UGLY Chicken A La Christine

I named this chicken after my beloved boyfriend's mother.  She made this once over the summer when I was in Virginia and it wasn't like anything else I had ever eaten!  I was surprised by how tasty it is, especially because it's not the most visually appealing food--as shown in these pictures!  It doesn't get the UGLY in front of it's name because of Christine--she is actually a bombshell.  (Normal 50 year olds shouldn't be allowed to look as fantastic as her!)  It gets the UGLY in front of it's name because people are sometimes a little hesitant to taste it because it's so ugly!  Despite its appearance, however, give it a taste and you won't be disappointed!

Tastes WAY better than it looks!

It is made with an ingredient that I find particularly odd--dried beef!  Yikes! "Dried" and "beef" in the same product name, under any normal circumstances, make me worry.  Who wants beef that's dried out and comes in a little jar that doesn't expire for months?! Well, maybe I just think it's weird because my family never consumed dried beef while I was growing up.  I'm sure my mother would have had no idea what to do with it!  Or, perhaps it's more of a southern-type ingredient--you know, it's used in Cream Chipped Beef.  Either way, this dish makes excellent use of dried beef--it adds a nice saltiness, and now I'm not as skeptical of it!

I found this in the store by the tuna, Spam, etc.

Browsing the internet, I learned that this isn't solely a creation of Christine's.  But, she gets credit for introducing this to me.  Since this summer, I've made it for my family, and they've also enjoyed it as much as I do! The chicken is tender and slow-cooked, the cream sauce is divine and tastes great with mashed potatoes, and the bacon and beef give it lots of flavor.

STEP ONE: Line the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish with dried beef.  No need to grease dish.  You can also use like a glass casserole/hot dish.

STEP TWO: Wrap 6 chicken breasts with 2-3 slices of the dried beef and 1 piece of bacon.  I had two extra pieces of bacon so I also threw those in there!  

OPTIONAL: You can definitely throw in some mushrooms!  I put some sliced white button mushrooms on 1/2 only, because I knew my brother wouldn't touch this with a 10 ft. pole if it had visible 'shrooms!

STEP THREE: Combine 8 oz. (1 cup) of sour cream with 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup.  Spread atop chicken and mushrooms.  

STEP FOUR: Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake @275 for ~3 hours.  I like to take it out at the halfway mark just to mix the sauce because it separates a bit. I also stir it again, then cook uncovered for the last 15 minutes or so.

***This will be very soupy if you make it in the slow cooker! NO BUENO!