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Spirited Irish Chicken Bake
Hey everybody, hope all of you are enjoying a wee bit of heaven here on Earth. Happy March to you but beware the Ides of March!! Have you ever wondered what that means? I know I have. I thought it was some kind of spell placed on you if you didn’t beware or maybe the Ides are a couple of weird twins who roam around in the month of March looking for whomever they can devour, somewhat half dog and half man type of being. I decided to do some research to find out and much to my relief here is what I found. Of course, we know Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus during the Ides of March and consequently, after that, Roman rulers were careful during the Ides to put on a little extra security. I suppose they patted down everyone who entered the castle and confiscated all spears, knives and liquids or gels that were in grails over 3 ounces. Any pieces of armor left unattended were reported to the Sheriff of Nottingham and the owners were hunted down and dealt with accordingly. All this explains the “beware” part but I had to look further for the explanation of the Ides. As it turns out, each month has an ides. It simply means the 15th day, so the Ides of March is March 15th. In Roman times the 1st day was called Kalends ( derived from calendar ). This word was extended in Latin to Kalendium which means account book. The 1st was when Romans paid their bills. Not much has changed in that regard except I’m sure we have more bills. The 7th was known as the Nones. Other days were named by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones or Ides. For example, March 3rd would be V Nones ( 5 days before the Nones with the Nones counted as one of the 5 days.) Sooooo, you can figure it like this: March 1st – Kalends, March 2nd – VI Nones, March 3rd – V Nones, March 4th – IV Nones, March 5th – III Nones, March 6th – II Nones or Pridie Nones which is Latin and March 7th is Nones and so on. I hope your were enormously enlightened by these facts. You never know when you might be on the Jeopardy game show or something!!
Anyway is the word I’m looking for. Miss Irva Belle Goodman gave me the most delicious chicken recipe I think I’ve ever tasted. Her mother, Sadie Belle O’Brien Goodman used to make it. I love getting these old recipes. I make such a mess when I cook, though. Miss Irva Belle says if you don’t want flour on your clothes, stay out of the mill. She is always sharing little Irish sayings with me, like the time she told me it was only the Lord who could make a racehorse out of a jackass. You know, the Irish have such a nice way of telling a person to go to hell that they look forward to making the trip. Miss Maudine, one of Miss Irva Belle’s friends is Irish, also. They were visiting me the other day when they got into a political discussion. I have one thing to say. Don’t get in the middle of two Irish ladies who get cross with each other. If you try to referee you might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone. They have tongues that could clip a hedge and can talk the teeth out of a saw.
Here’s what you’ll need for your Spirited Irish Chicken Bake:
3 large whole chicken breasts, split, skinned, washed and patted dry
5 Tablespoons all purpose flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
½ cup Canola oil
2 ( 10 ¾ oz. ) cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 Tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
½ cup beer
1 ( 3 ounce ) can sliced mushrooms, drained
Lay prepared chicken on paper towels to absorb moisture. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish ( I use a pie plate ). Dredge chicken in the flour mixture and brown in a skillet in heated Canola oil. Place browned chicken in a glass 9X12 pyrex casserole dish. Combine soup, soy sauce, beer, mushrooms and ¼ cup slivered almonds. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting occasionally. Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons slivered almonds when done. It is so tender, makes its own sauce or gravy and will feed a hungry bunch of 6 people. Sometimes I use 1 ½ times the ingredients for the soup mixture if I want lots of gravy.
Whip up some mashed potatoes or maybe some rice and a green veggie, make some angel biscuits and sweet tea and you’ll have a meal that is fit for the angels.
I hope you all have a lovely Spring and get on in your kitchen and cook. You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind. I’ll leave you with this Old Irish Blessing:
May love and laughter light your days,
And warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
Wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
With joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
Bring the best to you and yours!
Moma sends her love and says if God sends you down a stony path, may he give you strong shoes. God bless and keep you until we meet again. |
