Munchie Monday: Food Success:

 On Sunday there was to be a Linger Longer at church.  This is basically a potluck meal that is shared as some people have set up dining tables and other people have set up food table and everyone there sits down to eat.  Except the kind people who are in charge of seeing that all goes well; that food is set up on serving able and water pitchers set on the dining tables.  Those people not actively helping are chitchatting and being neighborly, a nice thing to do.

For our Linger Longers, which usually happen the last Sunday of the month, there is often a theme.  This month the theme was "New Recipes" to go along with  a new year.  I had just seen a recipe reel on Facebook then saw it again and again and thought it might work.  It seemed about as easy as could be so I decided to give it a try.

This is the recipe:

Chicken Cobbler

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3-4 cups cooked then chopped chicken--can use a rotisserie chicken
12-16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables or just frozen peas and carrots if you can find them. (In the store where I shopped there were no peas and carrots)
2 cups milk
2 packages Cheese Garlic Bisquik mix
2 cups chicken broth
1 can Cream of Chicken  Soup With Herbs

Get out your glass 9 by 13 casserole dish and place the butter inside.  Turn on the oven to 350 degrees and put the pan in the oven to melt while the oven preheats.

When the butter is melted, carefully bring the pan out of the oven and place on hot pads.  Sprinkle the cooked, chopped chicken evenly over the butter.  Next sprinkle the frozen vegetables over the top of the chicken.  

In a four-cup measure or a quart bowl place the Bisquik mix and the milk an stir until fairly smooth,  Pour evenly over the vegetables.  DO NOT STIR IN.

To the same bowl without washing add the Cream of Chicken soup and the chicken broth.  Stir well then pour that over the Bisquik/milk mixture.  ALSO DO NOT STIR.  I say this but do not know why.  I did not stir or mix our two concoctions and the recipe turned out perfectly...so Do Not Stir!

Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Or more, depending on your oven.  It took 65 minutes in our oven.

Remove from oven when the top is nicely golden.  Put on hot pads and let sit at least 10 minutes before serving.  Purportedly this time is mean to help the sauce thicken up a little.  We did let it sit so I cannot swear that it would work otherwise.

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Since it was a new recipe, I decided to make it on Saturday and give Dear One a serving to get his opinion.  If it was garbage, I did not want to take it to church and there would be time to go with some tried and true recipe.  You may think I was being defeatist but I have found good-sounding recipes on the internet before and have been burned.  Badly burned, so I have become a little cautious.

Dear One ate his small serving and said, "Why don't we have good food like this at our house?!"  You can imagine my delight!  Truly.  He thought it was good. I did point out that since he does not like leftovers, if I made it for just our family, he would be buying into days and days of leftovers...

After letting the dish cool for a while I put it into the refrigerator to rest until morning, then rested myself.

So early-ish Sunday morning I covered the dish with foil and put it in the oven at 250 degrees F for a little over an hour then put it in the casserole carrier that really does keep things warm, or hot, for ages.  It might be a Rachael Ray carrier but I have forgotten the brand.

When it was time for the Linger Longer there were some issues.  Many people had not gotten the word, or had forgotten, that there was a Linger Longer so there were only two food tables instead of the usual six food tables.  Fortunately, most of the people who had not brought food went home to eat.  Dear One and I were the last two through the line.  There was just enough food for us and for maybe three or four people to have  a small second serving.  

These potluck meals are pretty interesting slices of humanity.  Some people go through the line and pick out a few bites.  Others go through the line and heap their plates so full they can barely carry them to their places at the table.  Interesting.  Years ago when we were in Vermont and Dear One was bishop, he was always in meetings so we were the last ones through the lines then, too.  Sometimes we had to go home for food.  Not a problem as there was always food available at home.  There are those who then and now do not have that luxury.  I am so grateful to be blessed with plenty of everything we need to live and be happy, and pray that others will eventually get there, too.

Here is a picture of the chicken cobbler baking and serving dish:

As you can see, I did not think to snap a photo of the cobbler when it came out of the oven.  Or even this morning when I put it into the casserole carrier.  Many times we bring home some of our food...which also is a blessing...no need to cook the next day.  I am getting a little weary of cooking.  And especially of cleaning up.  Current our kitchen is a hell hole...but that won't last.  But as I sit here writing I am not committed to cleaning out tonight though that could change if I put on my headset and the book "Gather" that I am "reading".  We shall see.