If it’s your turn to host your family’s upcoming Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you have an opportunity to showcase your cooking skills with a non-traditional but delicious meal.
It seems everyone expects turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie but you want to serve something different. And you can, as there are many wonderful ideas you can pursue, and your guests will be pleased as everyone likes something different. And they may have already been treated to the traditional meal through a work party or a celebration with other family members.
Here’s a delicious chicken casserole that’s easy to make and serve. It can be doubled for eight servings.
Creamy Chicken Casserole
- 4 large chicken breasts
- 2 10 ounce cans of cream of chicken soup
- 1 box of stuffing mix
- 1 1/2 empty soup cans of hot water
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth from boiling the chicken
Boil the chicken breasts until meat is tender and remove from cooking pot, leaving the broth you boiled it in set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pull the chicken apart into bite side pieces and place in the bottom of a 9 by 13 casserole dish. Empty the 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup into a blender, add 1 1/2 cans of water to the blender and blend until lump free and well mixed. Pour over the chicken in the casserole dish.
Put the stuffing mix in a mixing bowl and add 1 3/4 cup of the reserved chicken broth, mixing well with a fork. Spoon out over the top of the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees 35 for 45 minutes, or until topping begins to brown a little. Serve with scalloped potatoes, a tossed salad, mixed peas and corn, and warm apple pie for dessert.
You may want to consider something exotic but still easy to make, such as a French-inspired feast. This menu starts with a beet soup served in squash bowls and is followed by Cornish Hens and a stuffing made from winter fruit and nuts. Full instructions are available.
Try cookingg goose breast in the slow-cooker, freeing you up for a relaxing day of opening presents and visiting with your guests or spending memorable time with your family.
Holiday Goose Breast
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced
- 1 goose breast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add goose breast and cook on both sides for about 5 minutes, or until browned. Place goose breast in slow cooker and add Worcestershire sauce. Add chicken broth to cover (approximately 2 cups) and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours, or until meat falls off bone. Shred with a fork and mix with your favourite barbecue sauce. You will need one goose breast per three guests, so you may have to double or triple the ingredients, and extend the cooking time by an hour. You may also consider grilling a turkey, duck or goose breast for a totally different flavour from the conventional roasting.
Serve with a light no-cook dessert.
- 20 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
- 1 eight-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- 1 12-ounce container of thawed whipped topping
Press crushed cookies into the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan, reserving a few for decoration. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners sugar, then stir in peanut butter until blended. Fold in whipped topping and spread mixture over the cookie base, then sprinkle the reserved cookie chunks on top. Freeze for one to two hours, but allow to thaw for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Start planning today for a truly memorable Thanksgiving or Christmas feast that will have your guests and your family requesting a repeat for many years to come.
