Snow day, going through pictures

Snowed in on this Saturday Eric and I got to poking around our photos and I came across a few I’d like to share.  My cooking and baking has been all over the place in the last year, but these are some of my favorites!  Pancakes, crepes, cupcakes, cakes, candy and dinner… I recommend not looking on an empty tummy.

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!

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.