Day 4 Saturday Chicken** or Easy Anyday.
Day 4 Saturday Chicken** or easy anyday.
Hello Dears, we’ve come to Day 4 of this little journey of mine and it’s time to examine the recipe, “Saturday’s Chicken.” This, according to Peg Bracken, is a variation of “Sunday Chicken.” Now I really had high hopes for this one since I love chicken! Roast chicken, fried chicken, chicken salad sandwiches and so on and so forth. Full disclosure upfront: this was made on Wednesday as opposed to Saturday, because it just looked so easy, delicious, and fun to make, and I was really in the mood for chicken. You have to love how Peg Bracken writes! This is more than a typical cookbook. There are stories, anecdotes, and advice to those of us that hate to cook, opinions and such funny little excerpts throughout. I urge with all my heart if you can find this book you need to add it to your collection.
In reading her book, her assumption (totally correct, by the way) is that for those of us who hate to cook, we also hate to go shopping. The recommendation: bring the book with you. This way if you forget your list or find some item on sale but you are unsure of yourself, pull this little wonder from your purse and Ta-Da! Now you know if you should pass it up or buy it. You know, I wish I had brought this book with me when I was shopping, things would have been so much easier.
Sometimes I get the feeling that Peg could predict my thoughts and feelings, even back when she wrote this! I walk into a grocery store and am at a loss of where to begin. Rows and shelves of food and it is so confusing to me. Ever watch those movies where the main character stands at the beginning of a tunnel in a nightmare and the end seems to stretch to look like it is ever farther and farther away? Well, that’s how I feel when I go to the grocery store. So different from when I wander into a crafting store. Now that is just like walking into a vision of happiness! At least having a copy of this book to keep me company through the arduous weekly grocery pilgrimage would break things up a bit.
Even if you do like to grocery shop (for whatever reason), but some days are too busy to think of a meal, you would do well to have a presorted list of ingredients!
So here it is:
Saturday Chicken** on a Wednesday (don’t Judge)
Ingredients:
4-6 servings
1 disjointed fryer. You could also use chicken pieces like breast as long as it is about 6 pieces
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
1 cup of cream. Milk is a poor substitute for the cream, Do Not use it. The result would not have the same flavor and texture and would come out rather depressing.
Salt and garlic salt
Paprika
Chopped parsley.
Directions:
Take that chicken some salt and garlic salt and you do not need a lot and sprinkle a little on the chicken. At this point, I should tell you that when doubling a recipe you do not double the salt. Here you have to rely on your taste and preference as well as making sure those that eat the meal will also be able to enjoy without too many glasses of water as to much salt can completely ruin a well-planned meal. Now after the garlic and salt, you cover that chicken with paprika. You don’t have to be too skimpy here, just cover that chicken. Here’s the fun part….put that fowl into a shallow pan. Take the cream of mushroom soup and cream you mixed together, and pour it over the top. If you didn’t mix it, now is the time, it is a common sense thing to mix those two things together, but if you’re like me you will forget. Pour that cream and mushroom over the top of the chicken and then add the parsley. Uncovered set that in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours and go do something fun like paint your toenails, play a game, read a book, anything unless you have an elaborate plan for the side dishes. I chose mashed potatoes, because I could leave those potatoes boiling and again leave it alone for some time. I like to saute vegetables in butter so that didn’t need to be done until about 15 minutes before serving. Desert and fruit was mandarin oranges drained and mixed in cottage cheese. Serve with biscuits or toast.
Saturday Chicken
If you are new to cooking, use this one to impress your in laws, friends, spouse or even more importantly yourself.
Now, I have to tell you, this meal is best prepared when you don’t have a headache. My teen-aged son offered to help take over and serve up the food. He did not realize at first that the cream and mushroom was to be like a gravy poured over the chicken or the potatoes. He tossed some of it, however there had been enough to flavor the chicken so we ended up making some packaged gravy mix i keep on hand just for emergencies like this. At the end of the day, however, everyone loved the chicken and there was not enough to use for the chicken salad sandwiches i had planned for lunch the next day, I solved that with a back up plan and no one starved.
Tune in for Day 5 “Old Faithful” *queue dramatic music* where we ask ourselves, “will the trend continue?” “Has she broken her streak of bad luck?” ”What adventures await our heroine?” Stay tuned for the next installment of “Misadventures in Cooking!”
What do you think? Have you tried this recipe? Will you try it? What changes would you make? Commet, rate, and share your ideas. Until next time have fun and stay Flamboyant my Flamingo friends.
**Bracken, P. (1960). The I hate to cook book. (pg. 16). New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
