Week 4 - (Chicken-Cheese) Meltaway Casserole

(Chicken-Cheese) Meltaway Casserole 

Recipe 4 of 52 in 2022

Meat/Fish Entree #1

    This week's recipe comes to us from Favorite Recipes From Southern Kitchens - Casseroles - Including Breads. Published in 1968 (I had to convert it from Roman numerals). My version is based on a recipe submitted to this cookbook by Mrs. Lillie J. Smith of Pauline, South Carolina. I'll show my modifications in italics. This recipe really seems like a baked macaroni & cheese, but with less cheese, unless you're me and then "Katie bar the door", because I like cheese. I mostly wanted to make this new to me recipe by the directions, so I only used four slices of cheese. However, I did use a little bit of cheese sprinkled on at the end. I really liked this dish. It was easy and you can very, easily modify it with seasoning, choice of protein or even make it with veggies instead. I would definitely make this again.

Ingredients:

1 cup elbow macaroni

butter or margarine (No amount given; I used about 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion (I used 1/3 cup)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups milk 

1 1/2 cup cooked chicken, turkey, ham or roast beef (I used chicken)

4 slices cheese (Type not given; I used sharp cheddar slices)

1 teaspoon of your favorite seasoning blend; I used a spicy red chili blend; 

shredded cheese (as much as you want)

Directions:

Cook macaroni in boiling water (I did salt the water a bit) until tender. Drain and set aside. Melt butter/margarine in a saucepan. I used the cast iron skillet I'd cooked the chicken in. By doing this, the sauce ended up picking up the flavor of the spice blend I'd chosen. Add the chopped onion and cook over low heat for up to 3 to 5 minutes. It should be translucent. Stir in your salt, pepper and flour. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly until the sauce has thickened. When making a white sauce, I like to heat the milk in the microwave, so it doesn't take as long to heat up and thicken the sauce. The original recipe calls for a 2-quart casserole dish, but I used a 1 1/2-quart and it was perfect. Pour half of the macaroni in the casserole dish, followed by half of the chicken. Pour the rest of the macaroni, followed by the last of the chicken. Lay sliced cheese on top and pour your onion white sauce over the layered macaroni and chicken. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit, for 25-30 minutes. I decided I wanted some cheese on top, so after I removed the casserole, I sprinkled some shredded cheese over top and put it back in the hot oven, until melted. This recipe makes 4 servings. 

Meltaway Casserole
Chicken-Cheese

Meltaway Casserole as it looks without shredded cheese on top.

Meltaway Casserole as it looks with shredded cheese on top.