Rosemary Chicken Casserole

Okay, I'd use a lot more rosemary in this next time, for a start...

I wanted to make a chicken-rice casserole but without resorting to canned soups and frozen or canned chicken and whatnot. From scratch, fresh ingredients.



Including fresh rosemary, not dried.



I cooked two cups of brown rice in five cups of chicken stock (which was what I had after I skimmed the fat). A rich stock, at that.

While the rice was cooking, I cooked four boneless, skinless chicken breasts with just a bit of pan spray, then when they were browned on the outside a bit, added a half cup of garlic red wine vinegar to help keep them from drying out while they finished cooking through.



Then I heated a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the frying pan and started eight ounces of sliced button mushrooms, eight ounces of baby portabellas and a diced medium onion to sautéing.



While that was going, I diced the chicken up.



Then I chopped the rosemary, three stems worth of it, and added that to the sauté along with a tablespoon or so of minced garlic.



This was then cooked down the last twenty minutes or so of the rice's cooking time. Then I added a cup of flour and stirred to coat everything before adding a quart of buttermilk.



Then the rice and about three broccoli crowns cut up. I added quite a bit of black pepper at this point, but it could have used more. Also, I hate to say it, but I ended up adding a bit of salt at the plate because none had been added at any point in the process, including making the stock, and it was lacking.



The mixture in the casserole dish, I covered it with shredded extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar and stuck in in the oven at 400ºF for thirty minutes.





I was congratulating myself on making such an elaborate and overgrown dish without overflowing the casserole dish when I heard the hissing from the oven and saw smoke coming from the vent.



At first I feared the casserole was burned, but nope, it was fine with about a minute left on that thirty minute timer. But the cheese was running down the side of the dish and incinerating on the floor of the oven. Damn. Bachelor cooking might not be required to suck, but it does seem to be required to at least feature a few bonehead moves like this.



And as I say, note nearly enough rosemary. It's such resiny, pungent stuff, I thought I might be overdoing it, but you can hardly tell its there. The bellas taste great, the chicken is good, the broccoli retained some crunch, and the tartness of the buttermilk and the sharp cheddar help round things out, but something's still missing. I think if I had it to do over, besides doubling up on the rosemary, I'd add something like a half cup of dried cherries, maybe some walnuts.