A Modern Mother’s easy Opulent Chicken

I was talking to Charlene the other day (the flooding has gone down at her house, in case anyone is interested). The conversation veered, as usual, to what we were both making for dinner. Feeding tweenage children is a constant source of angst for both of us.

She was making Mrs. Osmond’s Opulnet Chicken. You can see the post she wrote about it a few years ago.

She took me through the ingredients. Chicken breasts. 3 cans of Cream of Chicken soup. Soured Cream. Lemon. And then you top with a crushed Ritx cracker/butter mixture and throw in the oven. I was right at the edge of my seat. Then she told me it had to cook for 2 and 1/2 hours! That killed it for me. We’d be eating at midnight.

So here’s my version. It has less tinned soup, and I brown the chicken breasts before they go into the oven, and the whole dish cooks for about an hour.

A Modern Mother’s version of Opulent Chicken

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken breasts, cut into thirds

2 Tablespoons olive oil (or enough to cover the bottom of the pan evenly)

1 onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1/2 glass white wine (because I had it)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 295 gr. tin of cream of chicken soup (condensed)

170 ml soured cream

1/2 cup of water (to help get the rest of the soured cream and soup out of their containers)

75 grams grated Emmental cheese

100 gr. Ritz crackers (half a box)

3 Tablespoons melted butter

Method:

1.Heat the olive in frying pan and brown cut chicken breasts, about 5 minuted each side.

2. Remove the browned chicken and place evenly in a large rectangle casserole dish. Cover the chicken with the Emmental cheese.

3. Saute the onion and celery in the same frying pan until soft, about 10 minutes

4. Pour in the wine, stir.

5. Add the Cream of Chicken soup and soured cream. Use 1/2 cup of water to make sure you get all of the ingredients out of the containers. Add the lemon juice and mix.

6. Pour over the chicken.

7. Put the Ritz crackers in a plastic bag (I used a sandwich bag) and crush with a rolling pin. Put in a dish and add the melted butter. Mix together with a fork.

8. Sprinkle the cracker mixture over the chicken.

9. Cover with foil, and bake at 180 for 45 minutes.

10. Take off the foil and cook another 15 minutes, or until the middle is bubbly and the topping is browned.

Serve with rice or crusty bread.