Crowd Pleasers
As the holiday season approaches, cooks start thinking about how to feed a crowd.
Kathryn Novak of Northville, Mich., sent us her recipe for Nona’s Italian Country Chicken. “I come from a family of six sisters, four brothers and 81 first cousins. Life centered around food,” she says. “Nona’s Italian Country Chicken is a favorite that is very simple and quite delicious. The kids (I have 27 nieces and nephews) and adults all love it.”
To serve a crowd, Novak simply doubles the recipe and uses two 13-by-9-inch baking dishes. This recipe was the winning entry in the French’s French Fried Onions category of our Hometown Get-Togethers contest.
Cheryl Boutin of Willcox, Ariz., submitted her recipe for Grits Casserole. Using canned green chiles, this recipe plays up a Southwest theme and feeds a crowd of 16. “In our a tight-knit neighborhood, parties take place for birthdays, holidays, roundups (when the cattle are brought down from the mountains) and just because we like to get together. I am often asked to make this Grits Casserole, and I hope others will enjoy this easy recipe,” she says.
As always, American Profile looks forward to receiving your recipes and sharing them with our millions of readers across the nation. To submit a recipe of your own, send it, along with the story behind it and a color photograph of yourself, to: Hometown Recipes, American Profile, 341 Cool Springs Blvd., Suite 400, Franklin, TN 37067. Please note that recipes and photos will not be returned.
Nona's Italian Country Chicken
Do you like to print recipes and add them to your collection? You're in luck. Use our printer friendly version of this recipe.
share your recipes
email this recipe to a friend
buy our cookbooks
3 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup, plus 1-2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
2 large green peppers, thinly sliced
1 (7-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
1 (2.8-ounce) can French’s Original French Fried Onions
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Coat chicken pieces with breadcrumbs. In a large skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat until golden brown. Add half the chicken and cook about 2 minutes per side. Repeat until all chicken is browned, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons additional butter, if needed. Transfer chicken to a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
3. Add olive oil and Italian seasoning to pan drippings and heat over medium heat. Add peppers and cook 12 minutes or until richly brown and caramelized, stirring frequently. Sprinkle peppers and mushrooms evenly over chicken. Deglaze the pan with some of the chicken broth and pour over all. Add remaining chicken broth. Top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Sprinkle onions evenly over all and bake 15 minutes or until golden. Serves 6.
Homestyle Grits Casserole
Do you like to print recipes and add them to your collection? You're in luck. Use our printer friendly version of this recipe.
share your recipes
email this recipe to a friend
buy our cookbooks
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups shredded Cheddar
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup butter
1½ teaspoons garlic or onion salt
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, optional
1 (2-ounce) can French fried onions, crushed
2. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add grits and salt and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat.
3. Add cheese, eggs, butter, garlic salt, Tabasco, and chiles, if using; mix well. Pour into baking pan. Bake 50 minutes. Sprinkle crushed onions on top and bake 10 minutes longer. Serves 16.
Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos
Discuss this Article
