Entree: Introduction and Chicken Baked with Oranges and Mushrooms

GIVEAWAY-see bottom of post!

After over 15 years of friends asking me to write a cookbook, I’m finally writing it! I started this Christmas, by writing out my most frequently used recipes for my family. I’m trying to write it with enough direction for beginner cooks, but also have recipes for special dinners that take more experience to conquer (and usually don't count calories!). There will also be healthy recipes, with indexes for finding the vegan, low carb, gluten free, etc. recipes.

I have made every single recipe that I'm publishing; most of them, I’ve made many, many times over the years and perfected them. Part of why I’m writing my cookbook is selfish-I never use recipes exactly as written, so all of my large collection of cookbooks and recipe cards have scribbled notes on them-otherwise, I forget how I adapted the recipe and can never make it again like that. So one of the reasons I’m writing this, is to have all of my recipes in one place!

Also, I feel strongly that more people, especially younger generations, need to feel more comfortable in the kitchen; I am very blessed to have a Mom who let me "help" in the kitchen from an early age, and she is a fabulous cook. Not everyone, especially my generation and younger, have had that opportunity. I will include a chapter in my cookbook of the very basics, and I try to write my recipes clearly enough for a beginner cook to follow the steps and make a great dish the first time!

I’d like feedback on my recipes, and would appreciate any honest feedback you can give me, regarding any difficulties, mistakes, suggestions, modifications, etc.

I know there are probably literally thousands of food bloggers out there, and as many cookbooks... but many of my recipes, I've never seen anything like them published, so I feel like by writing them into a cookbook, I am not only sharing, but preserving these for future generations.

So, without further ado, we will start out with what I just finished cooking for supper tonight. It's an all-in-one dish that I've been making, with many variations, for at least a decade and a half.

Chicken Baked with Oranges and Mushrooms

You can mix dark and light chicken, but keep the pieces about the same size so they cook evenly; either use bone-in thighs and whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts; or leg quarters and split, bone-in chicken breasts. See below the recipe for variations.

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup fresh mushrooms (about ½ regular package)

4 chicken pieces (breasts, legs, thighs, leg quarters, or mix; see headnote)

2 fresh oranges, peeled and separated into segments; OR 15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

1 can or container condensed cream of mushroom soup-Trader Joe’s sells a good one in a box

2 tablespoons concentrated orange juice OR juice from 1 orange

Zest from 1 orange, optional

2 teaspoons concentrated chicken broth

½ teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Black pepper

Smoked paprika-about ¼-½ teaspoon

Preheat oven to 350; coat a large baking dish (big enough to hold the chicken pieces in 1 layer), with nonstick cooking spray.

Saute mushrooms in a greased skillet over medium heat, just until browned.

Place chicken pieces in one layer; lay the orange segments on top of the chicken.

In a small bowl, mix together the cream of mushroom soup, orange concentrate or juice, orange zest, chicken broth concentrate, curry powder, and poultry seasoning.

Spoon the soup mixture over the tops of the chicken/oranges. Grind black pepper over dish; sprinkle smoked paprika lightly over the top. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 1 hour, or if using split breasts and/or leg quarters, may take 1 hour and 20-30 minutes. When chicken tests done (juices run clear when cut into with a knife and tests 165 degrees F), remove from oven and divide between 4 plates. May serve with side of green beans or a salad.

Serves 4

There are some of the multiple variations I have tried:

• If someone doesn’t like mushrooms, use cream of chicken soup instead, and leave the fresh mushrooms out-it is still very good.
• Instead of using precooked brown rice (I cook it in large batches and freeze in portions), you can use uncooked white rice; if so, use 1 ½ cups uncooked rice and 3 cups chicken broth added to the soup mixture; the rice will cook underneath the chicken and absorb the broth and juice.
• If you don’t have fresh mushrooms, you can substitute ¼ cup soaked dried mushrooms
• For a garnish, use fresh parsley and 1-2 slices of fresh, uncooked orange per serving
• I have made in the crockpot; if doing so, you need to brown the chicken before placing in the crockpot; cook on low for about 6-8 hours.

NOTE REGARDING ADVERTISEMENTS AND THE LACK THEREOF:

There will NOT be any annoying ads on my blog, EVER! Once my cookbook is published, I will provide a link for you to buy it, from the blog, but there will be no other ads. Not that I judge other bloggers for it, but it drives me CRAZY (especially on my phone!) to not be able to find a recipe for all of the ads! I’ve been in their shoes; stay-at-home-Mom, trying desperately to find some way to bring in some income, so I understand why people do it-I just can’t stand it personally and would never subject people to that!

GIVEAWAY! Not as advertisement, but I have literally hundreds of recipe cards-handwritten and clipped, from my recipe box-many complete with my scribbled notes, lol! The first 25 people to send me their mailing address (will NOT be shared or used for any other reason!) will receive an envelope of about 30-40 recipe cards from my collection; both the ones I use regularly and are going in my cookbook, along with ones that I don't use so much.