Aunt Kathy's Creamy Chicken & Rice Casserole

At our July 2021 Merrill Family reunion in AF,  my aunt, Kathryne Whitford, served this family favorite to everyone, and others asked her for her recipe, and I have included it here in mostly her own words. She prepared it for the crowd in slow cookers and rice cookers, instead of the her standard one dish casserole recipe. It was fabulous. Find the slow cooker instructions below. Yum!!

1-2 boneless chicken breasts and/or boneless thighs, etc. Cut up chicken to desired size, typically 2” squares. 
2 cans of cream of chicken Campbell’s soup and 1 can of Cream of Celery soup
one packet of dried onion soup
seasoning for chicken as desired. 
1 1/2 cup of rice

( I often soak cut chicken in a kosher salt brine for an hour or 2 but no necessary)

Pour rice into greased 9x11” baking pan. ( I use Pam) 
Heat up soup of 3 cans n add about 2 can fulls of water to mixture. Stir while heating till almost bubbling. 

Pour 1/2 soup mixture over rice n stir in pan.  Place chicken pieces on top of soup. Add remaining soup to cover chicken. Sprinkle dry onion soup mixture over top of casserole. Cover tightly with foil etc. 

Bake at 375 for about 80-90 minutes till chicken is tender. The rice should be very moist.  Let sit for about 15-20 minutes. 

Enjoy n eat.

Slow cooker instructions- combine chicken breats with soup and dry onion soup mix, adding the cream cheese when mostly done. Serve OVER prepared rice. 

Green Tomato Enchilada Sauce

 

(adapted from a recipe by Our Best Bites)

2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and membranes removed, if desired
1 1/2 pounds green tomatoes, quartered
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
juice of 1 lime
4 cups chicken broth
2-3 Tablespoons sugar (to taste)

In large saucepan or stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until softened and fragrant.

Meanwhile, place tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin and lime juice in blender or food processor container. Process until smooth. Add a little of the chicken broth if you need it to get things blending.

Pour tomato mixture and chicken broth in pan with onions.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until it’s as thick as you like it.
I simmered mine for about an hour and ended up with about 5 cups of enchilada sauce.
(Once I knew that the adaptation was a success, I made double batches and netted 10 cups each time. There’s no such thing as too much green enchilada sauce at our house!)
Now give it a taste. If you think it’s too tart, add a little sugar at a time till it tastes just right to you. I didn’t add any sugar to mine. But you might like it slightly sweet.
Return the sauce to the blender and process until completely smooth.
You’re done!

(I got this recipe from a friend who worked with me at the library, Jill.)