Mrs. Culotta's Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
Submitted by Suzanne Hieber
The following recipe is from “Cooking for Comfort” (Simon & Shuster, 2003), the collection of recipes assembled by Marian Burros, acclaimed cookbook writer and columnist for The New York Times. The macaroni and cheese recipe, originally from the Canal House restaurant in New York City’s Soho Grand Hotel, was featured in one of her previous cookbooks. Burros says, “Some things are worth repeating. I never met anyone who ate just one serving.”
Ingredients
6 split chicken breasts, skin and bones on
1 cup of boiling water
1 cup of dry Sherry
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp of curry powder
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup of sliced celery
1 lb. of fresh mushrooms (reserve 8 for topping)
1/2 cup of butter
2 packages of Uncle Ben’s Long and Wild Rice
1 cup of sour cream
1 can of mushroom soup
TIP: I’ve tried this recipe before, but believe 6 whole chicken breasts are too many. I believe Mrs. Culotta may have meant 6 chicken breast halves, and by “whole” she meant to include skin and bones.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put first seven ingredients in pot and simmer for one hour
Strain broth and keep
Refrigerate chicken and broth separately
When cook, bone chicken, and cut into pieces
Wash and pat dry mushrooms, setting aside eight, then sauté the rest in butter
Cook rice according to package, using reserved broth as the liquid
Mix chicken, mushrooms, and rice with sour cream and soups
Put in 3-4 qt. of casserole and top with the eight mushroom caps
Bake at 350 for one hour starting at room temperature