Experiments

Today was our "kinda second" Easter with my family. My parents came up to visit for the weekend and my brother and his wife came over, we all hung out this afternoon and I made a dinner that was supposed to be like Grandma's. We've spent all our Easter's at Grandma's house and she always made great dishes! Growing up, Grandma would occasionally make this chicken and broccoli casserole in a 9x13 glass pan. It was creamy and good and full of cut up chicken and broccoli and topped with sliced almonds. Well, she didn't remember what I was talking about and couldn't find the recipe. Between my mom's cookbook, my cookbook and both our memories, we came up with our own recipe and experimented and I was dissapointed. Grandma also always made the green bean casserole that's topped with those fried onions, so naturally I also made that, along with a vinagrette pasta salad, mandarin orange jello like salad, dinner rolls and plain steamed broccoli for the sis-in-law and kiddo. It was a pretty tasty meal!!

Experimental Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, cut up (I added some seasoning and cooked in a tablespoon of oil on stove top)
2 cups understeamed broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 to 3/4 cup Stove Top stuffing
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk (I would make it 1 cup)
2 tblsn cooking sherry (or chicken broth or white wine)
1/2 tspn dried chopped onion (I was too lazy to sautee half a chopped onion)
1/4 tspn curry powder
1/4 tspn mustard powder
Topping: 1/2 to 3/4 cup Stove Top stuffing and 1/2-3/4 cup shredded pecorino romano (or parmesian)

1. In 9x13 pan, layer chicken, stove top, then broccoli.
2. In separate bowl, mix rest of ingredients, then pour over chicken/broccoli.
3. Top with Stove Top and shredded cheese.
4. Bake 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Here's my only complaint...my brother and I thought it was little on the salty side. My mom, dad, and husband did not. I was trying to figure out if maybe I added too much seasoning to the chicken before I cooked it, which was in a little oil on the stove, or if it was the Stove Top since it has all that seasoning in it already too. I would love for someone out there to try this and report back to me with any suggestions or recommendations. Other than that, it was pretty tasty, not quite like grandma's but good enough to have created a whole new recipe that I will probably alter some more when I make it again.

ENJOY!