"Usual Chicken"

In our house we have a bunch of things that I cook regularly. One of them is something we like to call "Usual Chicken". We call it this, because the recipe starts out by saying "Boil chicken in the usual way..." I have no idea what the usual way of boiling chickens is. Cookery the Australian Way suggests boiling for an hour with two peppercorns and a teaspoon of vinegar, so that's what I do. You might like to boil yours in your slow cooker.

Im not sure where this recipe came from, but it was all in ounces and stuff, so I've since converted it. I also changed the bit at the end that suggested frying your breadcrumbs in butter before adding to the top. You can do that if you like, but I don't think the recipe needs any extra butter.



You need:
One whole chicken
60g butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup cream
2 tablespoons parsley
2 sticks celery
1 can corn kernels
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Boil chicken in the usual way (tee-hee) until it breaks apart when lifted with tongs. Reserve 1 cup of stock and set aside chicken to cool.

Melt butter in a large saucepan, add flour and stir over low heat for two minutes.

Remove from heat. Gradually add reserved chicken stock and return to the the heat, bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for two minutes.

Add undiluted soup, cream and parsley. If you want, you can use dry parsley, but only use about 2-3 teaspoons. Mix well.

Chop celery, and drain the corn. Strip the meat from the chicken - I use a knife and fork to do this. Chop the meat roughly and add celery, chicken and corn to the saucepan and stir through to combine.

Pour into an oven proof dish. Top with breadcrumbs and bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve it up to your kids (and significant others) and watch them eat it all and ask for seconds! Yum!