Chicken & Broccoli Bake

"Show me another pleasure like dinner which comes every day and lasts an hour."
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

I created this dish when I was a senior in high school.  My best friend and I visited my grandparents once a week and prepared dinner for them.  This was one of those things that just popped into my head, and when I made it everyone loved it.  It is still a favorite, though I rarely make it.  Fairly quick and simple, you can make it from a few pantry staples.  If you don't have everything on hand, a trip to Save-a-Lot or a local grocery store should give you what you need.  It is a casserole a-la Chicken Divan, only a whole heckuvalot simpler.  I know...I've made it before.

Chicken & Broccoli Bake

Original Recipe

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (defrosted if frozen) ~1.5lb

12 oz frozen broccoli florets (set out to thaw while you wait to add it)

1 10oz can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 10oz can condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup milk or cream

~1/2 batch Blue Ribbon Buttermilk Biscuit dough

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Empty cans of soup into large nonstick skillet.  Stir in milk.

2. If chicken is frozen, defrost in microwave.  Dice chicken breasts into 1/4 - 1/2" cubes.  Add to soup mixture.  Turn heat on medium high.  It will bubble, but you don't want to boil it.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

3. While chicken is cooking, prepare Biscuit dough.  I only made enough for 6 thick or 10 thin biscuits.  You want them thin (~1/4" thick patted out).

4. After chicken has turned white, add broccoli and stir to combine.  If broccoli florets are large, use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut it up.  You want everything to be roughly the same size so it cooks evenly.

5. Once the broccoli has defrosted and warmed slightly, remove skillet from heat.  Pat out Biscuit dough, and cut biscuits.  Leave them on the counter for now!

6.  Pour chicken and broccoli mixture into a 9x13" oven-proof casserole dish.

7. Top casserole mixture with biscuits.  Lay them evenly across the top.  I did 3 down each long side, 2 down the middle.  With the extra dough I cut 3 more biscuits (11 total) and used the cutter to halve 2 of them (1 crescent moon, 1 football shape) and cut the last one into thirds (2 crescent moons, 1 football shape).  The biscuit pieces are used to fill in the spaces on the top.

8. Place casserole in preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are evenly browned.

05-04-16 Revision

Tonight I made this for supper. I suppose the last time I made it my daughter still wouldn't eat broccoli. She tried it, and she loved it! It makes my heart happy when I can feed my family a meal they like. She just kept going on about how good it was and even said, "You know how hot cocoa is good on a cold day? Well this would be good on a cold day, too!" This may be my big hint to make it more than once a year.

1. Preheat oven to 450º, make full batch of Blue Ribbon Buttermilk Biscuits dough, let sit in bowl while you make the filling.

2. Cook frozen chicken over medium heat until starting to turn white on bottom, remove to cutting board and cube, return to pan. Cook until almost done (only a little pink should be visible).

3. Add 2 cans each condensed cream of chicken and condensed cream of mushroom soup and ~1/3 - 1/2 c milk. Stir well to combine. Bring to a bubble. 

4. Add partially defrosted, chopped broccoli florets to pan, turn heat to medium low, have someone else stir while you make the biscuits.

5. Make biscuit topping - knead dough quickly on lightly floured surface, pat out to ~1/4" thickness, cut with 3" biscuit cutter. Pour chicken filling into buttered casserole dish (11"x15"), top with 12 biscuits spaced evenly, bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits are an even golden brown (start with 10 minutes, and add time in 3 minute increments, it took about 15-18 minutes for mine) and filling is bubbling (put biscuit trimming pieces on a small pan and bake alongside the casserole).

6. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.