Well, hello again!

Hello again readers! It's been a long time since I've last posted, but it's been business as usual in Clemson and school has been pretty busy. Today is my second to last day of Spring Break, so I am catching up on posts while avoiding doing studio work. I have sort of lost track of the meals we have been cooking at home, so for this post I am featuring a new dish that I have made 3 times in the last couple weeks because it has been such a hit. This is a recipe for Chicken Artichoke Casserole by Paula Deen that is delicious! I'll give you the recipe as I made it the first time then tell you about the changes I've made since. I think the first time I made it was definitely the best, so here it goes...

1/2 cup of butter (2 sticks)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 chopped white onion
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons water
5 oz. grated parmesean cheese
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and patted dry
1 14 oz. can of quartered artichokes, drained
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and chopped into cubes
2 cups cubed french bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add onion and garlic and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add heavy whipping cream and water and let simmer 3-4 minutes.

2. Add cream cheese and parmesean cheese and stir until combined into a thicker sauce. Then add spinach, artichokes, and cooked chicken and stir to combine.

3. Pour mixture into a casserole or other baking dish. In a separate bowl, toss the cubed french bread with the melted butter. Arrange the cubed bread on top of the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes or until bread on top is golden brown.

Now, some WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. The second time I made this, I used a rotisserie chicken that I shredded up to make the dish more like a dip. I served it with sliced french bread. I also tried making some crostinis with it. I sliced the french bread, put a dollup of the cooked dip on top, sprinked some parmesean on top, then popped them back in the over for about 7 minutes. They were equally delicious.

3. The third time I made this was on vacation in Charleston, and to save some money I used 2 cans of canned chicken. It wasn't as good, but still really tasty!



Here is Paula Deen's recipe. She uses a few different ingredients...http://www.pauladeenmagazine.com/recipe_results.php?id=1041