Casserole finished!

Well, that was a spicy casserole!  I ended up adding a few cloves of garlic and some cayenne pepper to bring out some heat with the curry.

The finished casserole, with browned onions on top

a bowl for me with sour cream to mellow the spiciness

a bowl for Eric

It was very good, and now we’ve got lunch for the rest of the week.  ^_^

the casserole, in progress

Boy am I in the mood for some comfort food!

All of the ingredients laid out

The casserole ready to go into the oven

Now it’s a 45 minute wait before adding the crunchy onions!

Leftovers for a new meal

So, as planned, tonight will be Wild Rice and Chicken Curry casserole!  Finally, I have a night home with enough time to make it!  It’s a good night to be doing so, since Eric has plans for the early evening, and I need to keep myself busy until LOST starts up again tonight!

As for last night, I was disappointed with the result, but I think its easily my error on the temperature and time to cook.  But after cleaning up from the meal, I was cleaning the white ramekins that were holding the onions up and there was all of this fond on the bottom from the drippings coming out of the foil… I felt guilty just washing it away!  I got to thinking that maybe we should try French Onion soup soon!  I’ve seen a few recipes for it and it’s definitely on my to-do list!

I just can’t do it as a main course though, I guess Eric didn’t like having *that* much onion for one meal!

Wild rice and Chicken Curry casserole recipe

So here’s the basic recipe for Wild Rice and Chicken Curry casserole.  It’s from memory also, but I’ve made it a *few* times to know the recipe well enough. ^_~ (it was basically the only thing I ever made my family!)

Ingredients:

1 box Uncle Ben’s Wild rice (original) prepared by directions

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup ea. onion and celery

1 cup chicken broth (add more or less to your preference)

1/2 cup sour cream (add more or less to your preference)

1 10oz can of condensed Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup

(sometimes it’s hard to find, so get Cream of Mushroom by default)

2 tsp curry powder (I often use more)

1 tsp poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

1/2 cup Baby Peas (optional, I sneak them in because I love them, but Eric HATES them… he doesn’t seem to mind them here)

2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I prefer white meat)

1 can Frenches’ fried onion topping

I think that’s everything!

Directions:

Start the wild rice, according to the directions, and let it simmer while you prepare the veggies and start cooking. It should be done cooking by the time you’re ready to combine the ingredients.

In a deep, large frying pan heat the oil and lightly brown the onions and celery, they should be mostly translucent and very aromatic.  Add the broth and sour cream, stir until evenly mixed with the celery and onion, and begins to bubble, then add the whole can of condensed soup.

Let reduce a little on med-low heat until it is thicker than you’d prefer a creamy soup to be.  Add poultry seasoning, curry, salt and pepper to taste.  Over season by just a wee-bit, remaining ingredients will dull the kick it has now.  Once you’re happy with the flavor, add your peas and chicken, make sure everything is well coated.  Cover until the rice is done.

Once the rice is done, combine into the pan with chicken mixture.  Let reduce, if necessary, until it is just about the consistency you’d like your casserole to be. Transfer to a casserole dish (I prefer long/oval for more surface area) and cover with foil. Bake in a 350degree oven for about 40-50 minutes.

Remove foil and cover the casserole with the fried onions and bake for about 5 minutes uncovered.  Keep an eye on them so they don’t brown too much!

After the onions are brown enough, let the casserole rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. It serves about 6-8.