The Best Chicken in the World

The Best Chicken Recipe in the World

I do not type that title lightly.
This is a recipe my mother used to make for us, for special occasions. Now that I see how blessed easy it is, I don’t wait for special occasions.  In fact, it’s funny that this recipe became a “special occasions” recipe.  Nowadays, I’d rather have a fabulous prime rib (medium rare, thank you very much) for a special occasion.
I think my sister was the first to ask for this for her birthday meal, but I quickly hijacked that and I remember it fondly being for me, and me alone.
I would ask for my mother to make this for my birthday dinner, and then, it would never fail that the meal was followed by a Dixie’s Coconut Cream Pie.
Birthday complete.
This recipe is so simple. And yummy.
It’s what I would lovingly term: a “dump” recipe.  You just dump all the ingredients in, an voila!, you’re done.  Dump recipes almost always include a Cream Of soup….
Add the following to chicken, and Bob’s your uncle!

(photos taken with phone camera–not the best quality or color…sorry!)
Now, I warn you: this recipe is nowhere near being calorie-free.
It has butter in it.
Lots. and. lots. of. butter. Yum!
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Put the chicken in a large, oven-proof bowl.  I happened to have packages of wings and breasts, but normally, I use a whole cut-up chicken. (In fact, I prefer a whole cut-up chicken, because I like the dark meat and ThrillCam likes the white meat.  How else do you think our marriage has lasted all these years??)
Throw in a stick of butter. (I don’t usually cut it up, but since I was taking pictures, I decided it would look better, more chef-like.)

Place your bowl in the oven and cook the chicken and butter at 425* for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, take out the bowl and reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
I then added a little fresh ground pepper. (I didn’t add salt, because the rest of the ingredients add a salty flavor, so be careful and wait to salt after you’ve cooked it.)  You, of course, can add the pepper earlier, I just forgot.

Pour one can of Cream of Chicken soup (or Cream of Mushroom, your choice), undiluted, over the chicken.

Pour 1/4 C. cooking sherry or white wine into the soup can and swirl it around to remove the left-over soup.

Of course, it’s your choice as to whether you use cooking sherry or wine; both work equally well.  (This time, I cooked with the sherry and drank the wine).
Pour swirled sherry/left-over-soup all over the (glowing, yellow!) chicken.

Throw in a can of (drained) mushrooms. (Or, if you’re a better cook than me, use fresh mushrooms.)
This recipe is all about your freedom of choice.

Stir, gently, to combine soup, melted butter, wine (or sherry) and mushrooms; coat chicken pieces, but don’t worry if you can’t cover them completely.
I’ve even been known to mix the soup/sherry/mushrooms in a separate bowl and then pour it over the chicken.  But, I was being lazy–I didn’t want to wash another bowl.
(Don’t expect your version of this recipe to glow quite so brightly…it takes a special kind of cook to get results like this….  I guess I bumped up the exposure a little too much…ya think?)

This is where I tweaked the recipe a bit. You see, I love the gravy that is produced in this recipe. So, I added an extra can of Cream of Mushroom soup and a little more wine. But, you don’t have to; you can leave the recipe as is and just drink the wine. It’s your call. (hiccup)

Send the chicken back to the oven, this time, for 2 hours at 300 degrees.  Stir it, only if you think of it, once or twice throughout the cooking process.  But, stirring is not required.
When there’s about 20 minutes left for the chicken to cook, make some rice.
Or pasta.
Or mashed taters.
Again, your choice.
It’s a free country and I shudder to think I’ve held you back or squashed your spirit by telling you what to do.
So, be free!
Be happy!
Drink some more wine!
Here’s a shot of the final product.  Not the best picture, but you get an idea.

This really is an easy recipe to throw together.  You just have to give yourself 2 1/2 hours for cooking time.
Make it, tonight!