When I was a kid, a family friend taught my mother how to make the standard chicken-and-rice casserole, which started with rice, cream of mushroom soup from the can, and milk. You mix those together, pour the mixture into a baking dish, nestle chicken pieces on top, sprinkle with paprika for looks, and then pop it into the oven until the chicken is cooked and the rice is tender.

As a kid, I thought this was the epitome of haute cuisine, mainly because my family didn’t do casseroles, and also because the paprika seemed terribly exotic, as if this were a dish whose recipe had been smuggled out of a sultan’s palace kitchen centuries before. In truth, it’s not a terrible dish, but we tended to add things like extra canned mushrooms, or cheese, or chese and broccoli (often leaving out the chicken entirely), partly because we didn’t always have chicken, but mostly because we were bored with it. Any dish that depends on canned soup for its flavor is bound to be terribly static. If you get bored, there are a million variations, but it’s still the same basic dish. (They even look the same.)

I still make it occasionally (it makes excellent leftovers for a busy week), but I’ve been looking for a more grown-up version of this dish, one that uses fresh ingredients instead of canned to make its point. Then I found this recipe by 12 Tomatoes and knew I was on to something. In the end, I ended up coming up with two dishes: one that is almost the same as the original, and one that uses rotisserie chicken, because I wanted something else to do with leftover rotisserie chicken besides throwing it in a tortilla and calling it a chicken fajita or chopping it up and putting it on nachos.¹

Savory Chicken and Mushrooms, Slow Cooker Version

This is practically the same recipe as the the 12 Tomatoes version, but I had to adapt it to what I had on hand. First, I didn’t have bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Instead, I bought what was on sale, which was boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. The bone does add some flavor, especially because it’s going into a slow cooker, where a long simmer over low heat really does bring the flavor out of bones. The skin, of course, contains a lot of fat, which also contains (and helps to convey) flavor. I could do something like brown the chicken breasts in a skillet to add some flavor, and then deglaze with the balsamic vinegar, but the basic point of the original chicken and rice casserole was its simplicity. If I have to brown and deglaze, I may as well go another direction. In the end, I decided to just add a couple of bay leaves (which do add a lot of flavor when cooked low and slow), and call it a day.

Likewise, the original recipe called for dried thyme plus fresh thyme sprigs. It’s January here, and payday is still eleven days away. A bit more dried will work just fine.

When it’s your kitchen, go with what you have on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, approximately 14-16 ounces each
• 16 ounces crimini mushrooms, cleaned, stem ends trimmed, and quartered
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar²
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Add the onions to the slow cooker and place the chicken breasts on top. If you need to, cut them to fit.
2. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and herbs.
3. Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and chicken stock. Add to the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Check the chicken breasts with a thermometer to ensure they are done.
4. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the bay leaves.
5. Slice the chicken breasts and serve over white rice³. Dress with mushrooms and sauce⁴.

Savory Chicken and Mushrooms, Pan Version

I’m a big fan of rotisserie chicken, but I get easily bored of just eating cooked chicken, no matter how delicious it is. This version is a fast and easy way to throw this dish together on a weeknight. (I used rotisserie chicken for this, but you can use whatever you have leftover. Canned chicken breast may be a bit too mushy for this dish, so use with caution.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onions and cook, stirring constantly, until they become soft and translucent.
2. Add the mushroom and continue to cook until they have given off most of their liquid.
3. Add the garlic, thyme, and rosemary, and simmer for a minute more.
4. Add the chicken broth, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Add the chicken, and heat through. Serve over rice or noodles.

Notes

¹I don’t have any problem with that, actually. A bit of chicken mixed with taco seasoning or cumin and garlic and sauted in a pan or (shudder!) microwaved, and then served like this is close to the top of my list of favorite foods. But it does get boring after eating it for dinner five nights in a row.

²I initially balked at adding brown sugar to this, because the American diet is already overflowing with sugar, and as a result, most people can’t taste anything unless it contains large amounts of sugar and salt. However, this recipe is the exception, because it also contains balsamic vinegar, which is tart, and needs something to counteract the acidity. Brown sugar, with its hint of molasses, is just the thing.

³This is a dish that practically screams out for a starch along the way. (Rice was a major ingredient in the original casserole, remember?) White rice works, but you could also serve this over noodles, or with mashed potatoes. (Not fancy mashed potatoes, mind you. Just boiled potatoes, mashed with butter and a bit of sour cream.)

⁴I actually increased the amount of liquid in these recipes, because I wanted a sauce that would go well with rice or some other starch. Remember, in the original casserole, rice played a huge role, but it is entirely absent in the 12 Tomatoes recipe. If the resulting sauce is too thin for your taste, you can either pour it into a saucepan and reduce it, or add a tablespoon or two of cornstarch mixed into a quarter cup of chicken stock toward the end.

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