Tag: one-dish meals

Kay’s Oven Chicken

“Piano Teacher’s Chicken,” “Working Woman’s Chicken” or “Sherried Chicken.” We have called it by all these names for over 40 years, but it is really “Kay’s Oven Chicken” because Jerri got this simple recipe from her friend and fellow teacher, Kay, at the recipe shower they gave for her before she threw in her lot with me.

I have eaten this delicious chicken dish at least 400 times because it was something she could get ready before her piano students showed up after school, then duck out between lessons to pop the casserole in the oven. Hence the name, “Piano Teacher’s Chicken.” Incidentally, she didn’t keep making it because it was so easy, but also because I kept complimenting her on how good it was.

“Working Woman’s Chicken” comes from the fact that Jerri pointed out that any woman who was expected to work and cook for her family would find this a wonderful recipe. She could come home from work, turn on the oven, dump the five ingredients into the casserole and put it in the oven, After relaxing half an hour (or doing the breakfast dishes and starting a load of laundry) she could put the rice on. Voilá! A gourmet dinner!

If you don’t count the rice and water, there are only four ingredients. What could be simpler? Boiled eggs, of course. Only one ingredient, but also a lot fewer happy people around the dinner table.

Kay’s Oven Chicken is easy, foolproof and delicious. Give it a try.

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken breasts
1/2 package dried onion soup
1/2 cup dry or semi-dry sherry wine
1 small can mushrooms
1/4 cup water

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 350º. Put the chicken in a two to three quart covered casserole. Drain the mushrooms and spread them over the chicken. Sprinkle on the onion soup, then drizzle the sherry and water over the soup and chicken.

Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours (longer if you are teaching slow students).

Serve over white, brown or mixed wild rice.

NOTES: Bone-in or boneless chicken breasts work equally well. Buy a bottle of good sherry wine for this recipe. Don’t use “cooking sherry.” Cooking sherry is simply really cheap sherry with salt added. If you don’t want your teetotalling in-laws to find the bottle of sherry you use for cooking, hide it in your bedroom.

Both cooking sherry and regular sherry have alcohol which boils away during cooking. Contrary to the old song, one little bite of this chicken will not turn you into a bum. It may, however, turn you into someone addicted to Kay’s Oven Chicken.

Jerri and I don’t agree, but I suggest that you thicken the sauce slightly with a tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in two tablespoons of water. It’s your choice.

Here is where you can find two other great recipes Jerri got from her friends at that shower:

Carole’s Tuna Casserole

Kathy’s Kidney Bean Salad

Seafood Fettuccine

The next time you enjoy a plate of Fettuccine Alfredo, thank Alfredo Di Lelio who created this Italian classic for customers at his restaurant in Rome. Like many works of genius, Fettuccine Alfredo is remarkably simple: Make a sauce of butter, cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and mix with cooked fettuccine noodles.

Versions of this simple recipe are available in restaurants around the world. I have enjoyed Fettuccine Alfredo in many of them, and some versions were better than others, but I have never found one that I did not like–clearly not the observation of a gourmet but a statement of fact.

Here is a really simple way to make Fettuccine Alfredo with imitation seafood that we (and lots of friends) think tastes pretty good. A real chef might frown at this recipe, since the sauce ingredients are mixed directly with the pasta rather than being cooked separately and added to the noodles just before serving. A lazy cook like me, however, appreciates the fact that the way I make this dish takes less time and uses one less pan than the traditional method.

Since many versions of Fettuccine Alfredo were too rich for my tastes, I reduced the amount of butter and used half and half instead of whipping cream. We like the results and hope that you try it.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black or white Pepper
2 cups half and half
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus more to pass at table
12 ounce package Imitation crab or lobster
12 ounce package fettuccine

PROCEDURE:

Bring the butter to room temperature. Put the water on to boil in a large pot for the fettuccine. Break or cut the seafood into bite size pieces and grate the cheese. If you like, this is a good time to make a simple garden salad or get the vegetables ready.

Warm the half and half in a measuring cup in the microwave. Cook the fettuccine just barely to al dente, following the directions on the package. Drain and return it to the pot and add the butter. Turn the heat to very low and stir the pasta to melt the butter and coat the noodles. Add the half and half and continue stirring.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese, add the imitation seafood pieces, salt and pepper and continue stirring for a minute to mix with the sauce and make certain everything is warm. If the sauce is too thick, add some milk or half and half. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Serve with a garden salad, crusty bread and butter and a light white wine. Steamed broccoli or green beans also go well as a vegetable with this dish. Pass the Parmesan grater so guests may add a little more cheese if they want.

It’s not fancy, but it’s good. And only one pot!

NOTE: It is vital that the Parmesan cheese be freshly grated. Period. The coarsely grated Parmesan sold in the refrigerated section of your local supermarket might be okay, but I have not tried it. Since we generally have imitation seafood in the freezer, I defrost it in the microwave while the pasta is cooking. Try to have it at or near room temperature when you add it to the noodles.

VARIATIONS: Use shrimp instead of or in addition to the imitation seafood.