We’ve had a very interesting spring here in the Ohio Valley. It started with record high temperatures in March, and progressed into an indecisive April. Always wavering on whether to remain cold, shift into warm or advance right on into hot. Take today for example. Temperatures this morning when we awoke were in the mid 30’s, but by the end of the day, they will be in the lower to mid 70’s! Although amazing….a 30 to 35 degree temperature increase within a 6 hour time frame is not unusual for us at this time of year. Talk about making it interesting in knowing what to wear! This morning I put on the Capri’s I planned to wear to work, but then added socks, tennis shoes, a hooded sweatshirt and a coat to wear in order to first take our little dog Woodrow to the park. I looked ridiculous but thank goodness no one else was at the park at that time!

I must admit though, that it is such a marvelous feeling when you walk outside later in the afternoon and the brilliance and warmth of the sunshine overwhelms you. Truly one of those “ahhhhh” moments!

With the arrival of the warm weather, so also arrive thoughts of summer picnics and family reunions. The recipe I am sharing this time is a dish that my mom usually makes every year for our Moser family reunion. It is definitely always a hit and quickly gone. It has no fancy name, but the name itself pretty well describes the dish. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that mom just named it herself.

May you have a wonderful summer surrounded by family and friends with much laughter, making great memories.

Until next time…..Happy Baking.

Chicken in Dressing Crust

Crust:

1 – 8 oz herb seasoned dressing/stuffing mix (I used half a loaf of Berlin Natural Bakery
White Spelt bread, cut into cubes and seasoned with 2 tsp parsley, ½ tsp salt, ¼
tsp garlic salt, and 1/4 tsp of sage. You could add other seasonings such as
poultry seasoning too, but I personally prefer less seasonings).
¾ cup chicken broth
1/3 cup melted butter
1 egg beaten.

Mix together and place in the bottom of a 10” pie pan. *

Filling:

1 – 4 oz can mushrooms
1 ½ tsp. salt (or to taste)
2 tsp. Flour
2 Tbsp. diced pimento (optional)
½ onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. Parsley flakes
1 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cups cubed chicken or turkey
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 cup peas
½ tsp garlic salt
1 cup carrots, chopped
4 slices American cheese or cheddar or cheese of your choice
½ tsp black pepper
1 – 10 ½ oz can chicken gravy or cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

Drain mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Mix mushroom liquid with flour. Sauté mushrooms and onion in butter. If using raw carrots, cook slightly before adding. Add all ingredients to the mushroom/onion mixture except the cheese. Cook and stir well until slightly thickened. Turn into crust.

Bake at 375 F until bubbly (approx 45 minutes). Add cheese to top of casserole and bake another 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

* You may want to double this recipe and put it in a bigger casserole dish…something like a 9”x13” pan.

(A couple notes: I stewed a whole chicken {which was enough for a double recipe} and used the broth from it for both the crust and in place of the can of gravy or soup. After sautéing the onions and mushrooms in the butter, I added 1 ½ cups of chicken broth to the pan and brought it all to a boil. I added 2 Tbsp flour to the mushroom liquid instead of 2 Tsp. and mixed well. Once the broth was boiling I added the flour mixture to the broth, stirring constantly and basically made“homemade” gravy. Then I added everything else according to the recipe and poured it into the crust. If you use fresh mushrooms, just add the flour to water…2 Tbsp flour added to ½ cup water).