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!
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| 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! |
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| 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! |
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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!
