It’s a new year and time to work on that cookbook challenge of mine. The first cookbook I grabbed is called America’s Best Recipes – A 2000 Hometown Collection. This collection of recipes is taken from community cookbooks from around the US. You know which ones I’m talking about. The church social cookbooks, the elementary school cookbooks, different clubs and organizations who all put out various cookbooks in order to raise money. Great recipes from home cooks.
After thumbing through the cookbook I found three different recipes that I wanted to try. Two main dish and one dessert. The first one was called Chicken Fast & Fancy. If I followed the recipe to the letter it probably would have been faster, but it wouldn’t have tasted quite as good.
The original recipe called for simply layering the ingredients. First the chicken, then the cheese, sprinkle some mushrooms on top, mix some white wine with cream of mushroom soup and pour it over the chicken and then sprinkle some seasoned stuffing crumbs on top and drizzle melted butter over it. No seasoning? To me that equaled no flavor, so I tweaked it a bit. Used the same basic concept but added some flavor. I also only cooked two chicken breasts, they were huge so there was quite a bit of extra sauce. I used two slices of cheese on each breast and then added another slice about 5 minutes before removing from the oven to get a good helping of cheesy goodness.
It was definitely a huge hit and will be added to my Family Favorites cookbook. My son loved it and thought it had tons of flavor. For mushrooms I used shiitake so I think that is where a lot of the flavor came from.
Mushroom Swiss Chicken Breasts
adapted from – A 2000 Hometown Collection: America’s Best Recipes
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 Tbls oil
8 (1 oz) slices Swiss cheese
1 1/4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbls butter
1/2 cup water
1 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat in skillet. Season chicken breast halves with salt and pepper, or your favorite poultry seasoning. Carefully place chicken in hot pan and cook for 5-8 minutes each side. Pull out of pan and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons butter to pan and then add sliced mushrooms. Saute mushrooms in butter and pan drippings for about 5 minutes and then add the white wine. Let wine cook down until almost evaporated and then add the soup. Swish the 1/2 cup water in the can of soup and then pour in pan. Stir until smooth. Add additional salt and pepper to taste and rosemary.
Place chicken breast halves in bottom of baking dish and place cheese over chicken breasts. Carefully pour mushroom soup mixture over top of chicken breasts, letting it run down the sides to the bottom of the dish. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done.
A Little of This and a Little of That 