese, grated and divided (the sharper the
better)
Boil the chicken until it’s done (I wish I could be more precise; the meat
will be loose on the bone and won’t be reddish or pink), checking
occasionally and turning over as necessary. Be sure to add water if it boils
down enough to expose chicken.
When the chicken is done, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Completely de-
bone chicken and chop or shred meat into small pieces. Discard bones,
skin, gristle and anything else that is not meat. Prepare the rice. For extra
flavor, you can use the water from boiling the chicken, but be sure to
skim the fat off first.
In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, rice, seasoning (to your taste),
mushroom soup and vegetables. Mix well, then stir in half of the cheese.
Dump mixture into a large baking pan and spread evenly. Top with
cheese and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is golden-brown.
Serve with hot rolls. Be sure to save some for lunch the next day.
------------------
prepared this tonight with a couple of twists - here are the deviations from the normal recipe:
chicken: smoked instead of boiled using my greek rub, which can be found here: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=80826. squirted lemon juice all over it, then rubbed it down and cooked on ECB with kingsford charcoal that has hickory shavings imbedded - no other wood or smoke other than that. resulted in a mild smoke that was not overpowering. did brush with olive oil while cooking.
rice: i prefer to use "real" rice, but minute rice is quick and easy when you ahve a lot of kids. since the chicken was rubbed down with salt, pepper and oregano, i added no other seasoning to rice other than a little garlic and onion powder.
veggies - i used a 1-lb bag of a frozen veggie blend from our local store (western family). the package SAYS scandinavian blend, but it looks greek or italian to me: chopped green beans, carrots, onions. zucchini and peas.
cheese: usually use cheddar, but this time used a bag of kraft velveeta. put 1/2 in the rice/chicken mixture and the other half on top.
the mixture looked and smelled great as it went into the oven, but mrs. tas wasn't convinced. she said the greek rub made the whole chicken look terrible, even though when stirred into the mixture as a whole, the chicken looked fine as the seasonings distributed around. also, the chicken was smoked, which she isn't a big fan of to begin with. she probably could have handled either one of those factors alone, but when put together, she had me fry her up a few breaded chicken tender strips.
should be done after 45 minutes or so in at 350 degrees - will report on taste, but i think it's going to be pretty dang good. since mrs. tas won't be eating it and the three boys aren't that hungry today (two are sick, the third has been eating like a horse all day after recovering from being sick, so now he isn't hungry), it looks like i have lunch for at least 3 or 4 days this coming week!
----------------------------
this turned out pretty dang good - contrary to mr;s tas's fears, it was neither too stong in seasoning nor was it too strong in the smoke department. the seasoning was just right, since it was dispersed throughout the casserole, and the mild smoke aroma and a bit of flavor permeated just enough to remind a person of bacon in the background. all-in-all, i think it was quiote a success.
here it is right out of the oven:
with casseroles, lasagna etc., i generally wait about 5 minutes from oven to plate. snce the entire meal was in the casserole, here's a picture of it in a bowl. looks pretty good, but it tasted even better!
as you can see from the recipe, this makes quite a bit, but no worries - i now have lunch for most, if not all of next week!
TasunkaWitko’s House Chicken & Rice Casserole
• One whole chicken
• 8 servings of Minute-Rice, prepared according to package directions
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• A sprinkle or two of your favorite seasoning (we use Cavender’s Greek
Seasoning)
• 2 cans your favorite vegetables (we use peas)
• 8 oz. (small block) cheddar cheese, grated and divided (the sharper the
better)
Boil the chicken until it’s done (I wish I could be more precise; the meat
will be loose on the bone and won’t be reddish or pink), checking
occasionally and turning over as necessary. Be sure to add water if it boils
down enough to expose chicken.
When the chicken is done, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Completely de-
bone chicken and chop or shred meat into small pieces. Discard bones,
skin, gristle and anything else that is not meat. Prepare the rice. For extra
flavor, you can use the water from boiling the chicken, but be sure to
skim the fat off first.
In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, rice, seasoning (to your taste),
mushroom soup and vegetables. Mix well, then stir in half of the cheese.
Dump mixture into a large baking pan and spread evenly. Top with
cheese and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is golden-brown.
Serve with hot rolls. Be sure to save some for lunch the next day.
------------------
prepared this tonight with a couple of twists - here are the deviations from the normal recipe:
chicken: smoked instead of boiled using my greek rub, which can be found here: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=80826. squirted lemon juice all over it, then rubbed it down and cooked on ECB with kingsford charcoal that has hickory shavings imbedded - no other wood or smoke other than that. resulted in a mild smoke that was not overpowering. did brush with olive oil while cooking.
rice: i prefer to use "real" rice, but minute rice is quick and easy when you ahve a lot of kids. since the chicken was rubbed down with salt, pepper and oregano, i added no other seasoning to rice other than a little garlic and onion powder.
veggies - i used a 1-lb bag of a frozen veggie blend from our local store (western family). the package SAYS scandinavian blend, but it looks greek or italian to me: chopped green beans, carrots, onions. zucchini and peas.
cheese: usually use cheddar, but this time used a bag of kraft velveeta. put 1/2 in the rice/chicken mixture and the other half on top.
the mixture looked and smelled great as it went into the oven, but mrs. tas wasn't convinced. she said the greek rub made the whole chicken look terrible, even though when stirred into the mixture as a whole, the chicken looked fine as the seasonings distributed around. also, the chicken was smoked, which she isn't a big fan of to begin with. she probably could have handled either one of those factors alone, but when put together, she had me fry her up a few breaded chicken tender strips.
should be done after 45 minutes or so in at 350 degrees - will report on taste, but i think it's going to be pretty dang good. since mrs. tas won't be eating it and the three boys aren't that hungry today (two are sick, the third has been eating like a horse all day after recovering from being sick, so now he isn't hungry), it looks like i have lunch for at least 3 or 4 days this coming week!
----------------------------
this turned out pretty dang good - contrary to mr;s tas's fears, it was neither too stong in seasoning nor was it too strong in the smoke department. the seasoning was just right, since it was dispersed throughout the casserole, and the mild smoke aroma and a bit of flavor permeated just enough to remind a person of bacon in the background. all-in-all, i think it was quiote a success.
here it is right out of the oven:
with casseroles, lasagna etc., i generally wait about 5 minutes from oven to plate. snce the entire meal was in the casserole, here's a picture of it in a bowl. looks pretty good, but it tasted even better!
as you can see from the recipe, this makes quite a bit, but no worries - i now have lunch for most, if not all of next week!
