Food is a pretty big deal in my family. We have traditions around food, many dishes are named after the person who cooked it, and there are stories associated with many of our favorites. When I sat down to think about what I wanted this blog to be, I knew it had to have recipes on it. Since I began this as a writing blog, they simply had to be here.
See, food works its way into all of my stories. This evening I sat revising my first book and the characters were eating Salsa Chicken. That’s a regular recipe in my house. My chocolate chip cookie recipe that I shared in a newsletter is in book two. My famous pizza, really Ina Garten’s famous pizza, is in book one. I could go on.
Tonight, however, I settled down to write out not any of those recipes, but what we had for dinner tonight – Chicken Divan. This is a recipe of my mom’s, but I have no idea where it came from originally. While I have it written down somewhere, I just go with my memory here. My measurements are complete crap, but I’m trying my best to ballpark here. As a kid, we all ate this one. In my house today, my oldest son requests it, my youngest eats something else, and my husband just smiles. See, over twenty five years ago, this was the meal my mom served up at least the first five times he came to dinner, though we tease her that it was at least ten.
Chicken Divan – Serves at least six.
Preheat the oven to 375
- Two or three chicken breasts – I roast them in the oven (at 375). Mine are typically frozen and the package calls for them to be cooked for around 80 minutes. (They are LARGE.) Once they’ve cooked and cooled I shred them and set aside. (Note, the recipe calls for them to be sautéed, then chopped. My mom used to boil them, then chop, I’ve even used a rotisserie chicken I shredded for this. Essentially, you need about three or four cups of chicken.
- When you’re done with the chicken, lower the oven temp to 325.
- Three to four heads of broccoli. If I have fresh broccoli, I steam it until it just softens. Tonight I had bags of frozen broccoli. I cooked them in the microwave and then drained them to ensure there was no extra water. Scatter the broccoli over the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Top with the shredded chicken.
- Mix together:
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 cans cream of chicken
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 4 teaspoons curry
- Pour that mixture over the chicken and broccoli
- Note, this is double the amount of “sauce” my mom used to use, but it’s my favorite part so I make sure there’s a lot.
- Top with about two cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Bake at 325 for about 40-45 minutes
We serve this with Japanese rice we make in a rocking rice cooker, but you do you.
Enjoy!
