Laura's Chicken Thing

A while back, Laura posted a recipe for Chicken Jerusalem. I have no idea where this name came from; but at first glance, the internet recipes I've seen call for artichokes and/or mushrooms to be added, neither of which showed up on Laura's recipe. Mushrooms might be good here, but as much as I like artichokes, they don't sound that great with chicken.

Robert so loves when I try new things. Indicating his enthusiasm tonight, he said, "Why are we having chicken again, and what's wrong with the way you usually cook it?" This loosely translated to: "My darling, what I love most about you is that you continue to feed me my favorite meat, chicken, and you always try to find new and exciting ways to cook it."

But ravenous hunger does funny things to his senses. As the chicken cooked, he repeatedly commented about how good it smelled. (Really.) To my complete surprise, everyone scarfed this down. Trevor was done with his chicken before I'd even had a chance to taste mine, Holly finished right after him, and they both asked for seconds immediately. Wow!!

Laura, thanks for the great recipe! I made a few adjustments and am posting these below. Boneless chicken thighs were on sale, so I used those instead. I was a little leery; we never eat chicken thighs. But obviously they went over really well here. The recipe was terribly salty, and low-sodium soup might help with that next time. We're definitely making this again!





CHICKEN JERUSALEM

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
2 T. butter
2-3 T. oil
2 packages Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
6 oz. cream cheese (cut into chunks for melting)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put butter and oil in skillet and heat to medium-high. Whisk in Italian dressing mix. Cook chicken breasts in this mixture until browned; turn and brown on the other side. Remove chicken from pan and place in 9 x 13 baking dish. To the pan add all remaining ingredients and stir over low heat until cream cheese is melted and gravy is smooth. Pour this gravy over the chicken and cover tightly with foil. Bake in oven for 45 minutes (or 1 hour for bone in breasts). Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.