When I think of gumbo, I have very definite pictures in my mind. My husband loves gumbo and will often order it if it is on a menu. So I have seen lots of bowls of it. I even made gumbo once when his daddy came to visit us when we were living in Biloxi, MS. You can read about that visit on this post when I made it again and shared it here with you a couple of years ago.
I was "under the weather" most of the week last week and didn't do much cooking. (I wonder how being sick became known as under the weather?) Anyway, on Friday, I decided to cook a couple of chicken breasts in the slow cooker. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but figured I would find something to make.
The first cookbook I picked up was one of my latest ones from the Dinner Horn Country Inn, a restaurant in the Pennsylvania style that used to be nearby back in the 80s. I found two or three different recipes that sounded good, but they all required the chicken to not be cooked first.
The second cookbook I picked up was another one of my latest finds by Abe & Edna Miller called From the Rolling Hills of Holmes County Down Home Cookin'. There is no index in the cookbook so I had to flip through each page until I came to the Main Dishes section. Imagine my surprise when I turned the page and the first recipe was called Chicken Gumbo and the second line said "4 cups cooked chicken". Well, I admit, I had to read the entire recipe before I decided to make it. I don't know if you noticed above when I said my husband loves gumbo and I made it for my husband and his daddy. Did you read between the lines and come to the conclusion that I don't like gumbo? If you did, you get a gold star.
I don't know why the dish is called Chicken Gumbo. It is not anything like gumbo, or at least the gumbo I am familiar with. That's why I added the word Amish to the post title. (Make sure you read Page 2 at the bottom.) Obviously to Abe and Edna Miller it is gumbo. One thing similar to gumbo, it makes a lot. I would definitely suggest you have company or a family with several children. We will be eating it for quite a few meals. Believe it or not, I made no substitutions this time. Well, I did put the dish back in the oven for a few minutes after I sprinkled the bread crumbs on top. (I used fresh bread to make the bread crumbs so I wanted them to harden up a bit.)
CHICKEN GUMBO
9 slices of bread, cubed and browned
4 cups cooked chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts and cut the cooked chicken in cubes.)
4 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon salt
1 can cream of celery soup
9 thin slices of Velveeta cheese
bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray for easy cleanup.
Toast the bread and then cut it into cubes.
Cut the chicken into small cubes also.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, salad dressing, chicken broth, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 teaspoon salt. (I melted the butter first. I also make my own chicken broth by dissolving one chicken bouillon cube in 1 cup hot water.)
Add the the chicken and bread cubes. Stir to distribute chicken and bread cubes with liquid.
Spread mixture in casserole.
Top with cheese slices and
then the soup. (undiluted)
Since I had only used 8 slices I decided to add one more half size in the end.
Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes.
When done, top with bread crumbs and serve.
(I put the dish back in the oven for a few minutes after sprinkling the crumbs on top.)
I make my own bread crumbs using the blender. Works really nicely.
PAGE 2
Later after I finished this post, I was searching for something to make for an gathering on Thursday. I picked up the What's Cooking at Moody's Diner cookbook from the Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine that had its beginnings back in the 1930s. Imagine my surprise when I see a recipe called Chicken Gumbo. It was not a long recipe and I figure I ignored it because it said "gumbo". While it is different from the Miller's gumbo, it is similar enough for me to rethink my thinking. The main differences were the 9 slices of bread cubed in the Miller's recipe (not in Moody's) and 3 cans of soup - 2 cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom and 1 can of mushrooms in Moody's recipe that isn't in the Miller's. Even though I haven't made it, I will share Moody's Diner's recipe with you. The consistency of the dish will definitely be different.
CHICKEN GUMBO
4 chicken breasts
2 cans (10 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1-3/4 cups milk
1/2 bag seasoned breadcrumbs
1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms
Cook chicken until tender; remove from bone and cube. Place pieces in a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan. Heat cream of chicken soup with milk and pour over chicken. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 325 degrees until hot.
Combine and cook undrained mushrooms, mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of milk. Pour over chicken and serve. - Norma Moody Dion.
I was "under the weather" most of the week last week and didn't do much cooking. (I wonder how being sick became known as under the weather?) Anyway, on Friday, I decided to cook a couple of chicken breasts in the slow cooker. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but figured I would find something to make.
The first cookbook I picked up was one of my latest ones from the Dinner Horn Country Inn, a restaurant in the Pennsylvania style that used to be nearby back in the 80s. I found two or three different recipes that sounded good, but they all required the chicken to not be cooked first.
The second cookbook I picked up was another one of my latest finds by Abe & Edna Miller called From the Rolling Hills of Holmes County Down Home Cookin'. There is no index in the cookbook so I had to flip through each page until I came to the Main Dishes section. Imagine my surprise when I turned the page and the first recipe was called Chicken Gumbo and the second line said "4 cups cooked chicken". Well, I admit, I had to read the entire recipe before I decided to make it. I don't know if you noticed above when I said my husband loves gumbo and I made it for my husband and his daddy. Did you read between the lines and come to the conclusion that I don't like gumbo? If you did, you get a gold star.
I don't know why the dish is called Chicken Gumbo. It is not anything like gumbo, or at least the gumbo I am familiar with. That's why I added the word Amish to the post title. (Make sure you read Page 2 at the bottom.) Obviously to Abe and Edna Miller it is gumbo. One thing similar to gumbo, it makes a lot. I would definitely suggest you have company or a family with several children. We will be eating it for quite a few meals. Believe it or not, I made no substitutions this time. Well, I did put the dish back in the oven for a few minutes after I sprinkled the bread crumbs on top. (I used fresh bread to make the bread crumbs so I wanted them to harden up a bit.)
CHICKEN GUMBO
9 slices of bread, cubed and browned
4 cups cooked chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts and cut the cooked chicken in cubes.)
4 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon salt
1 can cream of celery soup
9 thin slices of Velveeta cheese
bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray for easy cleanup.
Cut the chicken into small cubes also.
PAGE 2
Later after I finished this post, I was searching for something to make for an gathering on Thursday. I picked up the What's Cooking at Moody's Diner cookbook from the Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine that had its beginnings back in the 1930s. Imagine my surprise when I see a recipe called Chicken Gumbo. It was not a long recipe and I figure I ignored it because it said "gumbo". While it is different from the Miller's gumbo, it is similar enough for me to rethink my thinking. The main differences were the 9 slices of bread cubed in the Miller's recipe (not in Moody's) and 3 cans of soup - 2 cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom and 1 can of mushrooms in Moody's recipe that isn't in the Miller's. Even though I haven't made it, I will share Moody's Diner's recipe with you. The consistency of the dish will definitely be different.
CHICKEN GUMBO
4 chicken breasts
2 cans (10 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1-3/4 cups milk
1/2 bag seasoned breadcrumbs
1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms
Cook chicken until tender; remove from bone and cube. Place pieces in a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan. Heat cream of chicken soup with milk and pour over chicken. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 325 degrees until hot.
Combine and cook undrained mushrooms, mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of milk. Pour over chicken and serve. - Norma Moody Dion.
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