Beau’s Sis came to see Jesse yesterday, so I fixed a lunch for us to enjoy together. And I just realized that we never took any pictures of her with him - I’m sorry I forgot about doing that!

Anyhoo, I wanted to make my mother’s no fail chicken recipe, but it calls for cream of mushroom soup. Beau’s milk allergy prohibits cream of anything soups, so I had to figure out a way to make this chicken without milk. I’m learning to make a lot of things that call for milk without milk - it’s been fun trying to think of ways to modify my old recipes. I managed it with the mushroom soup and the chicken turned out perfectly.

For the mushroom soup, I made a roux (I used a combination of olive oil and Smart Balance with flour) to which I added onions and garlic, sauteing them until soft, and then adding chicken stock to start a sauce. When that thickened, I added canned mushrooms (draining half of the juice and using the other half for flavor) and about 2 tsp of dried thyme. I let that simmer for about 20 minutes - it thickened a bit more - and then I added a small amount of oat milk (or you could use rice milk), mostly for richness than for flavor, and I let that simmer about 15-20 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper and you have a nice mushroom soup.

For the chicken, I placed two packages of chicken thighs (with skin and bones) into my crock pot (Mom bakes her chicken for 3 hours, but I didn’t want to do that with the tending to the baby and not knowing exactly what time Beau’s Sis was going to arrive). I then sprinkled 2 packets of Lipton onion soup mix over the chicken and poured the soup into the pot as well. I started it on the high setting and then lowered it after 3 hours. The chicken was perfect, tender enough to fall off the bone.

The difference between mine and Mom’s is that she uses the condensed canned soup, which is much thicker than my soup turned out to be. And my soup thinned out as the chicken fat and juices rendered into the crock pot. Mom’s resulting sauce is heartier than mine, so I need to work on a thicker soup mix, but the flavors were exactly the same. And I can’t tell you any measurements since I didn’t measure anything in the soup, except the cans of mushrooms.

I served it with rice and veggies. Beau also made roll dough, so we had some of those fabulous rolls that we had a few weeks ago, too. It was a delicious meal, if I do say so myself. And we have plenty of leftovers. Yummy!

[UPDATED (5:15 pm)]: Mom’s actual recipe is in the comments.

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1. Ok, that sounds delicious, and it turns out that our grocery order accidentally gave us a big package of chicken thighs that I had no clue how to use (was considering chicken and dumplings, but this sounds yummier). If you’re making it with the regular cream of mushroom soup -how many cans do you put in? And do you still use the onion soup mix?

   Posted by beth  on  03/07/07  at  09:32 AM

2. Beth, if you have one package of chicken, then it’s one packet of the onion soup mix and I think it’s one can of the cream of mushroom soup. I think Mom bakes it at 350 or 375 degrees for 3 hours.

   Posted by  on  03/07/07  at  09:58 AM

3. Cool, thankee! :)

   Posted by beth  on  03/07/07  at  10:24 AM

4. There was a recipe I made recently, IIRC it was for a gravy, that called for soy milk (I had only whole, regular milk and that worked).  Right, the gravy to go with the pork that came out good but too salty.  I’m surprised he’s so sensitive that cream soups are out, but I can see why someone would make the soy or other alternate part of a recipe.

   Posted by Jay  on  03/07/07  at  12:19 PM

5. He generally avoids milk products as a rule because they make him feel so ill later. It’s just easier for him - harder for me as the cook.

   I don’t like soy stuff, so that’s not an option for us. This is where I’m glad there are alternatives like the rice and oat milks. And that I’m a good enough cook to figure out how to modify what I need to.

   Posted by  on  03/07/07  at  01:30 PM

6. The recipe calls for (1) package of “Pick of the Chix” Chicken (the meatier pieces ~ legs, thighs and breasts), (1) can of cream of mushroom soup, spooned over the chicken in a foil-lined pan, and then sprinkled with (1) package of onion soup mix.  Cover with foil and bake for 3 hrs. at 325 degrees.  I have always served it with rice, peas and Waldorf Salad. Enjoy!

   Posted by  on  03/07/07  at  02:13 PM

7. I was close.

   Posted by  on  03/07/07  at  06:15 PM

8. Sounds great!  My Jesse can’t have dairy or soy, so I’m interested in any recipes you adapt that turn out well.  It can be challenging!

   Posted by  on  03/08/07  at  12:25 AM

9. Jen, have you and Marmie ever made this is a crockpot?

   It sounds delicious, I’m going to try it.

   Posted by  on  03/09/07  at  09:16 AM

10. Yeah, I made mine in the crockpot and it turned out perfectly. I’ll probably always make my version in the crockpot.

    Posted by  on  03/09/07  at  09:48 AM

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